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Title: Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Volume III, 1863-1867
Author: Various
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Volume III, 1863-1867" ***
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY
OF
NATURAL SCIENCES.
VOLUME III.
1863-1867.
SAN FRANCISCO:
PUBLISHED BY THE ACADEMY.
1868.
The date of publication of each sheet will be found at the bottom of
pages. The sheets of this volume have been circulated separately, and
also in annual parts, as follows:
Part I, p. 1-96, for 1863, printed in April to December, 1863.
” II, p. 97-176, for 1864, ” January to December, 1864.
” III, p. 177-272, for 1865-6, ” January, 1865, to August, 1866.
” IV, p. 273-360, for 1866-7, ” January to September, 1867.
” V, p. 361-401, for 1867, ” May, 1868.
A few copies of Vol. II, pp. 236, remain for sale by the Corresponding
Secretary.
Volume I is out of print, but the Academy intends to reprint it when a
sufficient number of copies have been ordered to refund the cost.
_The following Memoirs were also published by the Academy, in quarto, in
1867._
No. I. Catalogue of Pacific Coast Mosses, pp. 38, By LEO LESQUEREUX.
No. II. Natural System of Volcanic Rocks, pp. 95, By F. BARON RICHTHOFEN,
Dr. Phil.
ROOMS OF THE ACADEMY,
622 CLAY STREET,
_San Francisco, June, 1868_.
The Academy, desirous of increasing its numbers, and thus adding to
its means of scientific research and diffusion of knowledge, has this
year altered its title to that of “CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,”
and invites all interested in the increase and spread of any branch of
knowledge to join in its work. All gentlemen residing within one hundred
and fifty miles of San Francisco are, by the new Constitution, eligible
to resident membership, with all the privileges of those in the city,
including free copies of the proceedings published after their election.
A copy of the new Constitution, Annual Address of the late President,
Prof. J. D. Whitney, and list of members at the commencement of 1868, may
be obtained free by addressing the Corresponding Secretary.
Meetings are now held on the first and third Mondays of each month, at
the rooms of the Academy, where lectures are given, papers read and
discussions held on scientific subjects. All desiring to become members
may be introduced at the meetings on application to the officers and
members.
Rooms open daily, from 12 to 1 o’clock, and the Librarian or other
members are usually present.
OFFICERS:
_President_, JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F. R. C. S.,
206 Bush Street.
_Vice President_, JAMES G. COOPER, M.D., 652 Howard
Street.
_Secretary_, THEODORE BRADLEY, Principal Boys’
High School.
_Corresponding Secretary_, HENRY N. BOLANDER, Principal
Cosmopolitan School.
_Treasurer,_ EDWARD BOSQUI, Publisher, 517 Clay
Street.
_Librarian_, A. KELLOGG, M.D., 622 Clay St.,
Academy’s Rooms.
_Director of the Museum_, H. BLOOMER, cor. Montgomery and
Jackson Streets.
CURATORS.
_General Zoology_, E.F. LORQUIN, 522 Pine Street.
_Conchology_, W. G. W. HARFORD, 622 Clay Street.
_Radiata_, J. B. TRASK, M.D., 206 Kearny Street.
_Entomology_, R. H. STRETCH, Room 50, Montgomery Block.
_Geology_, W. A. GOODYEAR, 615 Stockton Street.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES.
ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 5TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Twelve members present.
Ferdinand, Freiherr von Richthofen, was elected Corresponding Member.
The committee on the meteoric iron, presented to the city by General
Carleton, reported that permission had been obtained by Professor Whitney
to saw a piece from it for analysis, and for distribution to some of the
most important collections in this country and in Europe. A piece will
be forwarded to Professor Brush, of Yale College, for analysis, and a
description of the mass published in the Proceedings of the Academy, as
soon as the returns of the analysis have been received.
The Annual Reports of the officers of the Society for the past year
(1862) were received, and the following is an abstract of their contents:
The Report of the Treasurer was read, and referred to the Finance
Committee.
The Curator of Palæontology reported, that the number of specimens in
the collection is 1,007, exclusive of numerous duplicates. They are
principally from the cretaceous and tertiary formations of the Pacific
coast. The collection has been rearranged in the course of the past year,
and is now in as good condition as the accommodations of the Society will
admit.
The Curator of Botany reported, that 2,160 specimens were added to the
collection during the year 1862, making a total of 6,160 specimens in
the Academy’s herbarium. About twenty new specimens have been described
in the Proceedings during the past year, and specimens and drawings of
all of them have been placed in the collection. The herbarium is in good
condition.
The Curator of Entomology made a verbal report, to the effect that the
collections in his department, although small, are in good order; but
that few additions had been made during the year.
In the Zoological department, the Curator stated, that a few valuable
additions had been made to the collection during the year 1862; but that
much difficulty was experienced in arranging them, from the limited
space and means of the Academy. The alcoholic specimens have not been
rearranged during the year; some are in bad condition. All has been done
which could be, towards preserving the specimens in this department, with
the means at the command of the Curator.
In the absence of the Curator of Conchology (Dr. Trask) it was stated,
that the collection of shells had been arranged, and labeled, and placed
in cases during the year; the accommodations of the Academy, however, do
not admit of their being displayed.
The Curator of Mineralogy (Mr. Hanks) has removed from the city since the
last annual meeting; but previous to removing, he had made considerable
progress in rearranging and labeling the collection of minerals and ores,
and it is now in better order than it has ever before been.
The Librarian reported that valuable additions had been made to the
Library during the past year; chiefly through the instrumentality of the
Smithsonian Institution. The books are in good order; but many of them
need binding, and the want of room renders it impossible to place them
where they can be easily got at by the members.
The committee on nominations reported the following list of officers for
the year 1863, 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.
Prof. W. H. BREWER.
LIBRARIAN.
Prof. J. D. WHITNEY.
TREASURER.
WILLIAM HEFFLEY.
CURATORS.
G. F. MOORE Of Mineralogy.
W. M. GABB Palæontology.
A. KELLOGG, M.D. Botany.
J. G. COOPER, M.D. Zoology.
J. B. TRASK, M.D. Conchology.
H. BEHR, M.D. Entomology.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
By Dr. Cooper—Specimens of _Purpura septentrionalis_, from San Francisco,
and others from Oakland, of larger size—the latter not being natives of
this Bay, but brought from Shoalwater Bay, W. T., in cargoes of oysters.
By Mr. Bloomer—A collection of specimens of wood.
Dr. Cooper exhibited a specimen of coral, of the genus _Porites_,
probably an undescribed species. This mass of coral was drawn up by a
fisherman, from a depth of four fathoms, at the Farallones, and deposited
in the office of the Geological Survey by Mr. Lawson, of the Coast
Survey. The same species had been previously obtained by Dr. Cooper in
the Bay of Monterey, but it had never been found so far north before.
REGULAR MEETING, JANUARY 19TH, 1863.
Vice President, Dr. Trask, in the Chair.
Present, eleven members.
Dr. W. W. Hays, U. S. A., and Mr. William Ashburner were elected Resident
Members.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
A miscellaneous collection of plants, consisting of from two hundred
to three hundred species, from the Pacific slope, by H. G. Bloomer;
specimens of a _Yucca_, and of _Larrea Mexicana_, from Kern river, by J.
E. Clayton.
Mr. Bolander presented the following paper:
Description of a New Species of Melica.
BY H. N. BOLANDER.
MELICA L.
_M. stricta_ Bolander.
Spikelets very large, secund, horizontal, four to six-flowered;
flowers stipitate, upper ones imperfect and abortive, slightly
tinged with purple.
Glumes equal, oblong, membranaceous, five-nerved; nerves
evanescent at about three-quarters the length of the glumes;
scarious margined and pointed, nearly the length (one-half
inch) of the flowers.
Paleæ very unequal, chartaceous; lower oblong, seven-nerved,
all except the middle one evanescent at about two-thirds the
length of the palea; scabrous, largely scarious margined and
pointed; upper palea spathulate, bicarinate, ciliate, one-third
shorter than the lower.
Ovary obovate, contracted near the truncated apex, sessile,
smooth; styles terminal, divergent; stigmas plumose; pilis
fasciculate, minutely serrate; squammulæ very small, connate,
entire; stamens three; caryopsis?
Root perennial; culms upright, terate, striate, one and
one-half feet high, very brittle; sheaths striate, scabrous;
ligula exserted, lacerated; leaves narrow, one-sixteenth to
two-sixteenths of an inch wide, acuminate, outside and margins
scabrous, (four to seven inches long) striately nerved,
upright, nearly appressed.
Raceme upright, rather simple; branchlets smooth, appressed,
few-flowered; pedicels pubescent at the angle.
Collected by Mr. George W. Dunn, at Silver City, Nevada
Territory.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 2D, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, fourteen members.
Prof. P. P. Carpenter, of Manchester, England, was elected a
Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
Three jars of reptiles and fishes, collected by Mr. J. Xantus, in Lower
California, and mostly near Cape St. Lucas, were presented by Mr. Samuel
Hubbard.
Donations to the Library:
Volumes 1-27 of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, by H. G. Bloomer.
Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, for October,
November, and December, 1862, from the Society. Descriptions of shells
collected in the Rocky Mountains in 1860 by Dr. J. G. Cooper, by T. Bland
and J. G. Cooper.
The Publishing Committee laid volume two of the Proceedings of the
Academy, for the years 1858-62, upon the table: it was ordered by the
Academy that one hundred copies be sold to the members at one dollar per
copy, and that fifty copies be presented to the Smithsonian Institution
for foreign distribution.
Professor Whitney read the following communication:
On the Inaccuracy of the Eighth Census, so far as it Relates to the
Metallic and Mineral Statistics of the United States.
BY J. D. WHITNEY.
It has, for a long time, been a subject of regret, that our
United States Census returns are so imperfect; and that, in all
that relates to mining and metallurgy, they are especially and
extraordinarily unreliable. Mr. Kennedy’s “Preliminary Report
on the Eighth Census,” (1860), recently issued, is at hand,
and some remarks may here be made in reference to what appears
in it, which is connected with our mineral interests. It will
soon appear, from an examination of this public document, that
the same unfortunate ignorance in regard to one of the most
important of the sources of our national wealth, which has
characterized previous Census Reports, still prevails among
our officials at Washington; and that all which Mr. Kennedy’s
Report contains must be taken with many grains of allowance. It
is certainly the duty of those who are better posted to give
notice of these deficiencies, and to call public attention to
them again and again, in the hope that something may be done,
hereafter, to make this department of the Government less
ridiculous in the eyes of those who are acquainted with such
matters, and less liable to mislead those who look on a Census
Report as something to be blindly quoted, and relied on as a
document which must necessarily be correct.
The only metals in regard to which anything is stated in Mr.
Kennedy’s report are iron, nickel, lead, zinc, and copper; thus
omitting gold, silver, and quicksilver, of each of which we are
large producers. Of the mineral productions, coal is the only
one noticed.
The first metal mentioned in the text accompanying the tables
compiled from the Census returns is iron, and the quantity of
pig iron produced in 1860 is given at 884,474 tuns, valued at
$19,487,790, and this is stated to be an increase in the value
returned by the Census of 1850, of 44·4 per cent.
Here the question arises, how far are these figures to be
relied on as accurate? This can only be decided by comparison
with returns known to be approximately accurate, and of these
we have none later than the year 1856, in which year the make
of pig iron was ascertained, by the Iron-Makers’ Association,
to be 812,917 tuns. Either the Census returns of 1860 are too
low, as they were in 1850, or else the increase in this branch
of our industry has been very slight since 1849, when the make
of iron was ascertained by the Pennsylvania Iron-Masters to be
800,000 tuns. On the other hand, assuming the Census returns
of 1860 to be correct, there is no ground for making the
statement, as is done by Mr. Kennedy, that there has been an
increase of 44·4 per cent. in the value of the iron produced
in 1860 over that of 1850; it is evident that the increase
has been very slight, since 1846 or 1847 even, in which years
the make of this metal, on reliable authority, reached nearly
800,000 tuns.
But what shall we say of Mr. Kennedy’s method of arriving at
the production of iron, as related to the amount of population
in the United States, or the number of pounds produced per
head? To obtain this, he adds together the amount of pig iron
and the amount of bar and other wrought iron produced, and
thus obtains a result of 92 pounds of iron produced for each
inhabitant of the United States; which, as he says, “speaks
volumes for the progress of the nation in all its industrial
and material interests.” It speaks a volume or two for his own
ignorance of the elements of metallurgy; since, as everybody,
except the Superintendent of the United States Census, knows,
the bar and rolled iron is nearly all converted from the pig,
and only a small proportion made direct from the ore; so that
his method of computation is as near correct as it would
be, for instance, to estimate the amount of beef consumed
per head in San Francisco, by adding the weight of all the
cattle slaughtered in the city to that of the beef produced by
said slaughtering. As, in 1856, only 28,433 tuns of bar iron
were made directly from the ore, to 812,917 of pig produced;
so, allowing that 28,000 tuns were made direct in 1860, the
amount, per head, of all the iron made in that year would be
65 pounds, instead of 92, as Mr. Kennedy calculates.[1] Taking
the population of the United States at 23,000,000, in 1850, and
the make of iron at 800,000 tuns, as given by the returns of
the Commission of the Iron-Masters of Pennsylvania, the amount
produced, per head, in that year, would be 78 pounds; so that
all Mr. Kennedy’s glorification goes for naught, unless we
admit that his returns for 1860 are wrong.
In regard to the statistics of the other metals mentioned
in the Census Report, it may be said, with truth, that they
are very defective. No mention is made of gold, silver, or
mercury, the value of the first-named of which produced in
this country is nearly double that of all the other metals.
Under zinc, there is no mention made of New Jersey, the great
zinc-producing State. The yield of lead in the Mississippi
Valley is put down at considerably less than its real amount.
But the most important remark to be made, in this connection,
is in reference to the mode of reporting the results adopted by
Mr. Kennedy. Instead of giving the amount of _metal_ produced,
the number of tuns of _ore_ is stated, and no clue given to the
yield of the ore. This is something as an assessor’s report
would be, which should give the valuation of the individuals he
might be called on to appraise, in _pieces of money_, leaving
it uncertain whether five cent or twenty dollar pieces were
intended.
The table given by Mr. Kennedy does not state what amounts
of each metal are produced; and, if we attempt to arrive at
them by examining the columns of values, it is found to be
impossible to decide whether these values are those of the ore
as mined before being smelted, or of the metals produced from
them. In short, the whole matter is left in such obscurity,
that it is much to be wished that the table could be expunged
from the Report, as it can only serve to mislead and confuse
those who resort to Government documents for information in
regard to our metallic and mineral productions.
[1] In point of fact, the amount of bar iron made in the
bloomery furnaces direct from the ore is growing less every
year, and must be now reduced to a very small figure.
Dr. Cooper remarked that, since the publication of his paper on
Californian Mollusca, read before the Academy November 3d, 1862, (see
Proceedings, vol. II, p. 202) he finds the generic name STRATEGUS
preoccupied, and he now proposes, in its place, the name NAVARCHUS.
Professor Whitney exhibited a magnificent specimen of auriferous quartz,
in which the gold was associated with _Mispickel_, (Arsenical Pyrites.)
The weight of the mass was about five pounds, and the value of the gold
estimated at $1,500. It was obtained from the celebrated “Fellows Lode,”
on the Middle Yuba, in Sierra County. It is stated, on what is believed
to be reliable authority, that from $200,000 to $250,000 has been taken
from an excavation on the lode only ten feet long and four feet wide,
by crushing in hand-mortars. The occurrence of gold in connection with
mispickel, in the California mines, seems to be rare, at least in the
southern counties. In the specimen presented, the gold formed a coherent,
sponge-like mass, when the mispickel was dissolved.
Baron Richthofen remarked, that gold occurs associated with mispickel in
Silesia.
Mr. R. L. Harris made some remarks on the comparative friction of
car-wheels, on an iron track, when rolling and sliding, as shown by
experiments made on the street-railroad in Washington street. Here the
greatest grade is five hundred and twenty-eight feet per mile, or one in
ten, and it is found that, on a wet day, if the wheels are stopped by the
brakes, they will slide on the track; while, if the brakes are not put
down so hard but that the wheels can revolve, the car is entirely under
control. This is not the popular opinion, and the authorities generally
state, that the sliding friction is the greatest; but experience shows,
that the friction is really greatest when the sliding and rolling motions
are combined.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 16TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Fourteen members present.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
From J. E. Clayton, Esq., a set of ores from the Russ District,
California.
Donations to the Library:
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1857:
from Dr. Cooper. Astronomical and Meteorological Observations, made at
the U. S. Naval Observatory during the year 1861: from the U. S. Naval
Observatory.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:
Description of two New Species of Plants from Nevada Territory.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
APLOPAPPUS Cass.
_A. Nevadensis_ Kellogg. [FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
Suffrutescent, caudex branching, branches three to four inches
in height, somewhat ascending; rigid, striate, scabrous
throughout. Heads solitary and terminal, homochromous and
many-flowered. Leaves alternate, crowded near the base,
oblanceolate, very acute, quite entire, three-nerved; the
reticulate veins and nerves prominent, sub-petiolate (half
to one inch in length, by about one-fourth in breadth); the
lowermost leaves more distinctly petiolate, spatulate, obtuse,
or sub-acute; upper cauline leaves few or solitary, lanceolate,
very acute or acuminate, three-nerved.
Involucre campanulate, the greenish somewhat foliaceous scales
rigid, many-nerved, (chiefly three to five) margins scarious,
cleft-ciliate, or somewhat fimbriate, oblanceolate, acute, in
three series, often one or two bractoid scales at the base.
Receptacle flat, alveolate; alveoli toothed, naked. Rays (about
eight) orange-yellow, oblong-oval, two or three-toothed,
pistillate, fertile, tube slender, about as long as the
achenia, or one-third to half the length of the ligule.
Disk corolla cylindrical, slightly expanding, five-toothed,
erect, glabrous. The achenia (about twenty, including the ray)
angular, oblong, somewhat compressed; base cuneate, satiny
appressed pubescent (with white hairs); pappus of unequal
capillary scabrous bristles, rigid and fragile, or deciduous.
Appendages of the style much longer than the stigmatic portion,
lance-subulate, hispid, much exsert, erect-spreading.
This plant was brought from Nevada Territory by Mr. Herbert C.
Dorr.
MIRABILIS L.
_M. Californica_ Gray, Var. _villosa_ Kellogg.
Stem about a foot in height, somewhat ascending, flexuous,
divaricately branching, nodose, internodes slightly curved;
minutely villous throughout. Leaves rounded-cordate, obtuse,
entire, three to five-nerved; the uppermost ovate-cordate,
petioles short, (one-fourth to one-sixth the length of the
lamina).
Flowers pedicellate, in loose terminal dichotomous panicles,
with a solitary flower in the axils; perigonium pink, pedicels
recurved in fruit.
This plant, from the interior—Devil’s Gate and Carson
River—differs much from the plate of the coast plant of the
Mexican Boundary Report. It is not at all “glabrous,” nor are
the flowers “sub-sessile;” the pairs of leaves are remote,
with a much more open and spreading aspect; the flowers are
pentandrous and deciduous.
Mr. Harris exhibited a section of a pile, from a wharf at Rincon Point,
which fell a few days since, having been destroyed by the boring of the
_Teredo_, (properly a _Xylotrya_.) The material of the pile is Oregon
pine; it had been in the water less than six years, but is now completely
perforated in all directions. The subject of the best means of protection
for piles, against attacks of the _Teredo_, was discussed at some length
by various members.
Dr. Ayres stated that, as yet, no reliable preventive had been
discovered, except that of sheathing the pile with metal. Several years
ago the same subject came before the Academy, and Drs. Ayres and Trask
were appointed a Committee to investigate the subject. All external
applications which have been proposed fail in practice, from the wearing
away of the surface by the waves, and they are but little better than the
natural bark. It has not appeared that the saving in time was equal to
the expense incurred by thus protecting the piles. At Boston, where there
are two species destructive of timber, they find no preventive, short of
sheathing the piles with copper.
In the French works on this subject, it has been stated that the bark
affords no protection; but, on the contrary, aids the young animals in
introducing themselves into the wood. This has not been found to be
the case in this bay, where the bark does, on the contrary, assist in
preserving the timber.
The fact was also stated, by one of the members, that the piles of the
wharfs in the southern part of the city suffer much from attacks of the
_Teredo_; while those of the northern portion are comparatively exempt.
The fact was mentioned, that piles have been entirely destroyed here in
six months from the time they were placed in the water.
Prof. Brewer made some remarks on the method of calculating altitudes by
observation with a single barometer. He gave an account of the methods
adopted by the Geological Survey for computation, in cases where there
was no station barometer nearer than the bay, or the valley of the
Sacramento.
Dr. Trask mentioned that the weight of the Honcut meteoric iron presented
by him to the Academy, at the meeting of March 17th, 1862, was six
ounces, one hundred and twenty-eight grains, troy.
Professor Whitney called attention to the curious errors in a paper
published in Petermann’s Mittheilungen, 1861, page 133, which purports
to be a translation into German of a portion of a work published by Mr.
J. Xantus, describing his journey in Lower California. He describes a
quicksilver mine of great importance as being worked at Marques; but the
description which he gives of it shows that it is the New Almaden mine
which, in reality, he visited, and which, by some confusion of his notes,
he has located in Lower, instead of Upper California. No mercury mine is
worked on the California peninsula, so far as can be ascertained. It is
evident that Mr. Xantus’s notice of rich gold, lead and copper mines on
the peninsula must be taken with many grains of allowance.
On motion of Dr. Ayres, it was ordered, that twenty-five copies of
the second volume of the Proceedings be placed at the disposal of the
Publishing Committee for distribution to learned societies, public
libraries, and distinguished scientific men in the Atlantic States.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 2D, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, fifteen members.
Dr. J. P. Kirtland, of Cleveland, Ohio, was elected a corresponding
member.
Donations to the Cabinet.
By Mr. Rowlandson, specimen of the wool of the Alpacca and Vicuña,
brought from Peru by Capt. Bissell, of the United States sloop-of-war
_Cyane_.
Donations to the Library.
The American Journal of Science, for January, 1863, from the editors.
Mr. Gabb communicated two papers by Mr. Rémond, containing descriptions
of new fossils from California.
Description of two New Species of Bivalve Shells, from the Tertiaries of
Contra Costa County.
BY AUGUSTE RÉMOND.
CARDIUM Brug.
_C. Gabbii_ Rémond.
Shell cordate, ventricose, nearly equilateral; posterior
side truncated, direct; anterior side slightly depressed;
height and length nearly equal. Umbones very prominent; beaks
incurved, approximate; lunule well marked, carinated; surface
even, with fine imbricated lines of growth. Hinge (of the left
valve) comparatively narrow; anterior fosset small, shallow,
triangular; cartilage pit large, deep, long; lateral teeth
heavy, thick, prominent.
Locality: vicinity of Kirker’s Pass, south of New York (of the
Pacific) Plain from a late tertiary deposit.
The _C. Gabbii_ will easily be distinguished from any other
species yet discovered, from its heavy hinge and enormous
lateral teeth. I take great pleasure in dedicating this
beautiful fossil to Mr. W. M. Gabb, to whom I am indebted for
repeated assistance in my palæontological studies.
This species occurs in shelly sands, together with _Tapes
regularis_ Gabb and _Murex ponderosus_ Gabb, two other extinct
species. The specimens are in the collection of Mr. W. M. Gabb
and my own.
OSTREA L.
_O. Bourgeoisii_ Rémond.
The description is from two lower valves, from the collections
of Mr. l’Abbé Bourgeois (Pont-Levoy, France) and Mr. Pioche,
(San Francisco.)
Shell sub-oval, higher than long, strongly contracted near the
cardinal area, sub-rounded on the ventral margin; inferior
valve comparatively thin, convex, irregular exteriorly, with
remote, somewhat rugose, plaits of growth. Ligament fosset
long, profound, minutely wrinkled and finely striated, oblique
and turned downwards; muscular impression very large, oblique,
and sub-central, somewhat prominent.
Locality: vicinity of Kirker’s Pass, from a late tertiary bed.
I dedicate this new species to Mr. Bourgeois, Professor of
Natural History at the School of Pont-Levoy, (Loir-et-Cher,
France) who was my first teacher in geology.
Description of two Species of Scutella.
BY AUGUSTE RÉMOND.
SCUTELLA Lam.
_S. Gibbsii_ Rémond.
Disk oblong-sub-oval, rounded before and truncated behind,
posteriorly convex above, slightly depressed in front;
inferior surface flat, somewhat concave about the mouth.
Apex about midway between the center and posterior margin;
ambulacral star non-symmetrical; petals unequal, open at their
extremities. Anterior petal straight, longer than the others;
the lateral ones nearly straight, diverging from the apex with
an angle of about eighty degrees; posterior petals very short,
sub-oval, having the anterior side most curved. Four rows of
pores in each petal; the inner pores transverse, the outer
ones pointed obliquely inwards. Mouth posteriorly sub-central;
anal-aperture small, submarginal. Ambulacral furrows double,
nearly symmetrical, slightly ramified. Each ambulacral and
inter-ambulacral space is occupied by two rows of irregular
plates, either pentagonal or hexagonal. Tubercles numerous,
crowded in the ambulacral furrows, but much worn off in the
specimens examined.
Locality: Kern Lake, Buena Vista County.
The specimens described are in the collection of the Academy;
they were found by Dr. Gibbs, to whom the species is dedicated.
Obs.—This species, considered by Mr. Gabb as of probably
miocene age, is closely allied to the _S. striatula_, which is
found living on the Californian coast, and occurs fossil in
the _faluns_ (miocene formation) of Bordeaux, France; but it
differs from it in the outlines and the size of the shell, the
former being comparatively small and longer than broad, while
the latter is broader than long. Besides, the apex of the _S.
Gibbsii_ is situated more posteriorly, and the lateral petals,
in the _S. striatula_, diverge from the apex, with an angle of
from one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifteen degrees;
this latter has also its ambulacral furrows more ramified at
their extremities.
_S. interlineata_ W. P. Blake.
Disk sub-circular, broad, upper surface convex towards the
middle, depressed on the margins, plane beneath; apex central;
ambulacral star symmetrical; petals long, equal, closed at
their extremities, nearly reaching from the apex to the margin
of the shell, terminated by five or six irregular hexagonal
plates. The petals are longitudinally divided into four rows,
which are connected by numerous and regular transverse lines
of pores. Mouth central; anus submarginal; ambulacral furrows
symmetrical, not much ramified. Inter-ambulacral areas occupied
by two rows of pentagonal plates, convex, of equal length,
increasing in size until they unite with the ambulacral plates;
hexagonal from that point and decreasing towards the margin.
Two sorts of appendages; spinous processes numerous and
crowded, above and beneath. Spines of the superior surface
short, striated, pyriform, irregularly pentagonal or hexagonal;
inferior spines slender, comparatively long, dentaliform,
striated longitudinally, tubular and round.
Obs.—Water-worn fragments of this fine fossil occur in
abundance on the beach, between Merced Lake and the Pacific,
south of Point Lobos, in San Francisco County. It was made
known to science by Mr. W. P. Blake, Geologist of the Railroad
Survey, who found it in 1853, among the shingles thrown up
by the surf, and first described by Mr. W. Stimpson. At
that time the locality whence the scutellæ were derived had
not been discovered, so that the specimens obtained being
imperfect, no complete description could be made; this is
the reason why I offer a new and complete description of
the _Scutella interlineata_, from specimens procured _in
situ_. As was suggested by Mr. W. P. Blake, the rocks bearing
these fossils are found a few miles southward, north of the
boundary line between San Mateo and San Francisco Counties,
where the scutellæ stick out from conglomeratic sandstones,
which Mr. Gabb considers as belonging to the _pliocene_ or
_post-pliocene_ formation; we find them in a fine state of
preservation, with their spines retained.
The _S. interlineata_ is figured in the Railroad Reports;
see vol. V, Geological Report, plate IV, fig. 30; and for
Mr. Blake’s remarks and Mr. Stimpson’s description, the same
Report, chap. XII, p. 153.
Dr. J. Blake made some remarks on specimens, presented by him, of
infusoria, found in the sand-hills, south of Point Lobos, and which form
a kind of concretions, fixing the sand in its place.
Dr. Ayres made the following remarks in relation to the genus
NOTORHYNCHUS:
This genus was defined by me in 1855 (Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat.
Sci., vol. I, p. 72) to include a species occurring in the Bay
of San Francisco. In 1858 Girard refers to the species (P. R.
R. Rep., vol. X, p. 367) under the generic name HEPTANCHUS, of
which he considers NOTORHYNCHUS a synonym. In 1861, Mr. Gill
refers it to Rafinesque’s genus HEPTRANCHIAS. (Annals of the
Lyc. Nat. Hist., N. Y., vol. VIII, Dec.) In a more recent paper
(Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., Oct., 1862) Mr. Gill restores my
species to the name under which it was originally described.
He says: “This generic name of NOTORHYNCHUS was proposed by
Dr. Ayres under a misapprehension.” My “misapprehension”
was that I regarded the species as the type of a new genus;
a conclusion at which Mr. Gill himself has, after several
changes, also arrived. He gives as a synonym of NOTORHYNCHUS
only “HEPTANCHUS, Sp. Müller and Henle, Gray, Girard, Gill,”
whereas it is necessary to include also “HEPTRANCHIAS, Gill,”
as above indicated.
I may remark that the description given by Mr. Gill of the
teeth of _Notorhynchus maculatus_, (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.,
Phil., Oct., 1862, p. 495) will not bear examination. It
represents the individual specimen on which it was founded; but
the species is quite common here, and I find that the number
and the forms of the teeth vary so much, that my original
description, which Mr. Gill says is “equally applicable to any
species of the family,” is fully as close as nature will allow
us to draw. I am at a loss to understand how it is possible
for him to refer the jaws of a shark, collected at a point
so far removed from us as Nisqually, to my species, when my
description is so extremely indefinite.
Professor Whitney gave an account of an interesting collection of
Japanese minerals and fossils, in the possession of J. H. Van Reed, Esq.,
of this city.
This collection comprises over one thousand specimens of rocks,
ores, fossils, and miscellaneous objects of natural history.
It is supposed that they are chiefly of Japanese origin; but,
as there is among them a fragment of a Dutch tobacco-pipe,
carefully labeled, there may be other objects in the collection
from foreign countries. The articles are all labeled, in the
Japanese language: they are carefully fastened to the cases in
which they are arranged, with exquisite Japanese neatness. The
small crystals are inclosed in glass receptacles, having nearly
the form of two large watch-crystals, attached to each other by
the edges.
In the general character of the specimens in this collection,
a singular resemblance was noticed to the productions of
California, especially in the fossils and silicified woods, of
which latter there are a number of beautiful specimens. There
are several bivalve shells of pliocene or miocene tertiary
age, and some casts of gasteropods, exquisitely formed in
chalcedony. A number of sharks’ teeth, of the genus _Lamna_,
were also noticed. Among the fossils is a single shell of
palæozoic age, a _Spirifer_; it is not impossible, however,
that this may have been carried from China to Japan; at all
events, a _Spirifer_ from that country resembling this, and
of Devonian age, has been described in the Proceedings of the
Geological Society of London.
There are quite a number of specimens of copper ore in the
collection; they are all of the common yellow sulphuret,
(chalcopyrite) except one or two of erubescite. This would
indicate that the principal ore of this metal in Japan, as in
other countries, is the sulphuret of copper and iron.
Native gold in quartz is also present in the collection;
but no ores of silver were noticed, except one specimen of
steel-grained galena, which is probably argentiferous. There
are several specimens of realgar. Among the other minerals
noticed were: calcite, adularia, chalybite, in the form of
_flos ferri_, garnets, small crystals of pyroxene, crystals
of mica, pectolite, and another zeolitic mineral resembling
Thomsonite, as also native sulphur, obsidian, and a variety of
volcanic rocks and lavas.
The collection is quite interesting, and would be more so if
the labels could be read. The principal inference to be drawn
from it, is the predominance of volcanic formations, and of the
later tertiary strata, in the region in which this collection
was made.
Dr. Ayres called attention to a remarkable turtle, in the possession
of Mr. Van Reed, known as the “Sacred Turtle” of the Japanese. It is a
species of Emys, closely allied to _E. terrapin_. Its marked peculiarity
is, that its back is covered by a growth of _conferva_, which is often
several inches long, and which gives the animal its sacred character
among the Japanese, who believe this growth to be _hair_. The species is
allied to _C. rivularis_; but the cells are more elongated. Dr. Ayres
stated that he had observed a growth of _conferva_ on various aquatic
and amphibious animals in New England, and that, in these, it was always
attended by disease, with more or less ulcerated at the roots. He was
satisfied that this was always the case with fishes exhibiting this
growth. The turtle in question, however, does not show any evidence of
disease.
Dr. Ayres made some further remarks on the similarity of the fishes of
Mr. Van Reed’s collection to species found in California.
Mr. Gabb noticed a resemblance in the fossils to those of this State.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 16TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Nine members present.
The attention of the Academy was called to the fact that the names of
Dr. W. Newcomb, of Oakland, and of Mr. H. C. Bennett, of Columbia, both
Corresponding Members of several years’ standing, had been omitted from
the published list.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
Specimen of tree cotton, from near Mazatlan, Mexico; presented by Dr.
Trask.
Donations to the Library:
Alternate generation of Annelids, by A. Agassiz. Proceedings of the
Boston Natural History Society, vol. IX, sheets 1 and 2. Report of the
Trustees of the State Lunatic Asylum for 1862.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:
Description of two New Species of Collomia from Nevada Territory.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
COLLOMIA Nutt.
_C. tinctoria_ Kellogg. [FIG. 2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
Stem erect, slender, one to three inches in height (often so
minute as to appear almost stemless) villous and pulvurently
viscid glandular throughout. Leaves opposite, lower pair
oblong-spatulate obtuse, lamina slightly decurrent down the
petioles; those above, lanceolate, petiolate, acute, or
acuminate, mucronate, one-nerved, quite entire.
The minute yellow flowers crowded at the summit in pairs,
from the axils of the much abbreviated branchlets, short,
pedicellate; and with the long, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate,
bractoid leaves aggregated into a somewhat dense, subsessile
head. Calyx obconic, membranaceously diaphanous at the base;
segments green, cup prismatic (or pentangular); also with five
prominent processes, or folds, at the clefts, the semi-lanced
segments acute, or acuminate, subulate pointed, three-nerved.
The filiform flowers twice the length of the calyx, border
spreading, tube contracted below, stamens equal, or sub-equal,
inserted into the throat; capsule obovate, emarginate.
A very diminutive species from the western slope of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, found by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr. The plant
yields a beautiful yellow dye, hence the specific name.
_C. micrantha_ Kellogg. [FIG. 3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
Plant upright, simple, or branching above; somewhat
viscid-pubescent.
Lower leaves opposite, ovate, obtuse, petioles very short;
middle cauline leaves ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute,
corneously mucronate, sessile or subsessile, three to
seven-nerved; upper leaves mostly alternate, all somewhat
silky, viscid-pubescent. Flowers pedicellate, axillary
and terminal in a condensed, sub-cymose head; calyx lobes
sub-equal, linear-lanceolate, often sub-spatulate, acute,
corneously mucronate, three-nerved, ciliate, cleft to the
middle (membranous between the segments as in _Gillia_).
Flowers filiform, very minute, one-third to one-half longer
than the calyx; border blue, throat slightly swelled, stamens
included, three long and two short, style simple, stigma
undivided, about as long as the tube. Capsule oval, compressed
(?), about three-seeded, seeds oblong, cuneate, flattened.
A plant four to six inches in height, found by Mr. G. W. Dunn,
in the vicinity of Silver City, Nevada Territory. In one of
the specimens the first pair of leaves appears to manifest a
serrate tendency.
Dr. Trask stated, that the tree cotton presented by him was said to be
the produce of a shrub from four to fifteen feet high. It is described as
growing in a pod like a banana, the shrub forming a high chaparral. The
staple is long and fine; but nothing is known of its commercial value.
Dr. Behr remarked that it closely resembled species of BOMBAX and
ERIODENDRON, abundant in South America and the East Indies, but not there
considered as of value as a substitute for cotton.
Dr. Trask made some remarks in regard to certain species of CONFERVA,
which appear to be sensitive, like the species of SCHRANKIA.
Prof. Brewer stated that he had recently received a communication from
Professor Planchon, of South France, in regard to suitable forage plants
for dry regions. In that country the _Medicago sativa_, or Lucerne, was
considered the most valuable, and next to it the Sainfoin.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 5TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, ten members; and Mr. W. S. Moses, by invitation.
Donations to the Library:
Chart of the oscillations of the Sacramento River, by T. M. Logan,
M.D. Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, for
September, 1862. Journal of the Boston Natural History Society, volume
VII, Nos. 2 and 3.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:
Description of a New Genus and Species of Plant from Nevada Territory.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
PTEROSTEPHANUS Kellogg.
Involucre obconically-companulate; scales loosely imbricated in
about two to three series; the exterior unequal, calyculate,
suborbicular, oval, or oblong, obtuse; the inner series (of
about eight) sub-equal, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse; scarious
margins entire; (a broad, diffusely green line marks the
centre). Receptacle naked, alveolate, alveoli, toothed. Achenia
(mature wanting), oblong, sub-cuneate, or sub-obovate, somewhat
compressed (?), slightly contracted at the crown, smooth,
sub-pubescent above, on a short stipe. Pappus double; the
exterior coroniform, persistent—a hyaline crateriform cup, with
an even but minutely crenulate edge; interior of five (white)
plumose, glabrous bristles, gradually dilating towards the base.
Californian herbs, with runcinately, pinnatifid, radical
leaves, and numerous naked scapes, bearing solitary,
tigulate, yellow flowers; closely allied to _Malacothrix_ and
_Calycoseris_, but with a plumose pappus.
_P. runcinatus_ Kellogg. [FIG. 4.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
Acaulescent, several naked scapes, two to four inches high,
sub-glabrous, (rarely a few scattering glandular hairs); leaves
radical, runcinately pinnatifid, lobes spinulose, frosty, or
sub-wooly, pubescent, three to seven-nerved, short petioles
winged, dilated at the base; rosulate, from a simple perennial
somewhat fusiform root.
Professor Whitney exhibited a new mass of meteoric iron, found near La
Paz, on the Colorado River, in New Mexico, by Hermann Ehrenberg, Esq. A
description and analysis will be furnished at a future meeting.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 20TH, 1863.
Vice President, Dr. Trask, in the Chair.
Present, seven members.
Philip Lutley Sclater, Esq., of London, England, was elected a
Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet:
Three species of Reptiles from San Mateo, and one from Marin County,
collected and presented by Mr. Bolander.
Dr. Cooper communicated the following description of a new Californian
Mollusc, discovered by Rev. Joseph Rowell, at Marysville, in the waters
of Feather River.
GUNDLACHIA Pfeiffer.
_G. Californica_ Rowell. [FIG. 5.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
Shell with the aperture sub-oval, obliquely expanded towards
the left, posteriorly ronaded, and wider anteriorly. Internal
shelf reaching forward about one-fifth the length of the shell,
its margin slightly concave and oblique.
Dorsal surface convex, becoming somewhat keel-shaped towards
the apex, which is strongly and obliquely deflected so as
to make the right border nearly a straight line, while the
expansion on the left projects nearly as far back as the apex,
at an obtuse angle. Structure corneous, with strong concentric
lines of growth, and faint radiating striæ. Color dark brown,
opaque; inner surface shining and purplish, the plate white
towards the edge, and in some specimens showing a thickened,
white semicircle continuous with its margin across the arch of
the shell.
Length about sixteen one-hundredths, breadth eight
one-hundredths, and height six one-hundredths of an English
inch.
More than fifty specimens were found on water plants in clear
stagnant ponds, two or more often sticking on the back of a
larger one.
The discovery of this little shell in California is of great
interest, the only species hitherto known being found in Cuba.
The generic characters of this shell are strictly parallel
with that species, while those mentioned as specific easily
distinguish it. The Cuban shell is more elongated, regularly
oval, the apex projecting considerably beyond the margin of
the aperture, which is not obliquely expanded posteriorly. Its
size is about one-fifth larger than that of ours. According to
Bourguignat, the young shell is a simple obtuse cone, with a
semicircular aperture formed by the edge of the shelf, and the
thickened dorsal margin; but as it grows, the animal changes
the form of the aperture until the opening beneath the shelf
becomes like the small end of a broad funnel, which in some of
our specimens is still shown by the white semicircular ring.
The shell much resembles that of the marine _Crypta_
(_Crepidula_), and also _Navicella_ of tropical estuaries; but
the animal is quite different in the Cuban species, and will
undoubtedly prove so in the Californian.
Mr. Hanks mentioned that he had collected about two hundred specimens of
minerals for the Academy in Owen’s Lake Valley, and that there were also
some bones with them from a well thirty feet deep, presented by Mr. H. M.
McCormick; all of which would be forwarded to San Francisco as soon as
possible.
REGULAR MEETING, MAY 4TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, eleven members.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
A collection of pine cones, from H. G. Bloomer. A specimen of rock,
containing cretaceous fossils, from the vicinity of Fort Tejon (?), by E.
T. Schenck. Two specimens of _Monocentris Japonicus_ Cuv. from Dr. Ayres.
Donations to the Library:
Commercial Relations of the United States for the year ending Sept.
30th, 1861, from the Department of the Interior. Classification of the
Coleoptera of North America, by John Le Conte, M.D., Part I. Smithsonian
Instructions for collecting eggs and nests of North American birds.
Smithsonian Directions for collecting, preserving, and transporting
specimens of Natural History: the three last-named volumes were presented
by Dr. Ayres.
Professor Whitney read the following communication in regard to the
progress of the State Geological Survey of California.
The Act of the Legislature authorizing a geological survey of
this State was approved April 21st, 1860; but operations were
not commenced until about the first of December of that year,
consequently the work has been in progress for a little more
than two years.
The plan of the survey, according to the requirements of
the act by which it was organized, demands “an accurate
and complete geological survey of the State,” and a report
containing “a full and scientific description of its rocks,
fossils, soils, and minerals, and of its botanical and
zoological productions.” Provision is also made for the
collection of specimens in all departments of geology and
natural history, which specimens are to be deposited “in such
place as shall be hereafter provided for that purpose by the
Legislature.”
The following persons have been employed on the survey since
it was commenced: Professor W. H. Brewer, as Principal
Assistant, and specially in charge of the department of Botany
and Agricultural Geology. Professor Brewer, however, up to
the present time, has been chiefly engaged in the geological
field work of the Survey. Mr. William Ashburner was employed
from the commencement of the work, up to the spring of 1862,
in the field; and, for a considerable portion of the time, in
examining the gold-quartz mines and machinery in the principal
mining counties of the Sierra Nevada. Mr. A. Rémond served as
volunteer, in the field work, during the season of 1862. Mr. W.
M. Gabb took the place of Palæontologist to the Survey at the
beginning of the year 1862, which position he still continues
to hold. Mr. C. Averill was connected with the Survey from
its commencement up to the month of February last, as Clerk,
Commissary, and Barometrical Observer. Dr. J. G. Cooper has
been in charge of the department of Zoology, and has been
employed, at intervals, as the financial condition of the
Survey permitted, since July 1st, 1861. In the topographical
department, Mr. C. F. Hoffmann has been employed constantly
since March, 1861; and Mr. V. Wackenreuder, at intervals,
during the past year.
The uncertainty peculiar to all undertakings of this kind in
the United States, arising from the necessity of appealing
to each successive Legislature for the means of carrying
on the work, and the disturbed state of the country during
the whole time since we commenced operations, as also the
unfortunate condition of the finances of the State, which has
kept the treasury from one to two years behind in the payment
of the legislative appropriations, have combined to render
it difficult to arrange and carry out as systematic a plan
for the conduct of the work as would, under more favorable
circumstances, have been practicable.
Two ideas have, however, as far as possible, governed the
survey in its operations: the first was, to make, as rapidly as
could be done, a reconnoissance of the State, with the view
of acquiring a knowledge of its general geological structure,
the age of the various formations which occur in it, and as
complete a general idea as possible of their range and extent,
so that a foundation might be laid for the detailed work which
would follow the preliminary examination; the second idea was,
at the same time that the general examination was going on, to
work up in detail certain more important districts, so that the
public might have light on questions of economical interest,
and at the same time be able to form an idea of what the work
might be if ever carried to completion. Besides this, the
natural history part of the survey was to be carried on, in
connection with the geological work, as rapidly as possible,
progress in all departments being necessarily proportioned to
the varying amounts of the annual appropriations.
California is covered by a vast net-work of mountain ranges,
separated by comparatively narrow valleys, with the exception
of those of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, which do not,
together, cover more than one-fifteenth of the area of the
State. The remaining fourteen-fifteenths may be called
mountainous, as the valleys include but a small portion of its
surface. Into this mountainous region no accurate surveys have
ever been carried; even the General Land Office work stops at
the base of the mountains. A few ranch lines have been run
among the moderately elevated portions of the Coast Ranges;
but, as a general thing, the genuine Mexican grants were
limited to the plains.
Without considerable topographical work in connection with the
geological survey we should, then, be entirely unable to carry
on our geological work with any pretense to accuracy, as we
could neither locate our observations nor make our descriptions
of the country intelligible. The authority for doing something
for the increase of the geographical knowledge of the State is
found in the clause of the act authorizing the survey, which
requires “proper maps” to accompany the reports.
What has been done, up to the present time, in this department
may be briefly recapitulated as follows:
A series of maps, forty-nine in number, has been compiled by
Mr. Hoffmann from the original documents at the United States
Surveyor-General’s Office; the scale of these is half an inch
to the mile. They contain a compilation of nearly all that is
known at that office in regard to the geography of the State.
The maps, as thus blocked out, have been used by us in the
field, by filling in the topography wherever our route has laid.
The maps which have been or are now being prepared for
publication are:
1st. A map of the vicinity of the Bay of San Francisco, on
a scale of half an inch to the mile, four feet by three; it
extends from near Santa Cruz on the south to Napa on the north,
and from the Pacific to Corral Hollow, east and west. The area
of land which it covers is 4,248 square miles, which is just
twice that of the State of Delaware, and only lacks two hundred
square miles of equaling that of Connecticut. As near as can
be ascertained, it contains one-third of the population of the
State, and has about thirty inhabitants to the square mile—the
average density of the population of California being but
little over two to the square mile. This map, on which all the
details of the topography are given, as minutely as the scale
allows, is nearly completed, and will be soon ready for the
engraver.
2d. A detailed map, on a scale of two inches to the mile, of
the vicinity of Mount Diablo; this is about two and one-half by
three feet in dimensions, and includes the most important coal
mining district yet known to exist in the State. The map can be
made ready for the engraver in a few days.
3d. A map of the Coast Ranges, from the Bay of Monterey south
to Santa Barbara. It is about three feet by two and one-half
in dimensions, is on a scale of six miles to the inch, and
embraces about 16,000 square miles of territory. To complete it
will require about another year’s work in the field with two
sub-parties.
4th. Map of the Washoe silver-mining region—three and one-half
by two and one-half feet in dimensions, on a scale of two
inches to the mile—and extending over all the important
mining ground of the district. This map is from an accurate
trigonometrical survey by V. Wackenreuder; it is nearly
completed.
5th. Map of the Comstock Lode, on a scale of four hundred feet
to the inch, completed.
6th. Map of the central portion of the Sierra Nevada; scale
not yet determined on. Extensive surveys have been made by
Mr. Wackenreuder for this part of the work, and these will be
continued during the present season.
Of the above mentioned maps, Nos. 1 and 2 will accompany the
first volume of the Report. Nos. 4, 5, and probably 6, the
second volume.
It is intended, if the survey is carried to completion, to
construct a final map of the State on a scale of six miles to
the inch, in nine sheets, each about three feet square.
In addition to the regular topographical work, an extensive
series of barometrical observation has been made, for the
determination of altitudes, some two hundred and fifty
important points having been ascended and measured. The most
interesting operation in this department was the determination
of the height of Mount Shasta, which, by an elaborate series of
observations, we found to be 14,440 feet above the sea level.
This is the first of the lofty volcanic peaks of the Sierra
Nevada which has been accurately measured.
In the department of geology proper, our explorations have
extended over portions of forty of the forty-six counties into
which the State is divided; and when it is remembered that the
average size of a county is equal to half that of the State of
Massachusetts, (California having just twenty-four times the
area of that State,) some idea of the magnitude of our work may
be obtained. The chain of the Sierra Nevada may be parallelized
with that of the Alps for extent and average elevation; while
the Coast Ranges are nearly as extensive as the Appalachian
chain of mountains.
We have obtained a pretty clear idea of the general structure
of the Coast Ranges from Los Angeles to Clear Lake; the
vicinity of the Bay of San Francisco has been worked out in
considerable detail, including all of San Francisco, San Mateo,
Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties, with
portions of Santa Cruz, Solano, Napa, and Sonoma. Considerable
field-work has been done in the Sierra Nevada, chiefly in
the lower portion of the range between Mariposa and Shasta
Counties. Our observations have also been extended to the
Washoe Region, and we have received considerable collections of
fossils from the Humboldt Mining District, (known by this name
on the Pacific Coast, but designated on Warren’s Map as the
“West Humboldt River Range,” and in longitude 180°) by which we
have been able to fix the age of the formations in that region.
Mr. Gabb has been chiefly occupied, the past year, in figuring
and describing the cretaceous fossils of the Coast Ranges
and the foot-hills of the Sierra, of which he has nearly
two hundred new species ready for publication. He has also
described the triassic fossils, collected by the Survey at
Washoe, and by Gorham Blake, Esq., in the Humboldt Range. The
fossils older than the Trias have been referred to Mr. Meek for
investigation. A portion of the fossil plants have been placed
in the hands of Dr. J. S. Newberry for description.
It is to the department of General Geology that, up to the
present time, by far the greater portion of our attention has
been given, since the first thing required in a geological
survey is a knowledge of the general geological structure of
the State, the age of the various formations which occur in it,
and their range and extent, or the position which they occupy
on the surface, and their relations to each other. Each group
of strata, thus determined by its lithological peculiarities,
and by the fossils which it contains, is then to be laid down
upon the map, in the position in which its outcrop occupies on
the surface. The general character of the minerals and ores
which occur in each formation or group of strata having been
thus determined, the details of their mode of occurrence, their
relative abundance, and the facilities which may exist in
each separate district for making them economically available
must, after the preliminary general work has been done, be
the object of more special and detailed examinations. It is
not, however, the business of a geological surveying corps to
act, to any considerable extent, as a prospecting party; to do
this, would require that we should confine our operations to a
very limited area; the labors of the whole corps for an entire
season would not suffice to thoroughly prospect more than a
few hundred square miles in a very rich mineral region, and
we should have often to engage in expensive mining operations
to decide what was really of permanent value. It is our task,
rather, to limit the field of research, and to show to others
where their labors will be best bestowed, preventing foolish
expenditures of time and money in searching for what our
general geological investigations have determined not to exist
in sufficient quantity, in certain formations, to be worth
working. Especially in the first years of our work, in a State
of such an immense area as California, our labors have more the
character of a geological reconnoissance than of a detailed
survey.
Already, however, during the progress of our work, a large
amount of information has been collected in regard to the
mode of occurrence and abundance of the useful ores and
minerals of this State and the adjoining Territories. The
principal deposits of coal have been carefully examined, and
their geological position ascertained. Most of the important
quartz mines of the State have been visited by Mr. Ashburner,
and a large amount of information has been collected by him,
preparatory to an elaborate investigation and report on
this important branch of the industry of the Pacific Coast.
Considerable work has been done, preliminary to a full report
on the geology, mineralogy, and metallurgy of the Washoe region.
In the department of botany and agricultural geology, the work
has thus far been chiefly confined to collecting the plants of
the State.
Extensive duplicate suites have been preserved both for study
and exchange, the specimens now collected amounting to not
less than twelve thousand or fifteen thousand in number, and
embracing probably half of all the species described from the
State, besides many new and undescribed ones. The collections
have been made by Professor Brewer while engaged in geological
explorations, at a very trifling expenditure of time and money.
In the department of Agriculture proper, less has been done,
owing to limited means. Partial preparation was made for
investigating the subject of grape culture, and the production
of wines; but discontinued from the same cause. Especial
attention has been paid to our native forage plants, to aid in
devising some means of arresting the rapid decrease of forage
in this State, and correspondence entered into to obtain all
possible information on this subject from other regions whose
climates are similar to our own.
In the zoölogical department—in charge of Dr. J. G. Cooper,
who has been employed about half the time since the Survey was
commenced—the annexed table gives a succinct idea of what had
been accomplished, up to the close of the year 1862, in the way
of collecting.
f========+=================================================
|Number of species in the collection.
| +-------------------------------------------
| |Of which there are new to California.
| | +-------------------------------------
| | |Believed to be new, or undescribed.
| | | +-----------------------------
Class. | | | |Other Californian species
| | | |not yet collected.
| | | | +-----------------------
| | | | |Total number credited
| | | | |to California.
| | | | | +-----------------
| | | | | |Of which there
| | | | | |are found east
| | | | | |the Mississippi.
---------+-----+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----------------
Mammalia | 32 | 10 | 3 | 45 | 77 | 14
Birds | 170 | 28 | 4(?)| 150 | 320 | 141
Reptiles | 36 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 45 | 0
Fishes | 58 | 16 | 16 | 75 | 133 | 0
Mollusca | 335 | 123 | 123 | 65 | 400 | 0(?)
---------+-----+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----------------
Of Articulata and Radiata no statistics can be given for want
of works especially devoted to the California species.
From this it appears that, notwithstanding the large
collections made by Government expeditions and by individuals,
during the last ten years, which have been elaborately
described in the Pacific Railroad and Mexican Boundary Reports,
the Smithsonian publications, and various other works, we have
been able to add materially to the known Fauna of California,
and of the country at large, even among the highest and best
known classes.
Arrangements have been made for having the collections in
natural history referred to the highest authorities in each
branch, and portions of our materials have already been placed
at the disposition of eminent men in Europe and the United
States for examination and description.
Deferring the fitting up of a laboratory, and the engaging
of a special assistant in the chemical department, until a
suitable permanent place could be provided in the State Museum
building, Mr. Ashburner went East in the spring of 1862 and
commenced the examination of some of the ores and minerals of
the State in the laboratory of the Sheffield Scientific School
of Yale College, under the direction of Professor Brush, who
has charge of the metallurgical department of that institution.
The reduction of the appropriation to fifteen thousand (15,000)
dollars for the year, made it necessary to suspend this work
soon after it was commenced, in order that the whole force of
the Survey might be concentrated on the field operations.
A small sum has been allowed to Mr. F. H. Storer, of Boston,
for a chemical investigation of the bituminous substances
found in different parts of the State. His researches will
probably be embodied in the first or second volume of the
annual reports. Qualitative examinations, as well as a few
quantitative ones, have been made at the office of the Survey,
of specimens which have been collected. A considerable number
of coals have been analyzed. Information in regard to ores and
minerals has been given to a large number of persons who have
applied for the same by letter or otherwise, as will always be
done when practicable.
If the survey is continued, it will be necessary to fit up
a complete laboratory, in which the important questions
constantly arising, both in regard to the composition and
metallurgic treatment of our ores, may be carefully and
systematically investigated.
No provision has yet been made by the Legislature for the
arrangement and exhibition of the collections made by the
Survey. These are already quite extensive, embracing many
thousand specimens of rocks, fossils, minerals, ores, all of
which are of importance in illustrating the Natural History,
the geological structure and the mineral resources of the
State. Such as have not been required for study remain packed
in boxes, and are stored at the office of the Survey in
Montgomery Block, San Francisco.
Of course it is highly desirable that a permanent, fire-proof
building should be provided for the State collections, the
proper disposition of which is a subject of great interest, not
only as connected with the welfare and progress of the survey,
but as influencing the educational and material progress of the
State.
The only official step thus far taken in this matter is the
appointment, by the last Legislature, of the State Geologist,
the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State
Surveyor-General as a Board of Commissioners “to report to
the Legislature, on or before the second Monday of December,
1863, upon the feasibility of establishing a State University,
embracing an Agricultural College, a School of Mines, and a
Museum, _including the geological collections of the State_.”
A considerable number of specimens, some of them of value, have
been already given to the State by individuals; and there can
be no doubt that many interesting and valuable articles would
be contributed, provided it were demonstrated that they would
be properly exhibited, and well taken care of. It is believed,
that when the State Museum is once established, and a suitable
building provided, the value and importance of it to the
people will soon be made so clear, that it will be sustained
and fostered by the Legislature.
By the terms of the Act of the Legislature authorizing a
Geological Survey of the State of California, it was made
the duty of the State Geologist to present to the Governor,
to be laid before the Legislature, as near as may be to the
beginning of each session, a “Report of Progress,” in which
the operations of the Survey during the preceding year should
be set forth, and its more important practical results made
public. He is also required to communicate an account of the
expenditures, and to furnish estimates for the continuance of
the Survey.
By an Act of the Legislature of 1862, however, the State
Geologist was authorized to combine his first and second annual
reports into one volume, to be printed during the winter of
1862 and 1863, and an appropriation of $3,000 was made to pay
the expenses of printing, engraving, etc., while the size,
form, and style of the report, and the place of printing, were
left to the discretion of the State Geologist, under the advice
and with the approval of the Governor.
According to this, there is a report now due the State; but, as
no part of the appropriation of last year for the continuance
of the Survey has been yet received, or is likely to be, for
months to come, and as the appropriation for printing is in
the same condition, the work has been necessarily delayed. As
it is presumed that the amount due the Survey from last year
will be available some time next winter, it is not anticipated
that there will be any difficulty in issuing the first volume;
and, if the Legislature takes the necessary steps early in the
session, two, or perhaps three, volumes can be published in
1864. It is intended that they shall be of royal octavo size,
in the best style of typography, and illustrated with maps,
sections, plates of fossils, etc. The maps will be engraved on
copper and printed from transfers, in order the original plates
may be preserved, to be used, after necessary corrections and
revisions, in the final report, or otherwise, as may be found
desirable. The maps will be sold separately, with or without
the geological coloring, as desired. The first volume will
be chiefly devoted to the geology of the Coast Ranges; the
second to that of the Sierra Nevada and the mining districts
of the eastern slope. If my plans are not thwarted by the
Legislature, both these volumes will be issued together next
year, and will form a “Report of a Geological Reconnoissance
of the State of California.” By the law, as it now stands, the
publications of the Survey are required to be copy-righted,
and sold for the benefit of the Common School Fund; hence, it
has been impossible to communicate to the public, from time
to time, through the medium of the Academy’s publications,
the results which have been obtained. It is proper to say, in
this connection, that the extent of territory to be examined,
the complexity of the phenomena, and the bearing which our
investigations will have on important questions of economical
interest, make it eminently proper that there should not be an
undue haste exhibited, on the part of the Survey, to place its
results before the world. We can only hope to influence the
mining public, in this State, by degrees; and it is necessary,
first of all, that it should be made clearly to appear, with
the lapse of time, that our statements are to be relied on as
closely approximating to the truth.
Professor Whitney communicated the following letter from Professor Brush,
giving the results of a chemical investigation of the meteoric iron
presented to the city of San Francisco, by General Carleton:
SHEFFIELD LABORATORY OF YALE COLLEGE,
NEW HAVEN, March 30th, 1863.
_Professor J. D. Whitney, State Geologist, San Francisco, Cal._
DEAR SIR:—I have examined the specimen of meteoric iron
from Tucson, which you sent me for analysis, and herewith
communicate to you my results.
The density of the mass is 7.29. When a fragment of it is
placed in a solution of neutral sulphate of copper, it quickly
becomes coated with metallic copper, proving the iron to be
“active.” An inspection of the specimen with a lens showed it
to be dotted with little cavities, which on the fresh fracture
were lined with a white silicious mineral, giving the surface a
porphyritic, or pseudo-porphyritic, appearance.
When a fragment was attacked with an acid, a portion of the
iron was dissolved, leaving the silicious mineral projecting
from the surface of the specimen; and with a magnifier, black
particles of Schreibersite could be seen. After complete
solution of the iron, a careful microscopic examination was
made of the insoluble residue. With a magnifying power of 25
diameters, it appeared to consist chiefly of two substances:
one a milk-white to transparent mineral, having a fused,
rounded surface, occurring in little globules, or elongated,
rounded particles; while the other constituent was black
and angular, and attractable by the magnet. The first named
substance, when observed with a magnifying power of 100
diameters, proved to contain minute specks of the black mineral
disseminated through it; some of the silicious fragments were
translucent and of a milk-white color, and others colorless
and transparent; a large number, however, were transparent at
one end, shading into milk-white at the other, thus seeming to
indicate that the transparent and translucent portions were not
two distinct minerals. A blowpipe examination of the silicious
mineral showed it to have characters very much resembling
_olivine_. The black mineral proved to be _Schreibersite_. A
minute trace of chromium was also observed in the insoluble
residue.
The qualitative analysis of the portion soluble in nitric
acid indicated the presence of iron, nickel, cobalt, copper,
phosphorus, lime, and magnesia with unweighable traces
of chlorine, sulphur, and alumina. For the quantitative
examination of the meteorite a fragment weighing 4.3767
grammes was treated with nitro-chlorohydric acid (aqua regia),
and after solution of the iron the whole was evaporated; on
approaching dryness, gelatinous silica separated, showing that
the silicate had been partially, at least, decomposed by the
acid. After heating until the silica was rendered insoluble,
it was repeatedly treated with acid and evaporated, so as to
insure the oxydation of all the Schreibersite, and finally
the soluble part was taken up with chlorohydric acid, and on
dilution separated by filtration from the silica and insoluble
residue.
The filtrate, or _soluble_ part, was accurately measured and
divided into four portions for analysis—two portions were used
for the determination of the iron, nickel, cobalt, phosphorus,
and alkaline earths; a third portion was employed to estimate
the copper, and the fourth portion was reserved to answer in
case of accident.
Two methods were used for the separation of the iron from the
nickel and cobalt—one by precipitation of the iron as basic
acetate, and the other by precipitation with carbonate of
baryta in the presence of an excess of chloride of ammonium;
but in neither case was the separation perfected on the first
precipitation, and traces of nickel remained with the iron
even after the second precipitation. The nickel and cobalt
were separated by means of nitrite of potash, and the cobalt
was subsequently converted into sulphate and as such weighed.
The lime and magnesia were separated by oxalate of ammonia,
care being taken to redissolve and reprecipitate the lime to
insure its being free from traces of magnesia. On spectroscopic
examination of the precipitate, it proved to be lime, free from
other alkaline earths.
The precipitate of iron, after being weighed, was fused with
carbonate of soda; the product of the fusion was dissolved in
chlorohydric acid, and the phosphoric acid precipitated with
molybdate of ammonia. This phospho-molybdic precipitate was
dissolved in ammonia to free it from possible traces of silica
and other impurities, and the phosphoric acid precipitated from
this solution by an ammoniacal mixture of sulphate of magnesia
and chloride of ammonium.
The copper was precipitated as sulphide by sulphuretted
hydrogen gas, redissolved in nitric acid, and determined as
oxyd.
The _insoluble residue_, containing free silica and
undecomposed silicate, was perfectly white, and free from all
traces of Schreibersite. It weighed 0.1855 grm. equal to 4.24
per cent. of the specimen analyzed. It was fused with carbonate
of soda, and the silica and bases determined in the usual
manner. It contained 0.159 grm. silica; 0.0054 protoxyd of
iron, with a minute trace of alumina; 0.0028 lime, and 0.0168
magnesia.
The soluble and insoluble portions gave in the analysis the
following per centage composition:
Considering the silica
to exist as olivine.
Iron 81.56 79.44
Nickel 9.17 9.17
Cobalt 0.44 0.44
Copper 0.08 0.08
Phosphorus 0.49 0.49
Silica 3.63 } Combined with 2.73 }
Protoxyd of Iron with } Protoxyd of Iron, } 10.07
trace of Alumina 0.12 } making Olivine }
Lime 1.16 }
Magnesia 2.43 }
Chlorine, }
Sulphur, } minute traces traces
Chromium, }
----- -----
99.08 99.69
If the silica found in this analysis be considered to exist in
combination with lime, magnesia, and iron, in the proportions
to form olivine, it will be necessary to deduct 2.12 per cent.
from the amount of metallic iron (equal to 2.73 per cent. of
protoxyd of iron), in order to give the silicate the olivine
formula, (3 R O, Si O₃). Admitting this to be the correct view,
the mass analyzed contains 10.07 per cent. of olivine, and by
the addition of the oxygen of the protoxyd of iron the analysis
adds up 99.69 instead of 99.08.
The variable composition of Schreibersite in different
specimens of meteoric iron, and the peculiar character of the
insoluble residue of this meteorite, together with the small
amount of material in my possession, rendered it impracticable
to determine the exact amount of this substance contained in
the specimen.
The composition of this meteorite corresponds very closely
with another meteoric-iron from Tucson, discovered by Mr.
Bartlett, and described by Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, in the
_American Journal of Science_, vol. XIX, page 161. Dr. Smith’s
analysis gives Iron 85.54, Nickel 8.55, Cobalt 0.61, Copper
0.03, Phosphorus 0.12, Chromic-oxyd 0.21, Magnesia 2.04, Silica
3.02, Alumina, trace = 100.18. He considers it to correspond to
Nickeliferous Iron 93.81, Chrome Iron 0.41, Schreibersite 0.84,
Olivine 5.06 = 100.18. By an evident inadvertence Dr. Smith
adds the magnesia and silica together, and gives the sum as
olivine; these substances are obviously not in the proportions
to form the silicate 3 R O, Si O₃, and if we consider the
silicate to be olivine, we must reckon the excess of silica
as combined with protoxyd of iron. To do this, we must deduct
2.78 from the amount of metallic iron (equal to 2.58 protoxyd
of iron), necessary to be combined with the silica and magnesia
to give the olivine formula. The amount of olivine contained
in the Bartlett meteoric-iron will then be 8.64 per cent. Thus
the two masses of iron will be seen to agree very nearly in
composition, the only trifling difference being, that Dr. Smith
has determined quantitatively the small amount of chromium
contained in the Bartlett meteorite, while I have found a
little lime and traces of sulphur and chlorine in the specimen
you sent to me. The specific gravity I have stated to be 7.39;
this was taken on about 12.5 grammes of the iron, and probably
is somewhat higher than the portion which I analyzed, as the
two surfaces of the larger mass had been rubbed down, and as
thus a considerable portion of the exposed silicate would be
mechanically removed, it would make the density correspondingly
higher.
I regret that I had not more of this interesting meteorite at
my command, in order to have determined more definitely and
satisfactorily the character of the insoluble residue. I shall
be glad to make a further investigation of this point if you
will supply me with more material.
Very respectfully yours,
GEO. J. BRUSH.
After reading the above letter, Professor Whitney added some remarks on
the form and locality of the meteoric iron analyzed by Professor Brush,
stating the circumstances under which it came in possession of the city
of San Francisco.
On the twenty-fourth of November, 1862, the Board of Supervisors of this
city received, through Mayor Teschemacher, a letter from General George
Wright, commanding the Department of the Pacific, stating that he had
received a mass of meteoric iron from General Carleton, commanding the
“Column from California,” and which mass he, in accordance with General
Carleton’s request, placed at the disposal of the city authorities.
General Carleton’s letter is here appended:
HEAD QUARTERS COLUMN FROM CALIFORNIA,
Tucson, Arizona, June 30th, 1862.
_TO GENERAL GEORGE WRIGHT, U. S. Army, Commander Dep. of the
Pacific, San Francisco, Cal._
MY DEAR GENERAL:—Soon after my arrival at this place I sent
by a train to Fort Yuma, to be shipped to your address at San
Francisco, a very large and beautiful AEROLITE, which I found
here and which I had heard and read of for many years. In
_Bartlett’s Explorations_, vol. 2, page 297, it is described
as follows: “In the afternoon,” July 18th, 1853, “I called to
take leave of General Blanco, and at the same time examine
a remarkable _meteorite_, which is used for an anvil in a
blacksmith’s shop. This mass resembles native iron, and weighs
about six hundred pounds. Its greatest length is five feet. Its
exterior is quite smooth, while the lower part which projects
from the larger leg is very jagged and rough. It was found
about twenty miles distant on the road towards Tubac and about
eight miles from the road.”
I desire that you present this aerolite to the City of San
Francisco, to be placed upon the PLAZA, there to remain for the
inspection of the people and for examination by the youth of
the city forever. It will be a durable memento of the march of
the _Column from California_.
I am, General, sincerely and respectfully,
Your friend and servant,
JAMES H. CARLETON,
_Brigadier General U. S. A._
Soon after this mass of meteoric iron came into the possession of the
city, I obtained permission from the Board of Supervisors to have sawn
from it a small piece for analysis and for distribution to a few of
the principal public institutions in this country and Europe having
collections of aerolites; this has been done, and also a fine photograph
of it taken by Mr. C. E. Watkins, of which copies will be forwarded, with
the specimens of the mass itself, as convenient opportunity offers.
The piece intended for analytical examination was sent to Professor
Brush of Yale College, and a letter has just been received from him
giving the results, which will be found in the preceding pages, and which
may appropriately be followed by a few remarks on the size and general
appearance of the mass, with such other facts in regard to it as may be
of general interest.
The weight of the mass of which the analysis is given above
was six hundred and thirty-two pounds, when it arrived in this
city, and about two pounds have been since cut from it.
Its shape is irregular, but in general it is that of a
flattened elongated slab, having a length of four feet one inch
and an average breadth of about eighteen inches; its thickness
is irregular, varying from two to five inches. It has evidently
been long used as an anvil, having been partly buried in the
ground in an upright position, having a flat face of about
four inches square on the top, with two holes drilled in the
projecting edge for adding to the convenience of its use as a
blacksmith’s anvil.
The mass is now placed in the Mayor’s office, it having been
deemed inadvisable to expose it on the Plaza, as desired by
the donor, on account of its liability to rust in the damp
atmosphere of San Francisco, and the difficulty of securing it
from injury by careless or mischievous handling.
Professor Brush remarks that “the composition of this meteorite
corresponds very closely with that of _another_ meteoric
iron from Tucson” discovered by Mr. Bartlett and analyzed by
Professor J. Lawrence Smith. A comparison of the analyses of
Professors Brush and Smith and a reference to Mr. Bartlett’s
work seem to render it highly probable, to say the least, that
the two analyses were of pieces cut from the same mass.
In this connection I will add to General Carleton’s quotation
from Mr. Bartlett’s book a few lines which complete what is
said in regard to the meteorites seen by him at Tucson. Mr.
Bartlett adds, after stating that the mass was found about
twenty miles distant towards Tubac and about eight miles from
the road, “where we were told are many larger masses. The
annexed drawing gives the appearance of this singular mass.
There is another large mass within the garrison grounds, of
which I did not take a sketch. With much labor Dr. Webb broke
off a fragment of this meteorite, for the purpose of analysis.”
The wood cut which Mr. Bartlett gives of the meteoric iron,
which he notices as having been used as an anvil, shows at
once, as does also the description, that, contrary to General
Carleton’s idea, this mass and the one which is now in San
Francisco, are not the same. The mass figured by Mr. Bartlett
is of a very peculiar shape, well adapting it to use as a
common blacksmith’s anvil, as it has a broad, flat top, and is
supported by two legs.
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable
to suppose that the mass forwarded by General Carleton is the
one spoken of by Mr. Bartlett as “another larger mass,” and of
which no drawing was made; while, on the other hand, a piece
was taken for analysis. This piece is almost certainly the one
analyzed by Dr. Smith, and hence the close agreement in the two
analyses—this chemist, however, not having apparently made so
complete a separation of the nickel as Prof. Brush has done.
Still it is possible, of course, that different portions of the
mass may differ slightly in composition.
Dr. Blake read the following paper:
Infusoria from the Moving Sands in the Neighborhood of San Francisco.
BY JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F.R.C.S.
The infusoria to which I would call the attention of the
Society, were collected from the sands in the neighborhood of
Point Lobos. These sands form a moving surface, which in dry
weather is drifted by the prevailing winds from the shore of
the ocean landwards, and are entirely devoid of any signs of
vegetation for some distance from the shore. On walking over
these sands when a strong north-west wind was blowing, a wind
that does not bring up any fresh sand from the ocean beach at
that part of the sand field, I noticed a number of small sized
bodies projecting above the surface of the sand as it was being
carried onwards by the wind. A closer examination showed that
these bodies were formed of particles of sand, agglutinated
together by some substance which rendered them almost black,
and where dried possessing considerable tenacity. Some of
these bodies projected as much as an inch and a half above
the surface of the sand, with which however they all remained
connected, forming generally small ridges. On examining a
portion of this agglutinated sand under the microscope, the
water with which I had moistened it was found to be full of
infusoria, which commenced moving about as soon as the sand
was moistened, although it had been quite dry for some days
before being examined. These infusoria probably belong to the
genus Monas, but they are so extremely minute that it was
impossible to resolve them; they were, in fact, the smallest
living infusoria I had ever examined. With a quarter-inch
object glass of Powell and Lelands, they appeared as small
globular moving bodies, although occasionally a movement would
present one of them with apparently a narrow edge. Nothing
much more definite could be made out with the microscope
of my friend, Dr. Trask, when using an eighth object glass
of Smith and Beck, as they could not be resolved into any
form sufficiently definite to classify them. They appeared
mostly as globular bodies moving about slowly, and presenting
sometimes a longer axis, one end being larger than the other,
and offering the appearance as if there was a semi-transparent
mass attached to the larger end. The size was estimated at
from a fifteenth to the twenty-thousandth of an inch. After a
careful examination I was unable to detect any vegetable or
organic nucleus which might have served as a nidus for these
masses of infusoria. They would seem to become developed in the
pure sand, or at least in the sand as it was blown up from the
beach, after the salt had been washed out of it by the rain.
[I would remark that it had been raining some days before I
collected them.] Subsequent researches have shown that these
infusoria are very generally diffused through the sands that
form our drifting sand-hills around the city; and on examining
some sand taken at a depth of fourteen feet from the surface,
where the hills were being cut through, I found it full of
well developed infusoria on placing it under the microscope
a few minutes after it had been collected, so that there can
be no doubt but that these infusoria were present in the sand
at the time it was collected, where they had probably been in
a torpid state for ages. It is possible that they might have
been carried there by the infiltrating water during the rains;
but I am inclined to think that they had been torpid there, as
the circumstances in which they were placed were not favorable
for propagation except by fission, a process that cannot be
carried on indefinitely, even in these lower organisms. In
fact, these infusoria, taken from the deep sands, copulated
most extensively the moment they were placed in water. I am
not aware that analogous observations have been made as to the
office of these lower infusoria in fixing the moving sands, and
thus initiating that series of changes by which they eventually
become clothed with verdure; the first germs of organic life
being generally supposed to be established by the lower
vegetable organisms.
Dr. Kellogg presented the following paper:
Description of Two New Species of Plants.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
CONYZA Less.
_C. salicena_ Kellogg. [FIG. 6.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
Stem fruticose, erect, three to four feet in height; branches
subglabrous or slightly puberulent, angular; leaves lanceolate,
short petiolate, cuneate, base entire, triplinerved, apex
acute with few remote teeth on the upper third, lamina
fleshy, varnished, subglabrous, minute glands scattering,
slightly puberulent chiefly beneath (two to three inches in
length, about half an inch in breadth), panicle subcorymbose;
heads pedicellate, mostly subtended by linear nerved bracts;
involucral scales ovate-oblong, sub-acute, scarious, margins
irregularly cut-toothed or somewhat erose, cut-ciliate; achenia
pubescent; pappus equal, white, scabrous; florets, teeth
villous on the tips and back, tube short; anthers not caudate;
receptacle convex, naked, punctate.
This plant is closely allied to the South American _C.
triplinerva_, but differs in the shrubby character of
the stem—the leaves also are not “ovate-lanceolate,” but
lanceolate, and somewhat glandular, and like the branches
puberulent—the heads are subtended by bracts, the involucral
scales are not “linear lanceolate,” but ovate-oblong and
sub-acute, etc. The white pappus is not short, but equal if not
longer than the florets—the achenia are not “glabrous,” etc.
Found at Clayton, Contra Costa County.
COLLINSIA Nutt.
_C. divaricata_ Kellogg. [FIG. 7.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
Stem erect, divaricately branching, one to three inches high,
pubescent, interspersed with a few short glandular hairs.
Cotyledons oval or oblong obtuse, entire, petioles as long as
the lamina; middle cauline leaves on shorter petioles, ciliate
at the base or subsessile, ovate or oblong sub-acute, entire
at the base, coarsely three to five-toothed, nerves obsolete,
all pubescent above, glabrous below; superior pairs, sessile,
lanceolate, acute, entire.
Flowers small, axillary, and solitary on long divaricate
ascending peduncles, articulated at the base by a swelled
joint, purplish pink alike throughout, twice the length of the
calyx, upper lobes broadest, margins crenulate, saccate base
of the tube much compressed above, glabrous within, throat
constricted, the external expansion purple spotted above,
filaments hirsute, stigma minutely bilobed. The obconical
expanding calyx narrowed and slightly depressed above at the
base, and correspondingly swelled below, segments ovate acute,
fleshy, glabrous; margins minutely ciliate, somewhat unequal,
or three larger and two smaller; capsule globose, pink and
purple spotted above, seeded. Flowering in March and April.
This very minute species—often barely an inch or more in
height—had hitherto escaped our observation, until little
friend George Bloomer discovered it, while on a trip with us
to the hills in this vicinity. The whole plant at length often
assumes a scarlet or purplish hue. It certainly is not the _C.
violacea_ of D. C. and appears quite as distinct as any species
known to us.
Mr. Bolander made some remarks on the peculiar growth of _Carex decidua_,
in Marin County, not on the borders of the creeks, but in the middle
of them. He also spoke of _Hierochloa fragrans_ R. S., as a remarkably
fragrant plant, and as furnishing beautiful grass for lawns.
REGULAR MEETING, MAY 18TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Nine members present.
Messrs. W. S. Sullivant, and Leo Lesquereux, of Columbus, Ohio, were
elected Corresponding Members, and Rev. T. Starr King a Resident Member.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
Specimens of copper ore from the Mammoth Lode, Del Norte County, by Dr.
Trask.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 1ST, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Ten members present, and Dr. Hillebrand, of Honolulu, by invitation.
Dr. Kellogg presented the following paper:
Description of a New Species of Hosackia.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
HOSACKIA Dougl.
_H. argentea_ Kellogg. [FIG. 8.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
Appressed satiny pubescent throughout, prostrate, much
branching from a perennial crown.
Leaves short, very densely set or crowded along the lower stem,
leaflets three, very small, rounded, and scarcely mucronate;
the upper leaves larger, leaflets four (only one of the lower
pair developed), obovate obtuse, very abruptly mucronate-acute;
stipules red, minute and gland-like, glabrous. Peduncles twice
the length of the leaves; umbels six to ten-flowered, bract of
a single sessile obovate leaf (a few separate pink glands or
embryoid stipules often present).
Flowers orange yellow throughout; keel obtuse, wings and
banner equal; teeth of the calyx about one-third its length,
acuminate, embryo legume terete, appressed pubescent,
two-seeded; mature fruit unknown.
From Kern River, pendent from rocky cliffs. The Society is
indebted to Mrs. Hutchings for this new and very beautiful
species.
Dr. Ayres presented a paper by Dr. T. M. Logan, of Sacramento, on the
Physics, Hygiene, and Thermology of the Sacramento River, which was read
and referred to the Publishing Committee.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 15TH, 1863.
Dr. Ayres in the Chair.
Six members present.
Donations to the Cabinet:
Insects from seeds imported from Germany, by Mr. Bevans; plants from
Sonoma, by Dr. Behr.
Donations to the Library:
Annual Report of the Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zoology for
1862. American Journal of Science for May, 1863, from the Editor.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:
Description of a New Species of Mentzelia.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
MENTZELIA L.
_M. pectinata_ Kellogg. [FIG. 9.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
Rough, with a white minutely-barbed pubescence throughout;
stem four to six inches high; simple, or slightly branched at
the summit; greenish, or a little blanched at the base; leaves
pinnatifid, lower petiolate, the upper sessile, three-nerved;
flowers of a shining golden color, with a lustrous metallic
hue, shading from a deep, vivid orange to a burnt carmine
center; stamens very numerous, all filiform, scarcely half the
length of the petals; anthers white; style longer, spirally
twisted above at the divisible portion; petals five, spreading,
obcordate or obovate cuneate at the base. Flowers from
three-fourths to one inch in diameter, clustered at the summit
by the short branches; short pedicellate (the uppermost often
sessile or sub-sessile); two or three linear-subulate bracts
above the pedicel at the base of the capsule; capsule thickened
upwards from a sharp base; calyx segments lance-subulate acute.
Root ligneous.
Found by Mrs. Hutchings on the mountains above Visalia.
REGULAR MEETING, JULY 6TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Twelve members present.
Professor George Thurber, of New York City, and F. W. Putnam, Esq., of
Cambridge, Mass., were elected Corresponding Members.
Donations to the Library were received as follows:
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for
October-December, 1862. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St.
Louis, Vol. II, No. 1. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at
Cambridge, Mass. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History,
Vol. IX, Signatures 11 and 12.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:
Description of Three New Plants.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
LINUM L.
_L. trisepalum_ Kellogg. [FIG. 10.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
Stem suffruticose; base flexuous, smooth, cinnamon brown,
numerously branched above; branches green, slender, erect,
subsimple, stellate pubescent from minute scabrous elevations,
and also simply short pubescent; plant sub-triangular
throughout. Leaves erect, sub-appressed, small, linear, obtuse,
slightly narrowed at the base into a very short petiole,
alternate. Flowers small, yellow, in sub-terminal racemoid
panicles; pedicels as long, or twice the length of the flowers;
calyx bi-bracteate (appendaged?); bracts minute (about half the
length of the sepals), linear, foliaceous (rudimentary sepals);
proper sepals three, nerveless, ovate, acute (or sub-acute),
imbricated margins glabrous, as long as the capsule. Petals
obovate, sub-cuneate, scarcely twice the length of the sepals;
stamens ten (yellow), shorter than the calyx; styles one,
short; stigmas three, or united the entire length; capsule
spheroid obtuse, sub-triangular, three-valved, each valve
two-seeded, false dissepiment incomplete.
A small shrubby species, six inches to [Transcriber’s Note:
the second measurement was omitted] in height, found by Mr.
Bolander on the White Hills back of Oakland.
P.S.—From the ripe fruit since obtained, the capsule is
more ovate; separating invariably into three valves, only
two to three ovules attaining to maturity; the seeds black,
sub-compressed ovate, plano-convex or with two plain sides, the
third convex, surface rough.
_L. decurrens_ Kellogg. [FIG. 11.]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.]
Stem annual, smooth, somewhat erect, sparingly branched, four
to six inches of their summits racemed (the simple branches
but slightly diverging from a vertical direction) much
decurrent, from one to two feet in height. Leaves alternate,
narrowly lanceolate, one-nerved, sharply acuminate (the
lower-most leaves unknown). Flowers secund, large purplish
blue, unilateral on long much decurrent pedicels, expansion
of the pedicel above the articulation at the base of the
calyx quadrangular; sepals five, ovate-oblong acute, margins
scarious, seven-nerved, rather more than half the length of
the capsule. Petals obovate, cuneate, claw short emarginate or
crenate at the apex, marked by about five deeper blue veins.
Styles five, free to the base, stigmas capitate. Stamens five,
short; anthers oblong, white. Capsule ovate, very abruptly
short pointed, completely ten-celled. Seeds oblong, hilum
slightly narrowed.
Found by Mrs. Thayer on the head waters of Feather River.
SILENE L.
_S. Dorrii_ Kellogg. [FIG. 12.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.]
Stem simple or dichotomous above, minutely velvety glandular
pubescent throughout, upper and cauline leaves lanceolate,
acute or acuminate, sessile or sub-sessile, opposite, erect,
slightly cilliate at base (radical leaves unknown). Flowers
white, very small, sub-solitary on long peduncles; calyx
tubular-campanulate, at length inflated, teeth short, acute
(tipped with purple), tube ten-nerved; petals not crowned,
minute border sub-two-lobed, lamina expanded, claws long and
very slender; stamens ten, longer, at length shorter, filaments
glabrous, anthers sagittate; styles two to three, separate,
recoiled; stigmatose along the entire inner face. Ovary
somewhat globose, apex slightly contracted; compressed seeds
granular, stipe of the capsule very short.
A plant about three to five inches in height.
Collected by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr in Nevada Territory.
Dr. James Blake read a paper on the gradual elevation of the land in the
environs of San Francisco.
On the Gradual Elevation of the Land in the Environs of San Francisco.
BY JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F.R.C.S.
The gradual elevation and depression of large portions of the
earth’s surface has, within the last few years, been attracting
considerable attention from geologists. It is a vast geological
process of which we are the actual spectators, offering us
the most imposing terrestrial phenomenon of which we can be
cognizant, and at the same time affording us some tangible
idea of the vast periods that have been required for bringing
the surface of the earth to its present shape. It is the
general opinion of geologists that the western shore of our
continent is gradually rising. This has been proved to be the
case as regards the southern portion of the continent; but the
following facts, observed in the neighborhood of this city,
afford undoubted evidence that at least this portion of the
northern continent is being gradually elevated above the level
of the ocean.
On the northern bank of Lobos Creek, a small stream running
from Mountain Lake to the ocean, muscle shells and rolled
pebbles are found at an elevation of from eighty to one hundred
feet above the present level of the ocean, and probably at
the distance of half a mile from the present beach. These
shells and pebbles are exactly analogous to those now being
deposited at the mouth of the creek, and were undoubtedly
placed there when the spots at which they are found formed
the beach of the ocean. The surface of the country is so much
covered by drifting sands, that it is only in spots that
these shore remains show themselves. The deposits first seen
contain remains of shells considerably weathered—lower down
the creek, shells and larger pebbles are seen; still lower
down I found the same materials mixed with smaller pebbles,
and at an elevation of about fifty feet small bands of black
peat earth were found interstratified with the sand and gravel.
These small bands of vegetable earth were evidently formed near
the level of the ocean by the waves throwing up a barrier of
sand which dammed up the waters of the creek, so as to form a
pond in which a layer of vegetable matter was deposited. This
process is going on at the present time, a dam having been
thrown up by the heavy storms of the winter of 1861-1862.
Another evidence of the recent elevation of the country is
seen near the western end of the Puerta Suelo, at a distance
of about eight miles from the city. Here there is a depression
in the hills, extending from the bay to the ocean, and forming
a narrow neck to the peninsula on which San Francisco stands.
Even at present, the distance from the waters of the bay to the
ocean is not more than two or three miles at this point, and
it is evident that at no very distant period this depression
formed a channel of communication between them. Near the
western end of this former channel, and at about a mile inland
from the present sea beach, the skeleton of the head of a whale
is found on the surface of the ground. The specimen measures
about six feet across, and must have belonged to an animal
fifty or sixty feet long. The bones, which are not at all
mineralised, are in a good state of preservation. At the time
they were carried there, there must have been eight or ten feet
of water over the surface, and as the place is at present from
ten to fifteen feet above the level of the ocean, a rise of
twenty-five or thirty feet must have taken place at this spot
since the animal was washed there.
Another locality at which evidence of the gradual elevation of
the land can be obtained is found to the west of Black Point,
where abundant remains of our present bay shells are found at
a considerable elevation above the level of the sea; and, were
not the surface of the country, particularly the lower levels,
so completely covered in by the drifting sands, no doubt many
analogous deposits could be found. To the south and west of
the Mission, and in all the lower levels between there and the
range of hills overlooking the Puerta Suelo, the surface is
covered by these recent post tertiary deposits, through which
the older rocks protrude in many places as isolated masses,
the recent argillaceous sandstone being deposited in nearly
horizontal strata around their base. These sandstones have
given rise, by their decomposition, to the extensive surfaces
of yellow sandy loam seen between the Mission and the Ocean
House. I think the highest of these beds does not attain a
greater elevation than one hundred feet above the present level
of the ocean.
More recent evidence of the gradual elevation of the land is
furnished by the holes made by the marine worms in the rocks
on the shores of the bay, many of these holes being found at
elevations which the highest tides do not at present reach.
On the age of these deposits it is useless at present to
speculate. All that we know for certain is, that geologically
speaking, they are recent; but whether it is five hundred, or
five thousand, or fifty thousand years since the present site
of Mountain Lake was on a level with the ocean, our present
data do not enable us to form an opinion. All that the facts
prove is that this portion of the continent is being gradually
raised en masse.
From observations I have made on the main range of the Sierra,
I am inclined to think that this process of gradual elevation
is not confined to the land bordering the sea coast, but
extends far into the interior. The undisturbed position of the
post tertiary strata on the western slope of the Sierra, would
indicate that the same process of gradual elevation must have
been going on for hundreds of thousands of years, so that the
original beach of the earlier post tertiary ocean is now at
an elevation of four or five thousand feet above the present
level of the sea. Should subsequent observations confirm the
truth of this supposition, this country would afford a more
striking example of the action of existing causes in modifying
the surface of the earth, than is to be found in any other
portion of the globe. It is desirable that some means should be
taken to ascertain and record accurately the present relative
level of the sea and land, as, after a few years, such a
determination might furnish some very useful geological data.
I have no doubt that it will be found that every shock of an
earthquake is accompanied by an elevation of the land.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 6th, 1863.
REGULAR MEETING, JULY 20TH, 1863.
Dr. Ayres in the Chair.
Twelve members present.
J. B. Bayerque, Esq., was elected a Life Member.
Donation to the Cabinet: A number of birds and quadrupeds were deposited
by Mr. W. W. Holder.
Donations to the Library:
Ascent of Pike’s Peak by Dr. C. C. Parry. Biennial Report of the Chicago
Historical Society to the Governor of Illinois.
The Corresponding Secretary read a letter from Samuel H. Scudder, Esq.,
to Dr. Behr, from which the following extracts are taken:
“Through the kindness of Mr. Edwards, I have had the
opportunity of looking at your two recent papers on
_Argynnides_ and on _Danais_, and have been much interested
therein. Reading the latter article, I instantly had recalled
to me some statements in regard to localization of the species
at the Sandwich Islands by the sons of one or two American
missionaries long resident there—gentlemen in every way to be
depended on for common accuracy—by those statements I was led
to an opposite conclusion from yours in regard to the means
by which it was introduced; and since I have read your paper
I have met with Dr. Gulick, for some time a missionary at
Ascension Island, one of the Micronesian group, now in America
for his health, from whom I have received some additional
facts. They all concur in stating that this butterfly was
formerly wanting at the Sandwich Islands, and spread over the
Islands just as fast as did the milk-weed upon which they
feed—the two keeping pace with one another. Dr. Gulick makes
some more definite statements; he says that a gentleman in
Hawaii sent him on Ascension Island (2,000 or 3,000 miles
distant) a large box of plants under glass; that when they
reached Ascension Island he found among them the milk-weed,
which was set out with others; in five or six weeks they
reached maturity, and then they discovered upon them the
larvæ of _Danais_ which nearly destroyed them—the natives
have never before seen them and the butterfly was altogether
unknown, indeed, no such large and showy butterfly exists
there. Subsequently and purposely, as an experiment, he took
some seeds to the opposite side of the Island, twenty-five
miles distant, and sowed them, and was absent some four or five
months; when he returned the larvæ were there. A gentleman
and the natives had been put upon the watch by him for the
butterflies but none had been seen, and these larvæ changing
produced the first they had any of them seen.
“It seems to me that the appearance of the larvæ on the
transported plant in its early growth leaves but little room to
doubt that the eggs of the insect were transported also in the
Wardian case.”
Prof. Whitney read the following notice of the large mass of meteoric
iron now in this city, on its way to the Smithsonian Institution:
By a singular coincidence, we have now the pleasure of seeing
in this city the two great masses of meteoric iron which
have been so often spoken of as being at Tucson, in Arizona,
one of which was brought here and presented to the city by
General Carleton, in November last, a notice of which, with an
analysis, has already appeared in our proceedings. This mass
may properly be designated as the “Carleton (Tucson) Meteoric
Iron,” while the one which is destined for the Smithsonian
Institution may be called the “Ainsa (Tucson) Meteoric Iron,”
as it has been rendered accessible for scientific investigation
by Mr. Jesus M. Ainsa, as will be seen by the following
memorandum of the circumstance kindly furnished by his brother,
Mr. James M. Ainsa:
“This aerolite was first discovered by the early Jesuit
Missionaries in the mountains called the ‘Sierra de la Madera,’
near Tucson.
“In 1735, El Capitan de las Provincias del Occidente, Don Juan
Bautista Anza, induced by the accounts of the science-loving
Jesuits, ordered the aerolite to be removed from the mountains,
with the intention of sending it to Spain. However, through the
want of wagon roads and the proper means of conveyance at that
time, to take it to San Blas, then the nearest port of entry,
the attempt was entirely abandoned.
“The aerolite was left at Tucson, where it continued to attract
the attention of the scientific men who visited that country
for more than a hundred years. Since the acquisition of
Arizona by the United States, greater notice has been taken of
this aerolite, it having been mentioned several times in the
official reports of the Government agents.
“By a singular coincidence, Augustin Ainsa, the great-grandson
of Don Juan Bautista Anza, undertook, in 1860, to transport the
aerolite and present it to the Smithsonian Institution. With
great difficulty it was brought as far as the Yñigo hacienda,
where it remained until May, 1863, when Jesus M. Ainsa, in
his late visit to Sonora, brought it to this city, with the
intention of forwarding it to the Smithsonian Institution at
Washington, where it will soon be sent.”
At present the mass in question lies upon the steps of the
Custom House, where it has been most admirably photographed by
Mr. Watkins.[2]
It was said by Mr. Ainsa to weigh 1,600 pounds.
The shape of this meteoric mass is very peculiar; and, at
first, it would hardly be recognized as the identical specimen
figured by Mr. Bartlett at Tucson, especially as this gentleman
estimated its weight at 600 pounds only. Instead of being, as
Mr. Bartlett supposed, a mass supported on two legs, it is,
in reality, a ring of metal, of very irregular dimensions, of
which about one-quarter was buried in the ground, in order to
support it in a convenient position for use as an anvil, when
it was seen by him at Tucson.
The dimensions of this ring are as follows:
Greatest exterior diameter 49 inches.
Least exterior diameter 38 ”
Greatest width of central opening 26½ ”
Least width of central opening 23 ”
Greatest thickness at right angles to plane of ring 10 ”
Width of thickest part of the ring 17½ ”
Width of narrowest part 2¾ ”
The weight of the mass corresponds, taking the specific gravity
at 7.2, with a circle-ring, having an average width of one
foot, and a thickness of a small fraction less than eight
inches—the diameter of the circle represented by the exterior
of the ring being assumed as four feet.
On examining with a magnifying glass a fractured surface of
the mass, it was seen at once to be different in composition
from the Carleton Meteoric Iron, and my conjecture that Prof.
Smith was mistaken in supposing that he analyzed a fragment
from the mass figured by Mr. Bartlett, was confirmed.[3] It is
now almost certain that Messrs. Brush and Smith did analyze
fragments of the same meteoric iron.
The Ainsa Meteoric Iron contains a large per centage of a
white—almost transparent—silicious mineral, having a vitreous
lustre, which may be olivine; but the amount seems larger than
that in the Carleton mass. The Smithsonian Institution will
undoubtedly cause a chemical investigation to be made of this
superb meteoric mass, and it will be interesting to compare its
composition with that of the Carleton meteorite, as the two
were found so near each other that they may be supposed to have
formed portions of the same body, and to have fallen at the
same time.
The photograph was taken by Mr. Watkins, at my request,
partly to be sent abroad as a specimen of the high degree of
perfection which has been attained by this gentleman in this
department of art, and partly that an exact representation
might be secured of this very remarkable body, in case it
should be lost or captured on its way to Washington.
In concluding this notice, the following statement is given of
all that is known of the size and position of the masses of
meteoric iron which have been noticed by various travelers in
Arizona and the adjacent portions of Mexico and New Mexico.
_In the Madera range_, “Sierra de la Madera,” between Tucson
and Tubac, “enormous masses of pure iron, some of which were
transported to Tucson, and for many years were to be seen in
the Plaza of that Presidio.” Francisco Velasco, in W. F. Nye’s
Translation of his work on Sonora, p. 146, published at San
Francisco in 1861.—Two of these masses have been brought to
this city, the one weighing 1,600, the other 632 pounds; the
question arises, how many more are left in the Sierra Madera?
To this, no answer can be given at present.
“At the _Hacienda de Concepcion_, on the road from Chihuahua to
Rio Florida,” a mass of meteoric iron estimated to weigh 3,853
lbs.—Bartlett. The exact locality of this hacienda I have not
been able to ascertain.
“_Ninety miles north-west of Santa Rosa_,” supposed to be
the Santa Rosa in the province of Coahuila, in Mexico, lat.
28°, long. 101° 30’; Ass’t A. Schott, of the Mexican Boundary
Survey, reports a large number of masses of meteoric iron; see
page 34, Part II, of Major Emory’s Report. This statement needs
confirmation.
“_Sancha Estate, some fifty or sixty miles from Santa Rosa, in
the north of Coahuila._” This is the locality of the mass of
meteoric iron, weighing 252 pounds, and now in the collection
of the Smithsonian Institution, figured, described and analyzed
by Professor Smith; see Smithsonian Report for 1855, p. 154,
and Silliman’s Journal, (2) XIX, 160. Professor Smith says,
“various accounts were given of the precise locality, but none
seemed very satisfactory.” It is not unlikely that this mass is
from the same locality mentioned by Mr. Schott.
“_Near the South-western edge of the Balson de Mapimi, on the
route to the Mines of Parral_, there is a meteorite, near the
road, of not less than a ton weight;” on the authority of Mr.
Weidner, of the mines of Freiberg, as stated by Professor Smith
(Smithsonian Report for 1855, page 155), Mapimi is in lon. 103°
30’; lat. 25° 45’ nearly.
“_At the Hacienda of Venagas_, there was (1827) a piece of iron
that would make a cylinder, one yard in length, with a diameter
of ten inches. It was said to have been brought from the
mountains near the Hacienda.” Professor Smith, on the authority
of Dr. Berlandier (Smithsonian Report for 1855, p. 155), makes
the above statement; the exact locality of the Hacienda I have
been unable to ascertain; it is probably nearly in lat. 24°,
lon. 101°.
_La Paz, New Mexico_, near the Colorado River, about lat. 33°
30’. A mass of meteoric iron, weighing 10 pounds, was brought
from that locality, in 1862, by Mr. H. Ehrenberg.
A number of other localities of meteoric iron might be added
from more southern and central portions of Mexico; but as that
is a region to which the attention of Californian explorers
and capitalists has not yet been much directed, it will not be
necessary to cite them here. It is hoped that the circulation
of the above list may be the means of procuring further
information in regard to the masses of iron noticed; and that,
possibly, more of them may be brought to San Francisco.
[2] The mass was shipped on the Panama steamer, which sailed
from San Francisco on the 3d of August.
[3] See page 34, of this volume.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 3D, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, eleven members.
F. M. Spence, of Victoria, V. I., was elected a Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet:
Two species of grasses collected in Mariposa County, by Mr. Rowlandson.
Donations to the Library:
The following foreign journals and scientific works were received through
the Smithsonian Institution:
Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. i, Nos.
6 and 7 (1859), 8-19 (1860), 20-31 (1861), Vol. ii, Nos.
1-12 (1862); List of the Fellows for 1861 and 1862; Der
Zoologische Garten, Nos. 1-12, 1862; Bulletins de l’Académie
Royale de Belgique, Tomes ix-xii, 1860, 1861; Mémoires de
l’Académie de Dijon (2) ix, x, 1861; Annuaire de l’Académie
Royale de Belgique, Anneés 27 et 28; Mémoires de la Société
Impériale de Sciences Naturelles de Cherbourg, Tome viii, 1861;
Sitzungsberichte der k. bayr. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu
München, 1861, ii, Heft 1-3, 1862, i, Heft 1-4 1862, ii, 1;
Abhandlungen der Math. Physik. Classe der k. bayr. Akademie der
Wissenschaften, Band ix, Abtheilung 2, München, 1862; Annalen
der Königl. Sternwarte bei München, Band xi, 1862; Nachträge zu
Maly’s Enumeratio plantarum phanerogamicarum imperii Austriaci
universi, von Aug. Neilreich, Wien 1861; Verhandlungen der
k. k. zool.-bot. Gesellschaft in Wien, 1861, Bd xi; Jahrbuch
der k. k. geolog. Reichsanstalt 1861 and 1862, Band xii;
Untersuchungen über die Dichten und Brechungs-exponente,
von Dr. Ad. Weiss und Ed. Weiss; Geognostische Beschreibung
der preuss. Oberlausitz, von E. F. Glocker, Görlitz, 1857;
Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Görlitz,
Band ii, 1860; Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale de St.
Petersburg, Tome iii, No. 12, iv, Nos. 1-9; Schriften der k.
phys.-ökon. Gesellschaft zu Königsberg, Jahrgang 1, Heft 2
(1861), ii, 2, 1862; Die Culturpflanzen Norwegens, von Dr. P.
C. Schübler, Christiana, 1862; Meteorologische Beobachtungen
des Observatoriums zu Christiana i and ii, 1862; Beskrivelse
over Lophogaster typicus, von Dr. M. Sars, Christiana, 1862;
Geologiske undersögelser af Dr. Theodor Kierulf, Christiana,
1862; Zwei Karten zur geognostischen Beschreibung der preuss.
Oberlausitz, von E. P. Glocker; Mittheilungen der Naturf.
Gesellschaft in Bern, 1858, Nos. 408-423, 1859, 424-439,
1860, 440-468; Verhandlungen der Schweizerischen Naturf.
Gesellschaft, 43te Versammlung, Bern, 1859; Correspondenzblatt
des Naturf. Vereins zu Riga, 12ter Iahrgang, 1862; Bericht über
die Thätigkeit der St. Gallischen Naturwissens. Gesellschaft,
1858-1860; Atti della Società elvetica delle Scienze Naturali
riunita in Lugano, 1860, 44th Session; Verhandelingen van
het Bataviaasch Genootschap, Part xxvii, 1860, xxviii, 1860;
Tijdschrift voor indische Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde, Deel vi,
2-7, vii, 1-6, viii, 1-6, ix, 1-6, x, 1-6 (1860); Studien aux
der Natur, von Dr. Ad. Weiss und J. G. Weiss; Fluorescenz der
Farbenstoffe, von Dr. Ad. Weiss.
Mr. Gabb presented the following paper by Mr. Rémond:
Description of Four New Species of Echinodermata, from the Tertiaries of
Contra Costa County.
BY AUGUSTE RÉMOND.
ASTRODAPSIS Conrad.
_A. Whitneyi_ Rémond.
Disk circular, or sub-pentagonal, slightly notched at the
extremity of the ambulacra.
Apex central and elevated; edge depressed.
Ambulacral star symmetrical, prominent near the apex; petals
equal, reaching to the margin of the disk.
Interambulacral spaces much depressed near the edge.
Lower surface slightly and gradually concave; furrows well
marked and straight.
Mouth central, circular; anal aperture small, sub-marginal.
Papillary tubercles somewhat remote, smaller above than
beneath, situated in wide and shallow cells; miliary tubercles
very numerous and crowded, both on the superior and inferior
surfaces.
Greatest diameter 1.8 inches
Smallest diameter 1.65 ”
Height 0.3 ”
Locality: Kirker’s Pass formations. Found in lower pliocene
beds.
The genus astrodapsis, to which I have referred the above
species, was indicated by Mr. Conrad, in the Pacific Railroad
Reports, Vol. VII, Palæontological Report, page 196, without
any generic description.
The genus is closely allied to clypeaster, but differs from it
in having the petals of the ambulacral star extending to the
edge of the disk, opened at the extremity, and in the margin of
the disk being slightly notched at the extremity of each petal.
The inter-ambulacral spaces are depressed. On the under surface
there is a deep groove corresponding to each petal.
My collection, and that of the State Geological Survey.
_A. tumidus_ Rémond.
Disk rounded sub-pentagonal, thick, rounded on the edge, very
slightly notched at the end of the ambulacral areas.
Apex small, central, depressed.
Ambulacral petals symmetrical, very prominent, reaching to the
margin, longitudinally grooved by a median line. The outer
pores of the petals abruptly depressed on each side.
Inferior surface slightly concave.
Mouth central, small, rounded.
Ambulacral furrows straight, well marked.
Anus small, sub-marginal.
Papillary tubercles numerous, especially in the ambulacral
areas, and in the center beneath, not prominent, situated in
comparatively deep and sub-angular cavities.
Greatest diameter 1.34 inches.
Shortest diameter 1.26 ”
Height 0.34 ”
Locality: Kirker’s Pass formations; occurs as the preceding
species; also two miles west of Walnut Creek House.
From the collections of the California Academy of Natural
Sciences, of the State Geological Survey, and my own.
ECHINARACHNIUS van Phels.
_E. Brewerianus_ Rém.
Disk small, oval-elongated, broader behind, rather thin.
Upper surface slightly convex; margin rounded.
Apex posteriorly sub-central.
Petals close, nearly symmetrical, the anterior and posterior
ones the longest, as wide as or even wider than the
inter-ambulacral spaces; ambulacral areas composed of very
narrow plates, widening on the margin.
Inferior surface plane.
Ambulacral furrows not visible in the specimens examined.
Mouth small, central.
Anus very small, sub-marginal.
Papillary tubercles numerous, rounded, somewhat prominent, more
crowded beneath than above.
Length 1.22 inches.
Width 1.06 ”
Height 0.30 ”
Locality: Two miles east of Walnut Creek House; from miocene
beds.
Collection of the State Geological Survey, and mine.
This species is dedicated to Prof. W. H. Brewer, Botanist to
the Survey.
CLYPEASTER Lamark.
_C. Gabbii_ Rém.
Disk rather small, comparatively thick, varying from circular
to sub-pentagonal and irregular sub-oval.
Apex nearly central, sub-elevated; margin rounded; genital
apparatus sub-angular.
Ambulacral star almost symmetrical; petals about equal in
length, elongated, open at their extremities.
Inferior surface flat near the edge, and gently concave in the
center.
Mouth depressed, sub-central.
Ambulacral furrows straight, slightly marked.
Anal aperture very small, marginal.
Tubercles of the upper surface numerous, especially in the
ambulacra, round and prominent.
Greatest diameter 1.16 inches.
Smallest diameter 1.10 ”
Height 0.28 ”
Locality: The C. Gabbii occurs abundantly on the eastern shore
of San Pablo Bay, south of Mare Island, in soft sand-stones of
miocene age.
Collections of the State Geological Survey, and Academy of
Natural Sciences; also Mr. Gabb’s, Mr. F. L. A. Pioche’s, and
mine.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:
Description of a New Species of Allium.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
ALLIUM L.
_Allium parvum_ Kellogg. [FIG. 13.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13.]
Scape short, naked, narrowly ancipital; leaves two, long
linear-lanceolate, acute, apex recurved, plain above, much
attenuated towards the subterranean base, which is somewhat
canaliculate; lamina from five to ten-nerved, margins remotely
subscabrulose; flowers pale, purplish, about eight; umbel
convex, pedicels triangular, thickening upwards, about as
long as the flowers, nerves of the sepals distinctly purple
to the tips; three outer sepals longer and broader, erect,
entire, oblong, somewhat obtuse, carinate; the three inner
linear-lanceolate sub-acute; genitals included, inner stamens
slightly longer, anthers pale, blueish, filaments simple,
expanded at the base; style equal, stigma acute, simple (or
obsoletely lobed); capsule in outline obcordateley trigastric,
embryo granular (mature fruit not observed), appears to be
somewhat substipitate, as seen in the figure, the three cells
somewhat grooved on the back; spathe persistent, two-parted,
ovate, sub-acute, about eleven-nerved, hyaline, and lilac
purple; bulb ovate, oblong, externally loosely coated with
light-colored, smooth-nerved membranaceous tunics. The scape
is often found only an inch above ground, as in the recent
specimens from Mount Davidson by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr. The
leaves are two to three times the length of the scape. Our
figure is from a cultivated specimen furnished by Mr. H. G.
Bloomer, from bulbs sent us some years since by Mr. Andrew A.
Veatch, from Washoe. This is the largest form of it we have yet
seen. The bulbs, however, under culture, are often three or
four times the size here represented. It has none of the garlic
odor so common in this genus.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 17TH, 1863.
Dr. Trask in the Chair.
Present, eleven members.
Donations to the Cabinet:
Three boxes of ores from various localities, presented by Dr. Trask. Mr.
Lorquin presented a number of land shells collected on the Philippine
Islands by Mr. Lorquin, senior. A box of shells from the Smithsonian
Institution.
Donations to the Library:
Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van
Wetenschappen; Afdeeling Naturkunde, Parts 10-14, 1860-1862;
Same, Afdeeling Letterkunde, Parts 5-6, 1860-1862; Jaarboek
van de Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam,
1859, 1860, 1861; Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural
Society, Vol. iii, Nos. 1-4, Jan. to April, 1863; Nachrichten
von der Georg-Augusts-Universität und der Königl. Gesells. der
Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 1862, Nr. 1-27.
The above were received through the Smithsonian Institution.
Dr. Cooper read the following paper:
On New or Rare Mollusca Inhabiting the Coast of California.—No. II.
BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.
The following species were collected while exploring for the
State Geological Survey, along the main land and islands
bordering Santa Barbara channel, in May, June, and July last.
Besides those described as new, I obtained additional specimens
of some of those described in 1862, confirming the specific
characters then given, and to some extent establishing the
generic more accurately.
Careful notes and drawings from living specimens furnish the
basis of most of the descriptions, together with examination of
the specimens in alcohol.
With regard to localities, it must be noticed that “Santa
Barbara” and “Santa Barbara Island” are very distinct both in
local characteristics and the groups of animals inhabiting
them. The island is about seventy-five miles from the town,
and thirty-five from the nearest main land. Catalina Island is
twenty-four miles from the main land, and very different in
its molluscous animals from both the main land and the other
islands, being the richest locality on our shores.
I have not been able to compare these species with those from
South America described by D’Orbigny and others; but, like
our other littoral mollusca, they are probably distinct.
I have, however, found the pelagic species _Ommastrephes
giganteus_ D’Orb in large numbers, and “hundreds” of a species
of _Argonauta_ washed ashore last spring as far north as Santa
Cruz Island, as I was informed by Dr. Shaw, who presented
specimens to the State collection.
APLYSIA Linn.
_A. californica_ Cooper. State Collection, species 1045.
Form and external appearance as usual in the genus. Length
fifteen inches, breadth five, height about the same. Color
pale gray or greenish, becoming purplish on the side, folds of
mantle with scattered white specks, from which an irregular
network of brown lines extends over the rest of the body,
interspersed with large brown blotches. Inner surface of mantle
varied with alternating painted bars of white and dark brown
interlocking together. Sole of foot black. Eyes very minute and
black.
_Shell_ contained in the substance of the mantle cartilaginous,
translucent, trapezoidal or hatchet-shaped, margins rounded,
slightly convex above, the nucleus or centre in old specimens
distant from the posterior end or apex. Faint radiating lines
diverging from the nucleus, crossed by an irregular network of
darker lines, all ending abruptly at some distance from the
margin, which has thus a wide, nearly transparent border. An
accessory plate arises on the inner surface from the nucleus,
spatulate in form and slightly raised.
The two younger specimens have the clear border and accessory
plate less developed, and very young ones do not probably show
these characters at all, but resemble the typical _Aplysia_
in the form of the shell. On this account I am unwilling to
constitute it a new genus, but propose to call it a sub-genus
under the name of NEAPLYSIA.
There was no appearance of a multiplication of shells, said
to occur in old specimens of _Aplysia_. Not having any full
description of the internal anatomy of _Aplysia_, I cannot at
present determine whether there are many other differences in
structure.
The stomach was full of large fragments of _Algæ_. I found
three specimens only, on the beach at San Pedro, July 25th,
just after a heavy blow which occurred at the lowest summer
tides. Kept in water for some time, they were very slow and
uninteresting in movements, showing no evidence of any means of
defence except the exudation of a beautiful purple fluid from
the mantle when handled. This fluid, common to the Aplysiæ,
though formerly supposed to be poisonous and indelible,
possesses no such properties, though it may be a defence
against marine animals which attack them.
The figure, taken from a tracing of the shell, and electrotyped
by Dr. A. Kellogg, represent the inner surface of the most
developed specimen, of the natural size.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.]
NAVARCHUS, Cooper, Proc. Cal. Acad. Ap. 1863.
_N. inermis_ Cooper.
Syn. _Strategus inermis_ Cooper, Proc. Cal. Acad. II, 1862, p.
202.
One small specimen, dredged among seaweeds in ten fathoms, near
the eastern shore of the “Isthmus,” Catalina Island, shows no
variation from those obtained at San Diego.
DORIS, Linn.
_D. albopunctata_ Cooper. State Coll. Species 1000.
Form ovate, pointed behind, flattened, surface shining,
minutely rugose. Tentacles club-shaped, retractile, branchial
plume, 6-8 parted, bipinnately divided, situated near the
posterior extremity. Color yellow or orange brown, dorsal
surface thickly speckled with small white dots, each forming a
slightly raised papilla. Beneath paler.
Dredged from a rocky bottom in twenty fathoms, a mile from the
shore at Santa Barbara. Also found on rocks at low water mark
near the north-west end of Catalina Island.
Length about one inch, breadth one-third of an inch.
_Doris montereyensis_ Cooper, Proc. Cal. Acad. II, 1862, p. 204.
Found at Santa Barbara Island on rocks at low water, differing
from the original specimens only in larger size and deeper
color. The tentacles are club-shaped, the branchial 7-8 parted,
bipinnate and from one opening.
_Doris sanguinea_ Cooper, loc. cit. (_Asteronotus._)
Four specimens found with the last, differ from the type only
in having the black spots very small. The tentacles are acute,
cylindro-conic, retractile into a cavity bordered by a toothed
membrane. The branchiæ form an erect chimney-shaped expansion.
I cannot discover the stellate valvular structure of the
branchial opening, which characterises the genus _Asteronotus_,
in these specimens.
_Doris Sandiegensis_ Cooper, loc. cit.
Two found with the last agree exactly with specimens from
San Diego. The tentacles are conical and acute. The
branchial orifice does not present the peculiar characters
of _Actinocyclus_. Although all these species differ to some
extent, they have no characters to distinguish them generically
from the typical _Doris_, unless anatomical or microscopical
examination should reveal them, or the characters of that genus
should be more closely limited.
TRIOPA Johnston, 1838.
_T. catalinæ_ Cooper. State coll. species, 1002.
Form much elongated, narrow, dorsal surface flat, becoming
spatulate posteriously. Head expanded laterally and flattened,
wider than the body, ornamented with 14 ciliæ, equally
distributed around its margin, so as to form nearly a circle.
Tentacles long, conical, retractile. Three pairs of short ciliæ
at equal distances apart between the tentacles and middle of
the body, connected by the sharp edges of the dorsal surface.
Branchial plume five parted, bipinnately divided, expanding to
nearly twice the width of the body, situated a little behind
the middle of the body. Two short ciliæ close together on the
medium line, a little behind the branchiæ. Length 1.50, breadth
0.25 inch. Color yellowish, speckled with white, filaments
vermilion red.
Four specimens found on sea weed among rocks at low water near
north end of Catalina Island, June 16th.
DENDRONOTUS Alder and Hancock, 1845.
_D. iris_ Cooper. State coll. species 959.
Pale purple, varying to orange red, foot narrowly edged with
white, tentacles with white tips and a subterminal orange ring,
branchial processes purple, the smaller ones sometimes olive
near the base. Length of largest specimens 3, breadth 0.50 inch.
Several found on the beach at Santa Barbara, May 5th, having
been washed ashore by an unusually heavy sea, occurring at a
very low stage of the tide. One, also, dredged on seaweed, from
a depth of 28 fathoms, two miles off shore.
This species seems more variable in color than the other
_nudibranchiata_ of this coast, but I saw no reason for
considering them of more than one species. Those washed ashore
being somewhat injured, although still alive, I made no drawing
of them, and the more perfect one dredged was too small for
this purpose.
In the “Mollusca and Shells,” of the U. S. Exploring Expedition
under Commodore Wilkes, Dr. Gould mentions a species of
Dendronotus collected at Puget Sound, but does not name it or
give any clue to its characters, except that the _branchiæ_
have white tips, unlike our specimens. It is very probable,
however, that it belongs to the same species, as so many of the
Mollusca of this coast have an equally wide range.
ÆOLIS Cuvier, 1798.
_Æ. barbarensis_ Cooper. State coll. species 978.
Rose-red, longer tentacles tipped with yellow, branchial
ciliæ simple, in six longitudinal rows, all short, the middle
rows longest and tipped with blue, anterior tentacles two,
above the mouth, dorsal tentacles club-shaped, a white streak
extending from the median line between them to the mouth.
Length nearly an inch.
One specimen dredged on a rocky bottom, in a depth of 16
fathoms, a mile from the shore at Santa Barbara.
Although small, its characters are too different from those
of our other species, when of the same size, to allow us to
consider it the young of any of them.
FLABELLINA Cuvier, 1830.
_F. opalescens_ Cooper.
_Syn._ Æolis, (Flabellina?) opalescens, Cooper—Proc. Cal. Acad.
II, 1862, p. 205.
This species, dredged from the same locality as the last,
presented exactly the same characters as the original specimens
from San Diego. I also found a few of them on the rocky shore
of Santa Barbara Island, differing only in having the branchial
olive, tipped with white.
PHIDANIA Gray, 1850.
_P. iodinea_, Cooper—_Syn._ Æolis (Phidania?), iodinea, Cooper,
loc. cit. sup.
I found one of this species on the beach at Santa Barbara,
agreeing exactly with those from San Diego.
CHIORÆRA Gould, 1855.
_C. leonina_ (?) Gould—Molluscs and Shells, U. S. Expl. Exped.
Wholly translucent, pale yellow, the variations marked only by
a darker shade. Form of head nearly conical, the apex anterior,
forming an angular roof above the oral opening. Bronchial
processes five on each side, larger than represented in Gould’s
figure, imbricated and decumbent. Length 2.75, height 1 inch.
Otherwise as in the description and figure of Gould’s specimen.
A single specimen dredged in 20 fathoms off Santa Barbara, May
15th, differs in the points above mentioned from the northern
animal, but being much smaller, the differences may arise from
immaturity, and I have therefore preferred to retain the same
name for it.
The single specimen which formed the type of the genus was
dredged in Puget Sound, was over five inches long and of
various bright colors, the head subglobose, higher than oral
opening, branchiæ in six pairs, comparatively smaller and
erect, all of which differences may have arisen from more
perfect development, and from having been observed under more
favorable conditions.
From its rarity on our southern coast we may expect to find it
more abundant northward.
Dr. Kellogg read a paper describing a new species of ALSINE, collected by
Mr. Bolander, in the swamp near Mission and Howard and Seventh and Eighth
Streets, San Francisco.
Description of a New Species of Alsine.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.
ALSINE Wahlenb.
_A. palustre_ Kellogg.
Plant slender, somewhat decumbent at the base, simple or
slightly branching at the summit, glabrous, sulcate on opposite
sides of the stem, sub-flexuous, six inches to a foot in
height. Leaves lance-linear, acute, mucronate, glabrous,
margins scabrous, sub-connate and slightly sheathing at the
membranous base, shorter than the internodes (half to more
than an inch in length). Peduncles slightly compressed,
axillary, solitary, long, naked. Sepals ovate-lanceolate,
acute or subacute, one to three-nerved, green with scarious
margins, about half the length of the petals. Petals white,
oblanceolate, obtuse, entire. Stamens ten, subequal, short.
Styles three; stigmas deeply biparted.
A plant very abundant in swamps in this vicinity, known to us
for the last ten years, but as we find no description which we
recognize, we conclude it must be unknown. Blossoming in July
and August. Specimens by Mr. Bolander.
REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 7th, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, seven members.
Donations to Cabinet:
Fishes, crustacea, and shells from the Sandwich Islands, by Andrew
Garrett, Esq.
Donations to the Library:
Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. ix, sigs.
13 and 14, May and June, 1863. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia, for April and May, 1863. Proceedings of the
Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. 3, No. 5, May, 1863. Silliman’s
Journal, July, 1863.
Professor Whitney presented the following paper by Dr. J. G. Cooper:
On a New Genus of Terrestrial Mollusca Inhabiting California.
BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.
BINNEYA Cooper.[4]
_Generic characters._—General form of animal like _Limax_, with
a shell resembling that of _Omalonyx_ or _Lamellaria_.
Body about three times as long as shell, semicylindrical,
obtuse in front, forming an acute angle behind; foot extending
the whole length, somewhat distinct anteriorly, and carinate
behind. Mantle shield-like, covering the back anterior to the
shell for about one-fourth its length, not reflected over
the shell. Eye-peduncles moderate, slender, two short acute
tentacles in front of head. Lingual teeth resembling those of
Helix in form and arrangement.
Shell entirely external, ear-shaped, nearly flat, about
one-third as long as the animal, which it does not half cover
when retracted. Spire flattened, forming two horizontal
volutions, last whorl enormously expanded and slightly arched.
Columella distinct, entire, hiding the interior of the
convolutions.
_Binneya notabilis_ Cooper. State Coll. Species 988.
_Specific characters._—Animal dark lead-colored, with black
reticulations, and a wide brown stripe along the median
line, extending from the mantle to the front of head, about
one-fourth of the total length.
Shell with a pale brown, smooth and shining epidermis,
extending beyond the margin, translucent when young, becoming
thickened by an opaque white deposit on the interior when old.
First whorl or nucleus ornamented with about thirty delicate
parallel revolving ribs, not concealed by the epidermis, and
ending abruptly at the commencement of the transverse lines of
growth in the body whorl.
Length 0.46, breadth 0.34, height 0.12 inch.
This genus resembles _Limax_ in its shield-like mantle, but in
the more essential characters of the lingual teeth, appears to
belong undoubtedly to the _Helicidæ_. It approaches nearest to
the subfamily _Vitrininæ_, in having the mantle in front of the
shell, approaching nearest to the _Daudebardia_ of Europe; but
differs in the form and opacity of the shell, which resembles
some of the _Succininæ_, especially _Omalonyx_ of South
America, etc. It differs from these very much in the form of
the animal, and the shell being wholly external, forming one of
those connecting links which make it difficult or impossible to
divide the _Helicidæ_ into distinct groups.
_Habitat._ So far this animal has been found only in Santa
Barbara Island, one of the group within this State. It there
inhabits but one station, so far as I could discover after
very careful search. That is the head of a ravine facing the
south-east and about two hundred and fifty feet above the sea.
During the wet season there may be a little water springing
from this place, but for at least five months it is not even
damp, while the remainder of the island is entirely destitute
of water. Myriads of _Helix kelletii_ and two other species
(probably new) inhabit it, but during the dry season retire
into a torpid æstivation, not disturbed by the fogs and mists
of summer. The _Binneya_, the rarest of all, and not protected
from drought by its shell, burrows down to the under surface
of thick succulent roots, and contracting to about twice the
size of its shell, covers the rest of its body with a white
mucous secretion, which appears to be impervious to the
moisture within, and dries into a tough leathery shell.[5] When
moistened for a few hours, the animal separates the edge of
this box from that of its true shell, and becomes active.
The figures [Fig. 15] represent three positions of the shell,
the animal æstivating and also crawling.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.]
I found but three alive, and eighteen dead shells.
[4] To all those who have seen the splendid works on the
“Terrestrial Mollusks of the United States,” by the late Dr.
Amos Binney, so ably continued by his son W. G. Binney, the
appropriateness of the name will be at once evident.
[5] In this it resembles the _Testacellæ_ of Europe, which
are otherwise very different.
Dr. Trask presented, in the name of Mr. Garrett, the following paper:
Descriptions of New Species of Fishes.
BY ANDREW GARRETT, OF HONOLULU, S. I.
JULIS Cuv.
_Julis ornatissimus_ Garrett.
D. 9-13; A. 2-13; V. 1-5; P. 12; C. 2, 1, 6, 6, 1, 2.
The body of this _Julis_ is rich green, which gradually passes
into light blue on the breast and belly. The scales on the
green ground are margined with vermillion red, and there is
a slight tinge of the latter color on the abdominal scales.
Four alternate oblique light red and blue vittæ pass from the
middle of the gill-opening, and gradually fade away beneath the
anterior portion of the abdomen. The head, which is emerald
green, is ornamented with vermillion red stripes, which have
their margins shaded off with brilliant blue. The stripes are
disposed as follows: one traverses the upper line of profile,
two extend from the upper lip to the eye, one follows the lower
line of the head, passing up the hinder margin of the gill
covers; two horizontal ones on the cheek, and, posteriously
to the eye they assume reticulations. Irides golden yellow,
with shades of light red; cornea dusky green. The dorsal, anal
and caudal fins are carmine red, margined with pale blue. The
former with a basal row of large spots, and an intramarginal
band, dark green. Two similar bands mark the outer half of
the anal fin, and spots of the same color may be observed on
the caudal. The ventrals are pale, straw-yellow, with blue,
anterior margins. Pectorals have a pale, yellow tinge at their
base.
The greatest depth of the body, as compared to the entire
length of the fish, is about one to four. The scales are rather
large. The head constitutes a little less than a fourth of the
total length. In addition to the usual teeth which characterize
the genus, we observe a spiniform tooth projecting obliquely
forward from the posterior portion of the branches of the
upper jaw. The caudal fin is posteriorly rounded off, and the
ventrals are long and pointed.
Length, 4½ inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
REMARKS.—We have observed only a single example of this very
rare and beautiful fish, which was captured at the island of
Hawaii in 1856. Its peculiar markings will readily distinguish
it from any of the numerous species inhabiting our coasts. In
shape and markings of the head it resembles _Julis pæcila_,
figured in the Zoology of the Voyage of the “Blossom,” but the
colors of the body and fins are widely different.
CHIRONECTES Cuv.
_Chironectes rubro-fuscus_ Garrett.
D. 3-13; A. 9; V. 6; P. 11; C. 9.
A single example of this species now before me has been
preserved in spirits several years. It is in fine condition,
though the colors are much faded. The general shape is
oblong-oval, and much compressed. The thickness at the base
of the head enters about five and a half times in the total
length. The whole surface is covered with crowded minute hispid
asperities, and very small, remote, cutaneous, tuft-like
appendages. The head, as viewed in profile, is irregularly
rounded, the chin forming the anterior end, being slightly
in advance of the mouth. The eyes are exceedingly small,
elliptically oval in shape, their greatest diameter being only
three-twentieths of an inch. Their distance from the margin
of the upper jaw is five times their own length. The mouth is
vertical. On the top of the snout, midway between the eyes
and the end of the upper jaw, is a long setaceous appendage,
articulated to a tubercle, and tufted at the end. On the
cranium there are two stout, curved processes, which project
posteriorly, the hind one the largest, and both enveloped in
the integuments. The dorsal fin takes its origin at a point
corresponding to the middle of the total length of the fish,
caudal exclusive. Its height equals the length of its own base.
The caudal trunk and fin are slightly oblique to the horizontal
axis of the body. The anal fin is small and rounded off along
its outer margin. The rays in all the fins have their ends
slightly prolonged in little fleshy points. The color, as noted
from the living fish, is dark red, with irregular, cloud-like
markings and spots, dusky gray. Everywhere maculated with
small, irregular, dusky spots, which are the most numerous on
the belly. A few deep black maculations on the vertical fins
and scattering ones on the body. The interior of the mouth and
tongue are mottled with red and white. Irides pale flesh color;
cornea black. The smooth inner surfaces of the pectoral and
ventral fins are intensely red.
Length, 8½ inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
REMARKS.—This fine large species is very rare. As compared with
the _C. leprosus_ from the same location, it is much larger,
more compressed, the eyes much smaller and the ground color is
quite different. In the _leporina_ the eyes are less than twice
their own diameter distant from the anterior margin of the
upper jaw. In our fish they are five diameters distant from the
same point.
CHÆTODON L.
_Chætodon multicinctus_ Garrett.
D. 13-24; A. 3-19; V. 1-5; P. 14; C. 3, 1, 8, 7, 1, 2.
Form oval. The head enters about four and a half times in the
total length. The upper line of profile from the snout to the
dorsal fin is nearly straight, rising at an angle of 60°.
The snout is short. The eye is large, circular, its diameter
one-third of the length of the head, and placed just midway
between the opercular corner and the end of the snout. The
preopercular margin exhibits a few small dentations. The scales
are moderate size.
The dorsal and anal fins are posteriorly rounded off. The
hinder margin of the caudal is truncate. The anterior soft ray
of the ventrals is slightly prolonged beyond the margin of the
fin.
Color creamy-yellow. The sides are marked with five vertical,
yellowish-brown, diffuse stripes, the two anterior ones
terminate on the side of the belly, and the others at the base
of the anal fin. There is a slight indication of a sixth one
along the basal half of the soft portion of the dorsal fin.
Each scale is marked with a faint, yellowish-brown dot. A
yellow line starts from a point above the base of the ventral,
follows the line of the belly, and unites with a black one
which traverses the anal fin. A blue black spot in front of
the dorsal fin gradually passes into the ocular fascia, the
latter being brown above and yellow beneath the eye. Irides
chrome-yellow. Upper lip brown. A vertical black stripe, shaded
off anteriorly with vermillion, marks the middle of the caudal
trunk. The dorsal spines and filaments are orange-yellow, the
inter-radial membrane is colorless. The soft portion of the
dorsal and anal are ochre-yellow along their middle-third, the
former with a broad yellow and the latter with a pale greenish
margin. The two colors on either fin separated by a narrow
black and white line. The caudal is colorless, with a basal
vertical luniform bar, its convex margin anterior. The ventrals
are whitish, and the pectorals colorless.
Length, 3½ inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
REMARKS.—Two examples of this species were procured in Honolulu
market.
OPHISURUS Lac.
_Ophisurus Californiensis_ Garrett.
This _Ophisurus_ is more robust than usual in species of this
genus. The head is large, swollen beneath, and comprises about
one-twelfth of the entire length. The depth, taken at the
origin of the anal fin, enters about twenty-eight times in the
total length, or twice in the length of the head. The pectorals
are large, elliptical in shape, their tips reaching posteriorly
nearly as far as the origin of the dorsal fin. The dorsal and
anal fins are well developed, the latter passing over a base
considerably more than half the length of the fish.
The color in spirits is brown, paler on the lower half of
the head, and cinereous along the throat and belly. A dorsal
row of large, roundish, brownish-black spots extends from
the occipital region to the end of the tail; the spots being
intersected by the fin, and the two anterior ones are saddle
shaped. A second row, disposed alternately to the first,
occupies the upper half of the flanks. The head is irregularly
maculated, the spots becoming paler beneath. The fins are
light, brownish-grey; the dorsal and anal with a narrow darker
margin, which is articulated with dark brown.
Length, 19½ inches.
Habitat, Lower California.
REMARKS.—The specimen described above, was captured at
Margarita Bay, by Mr. White, of the whaler Rambler, to whom I
am indebted for a valuable collection of objects of natural
history.
Dr. Ayres remarked that he had recently received from Tomales Bay
specimens of an ichthyic type, new to this coast, and probably new to
science. The species is closely allied to _Scomberesox_, though the
jaws are but moderately elongated. It is judged worthy of record, even
previous to any description, since no fish of that group has hitherto
been found in the waters of California. The specimens exhibited to the
Academy were from five to eight inches in length. He also gave notice
of the acquisition of a specimen of Thrasher, taken in the Bay of San
Francisco. The species is a very close representative of the Atlantic
form _Alopias vulpes_, differing, however, in the proportions of the
dorsal and anal fins, and in the position of the branchial apertures;
the tail constitutes decidedly more than half of the entire length. The
specimen is about five feet in length.
Dr. Ayres presented a specimen of Barnacles, found floating at sea in
lat. 33° 8´ N., lon. 129° 35´ W., by Capt. Geo. Goodrum of San Francisco.
They were of the _Anatifa_ type, but exhibited the remarkable feature
of being attached, not to some extraneous substance, as a fragment of
wreck, for instance, but to a spherical, fleshy receptacle, apparently a
portion of their own system. This receptacle was of a light, yellowish
color, about the size of a small orange, which it somewhat resembled in
aspect. To it were attached, by the usual flexible pedicles, about a
dozen Barnacles, allied to _Anatifa_, as above indicated, but differing
from it in the breadth of the dorsal plate, and in the projection of a
strong keel at the base of both dorsal and lateral plates. When this
specimen was procured, myriads like it covered the sea for miles in the
track of the vessel. Barnacles aggregated in this manner of growth do not
appear to have been hitherto reported.
REGULAR MEETING, October 5th, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Seven members present.
A donation to the cabinet of several species of fishes from the Sandwich
Islands was received from Mr. Andrew Garrett.
Donation to the Library:
Fragmenta Phytographiæ Australiæ, by Ferdinand Mueller, Vol. III, from
the author.
Mr. Bolander stated that he had recently collected two grasses believed
not to have been before found on this coast, though common in the
Atlantic States, viz.: _Paspalum distichum_ (L.) along the shores of
Clear Lake, covering large patches of ground, and _Leersia oryzoides_
(Swartz), along Cache Creek, of much larger size than he had met with in
the East. He believed _Gastridium australe_, which covers almost every
dry hill in the interior, to be indigenous.
Dr. Behr made some remarks on the date of introduction of some foreign
plants, now becoming very common in this vicinity, which he intends to
make the subject of a future article.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.
MIRABILIS CALIFORNICA. Var. _villosa_ Kellogg.
[For description see page 10 of this volume.]]
REGULAR MEETING, October 19th, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Six members present.
Dr. Ferdinand Mueller was elected an Honorary member. Frederick Wideman,
of Sinaloa, Alex. Drauphing of San Sebastian, and S. W. Morrell, of
Mazatlan, were elected Corresponding members.
Dr. Cooper exhibited specimens of _Lagomys princeps_, the “Little Chief
Hare,” from the summits of the Sierra Nevada. He remarked that this rare
animal lived about the limits of perpetual snow, and was so rarely seen
that residents for several years near its resorts had never seen it.
He found it quite common in a very limited district, though difficult
to obtain, from its extreme shyness. Though before found in the Rocky
Mountains near South Pass, and Salt Lake, where it is called “Coney,”
this was the first record of its occurrence so far to the west and south.
REGULAR MEETING, November 2d, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Twelve members present.
Mr. W. G. Binney, of Burlington, N. J., George N. Lawrence, of New York,
and William Cooper, of New York, were elected Corresponding members.
Mr. Lorquin presented two species of California Jays for the Cabinet.
Donations to the Library:
Annuaire de l’Académie Royale de Belgique, 1863. Bulletin de
l’Académie Royale de Belgique, tomes XIII, XIV. On time boundaries in
Geological History, by James D. Dana. On the higher subdivision in the
classification of Mammals, by James D. Dana. On Cephalization, and on
Megasthenes, and Microsthenes in classification, by James D. Dana.
Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Dublin, sessions of
1860-62. Memoir on California Mosses by Leo Lesquereux.
Dr. Cooper presented the following paper:
On new Genera and Species of California Fishes—No. I.
BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.
The fishes described in the following articles were collected
by me for the State Geological Survey, along the Southern Coast
of this State and among the adjoining islands. While it is
possible that some of them may have been described in works not
now accessible to us, the probabilities are entirely in favor
of their being new, as we have very recent lists of all the
species described as inhabitants of this Coast since the report
on fishes collected by the Pacific Rail Road Surveys.
For much information and assistance in their determination, I
am indebted to Dr. W. O. Ayres, and also to Dr. George Hewston,
for the use of books not contained in any public library in the
city.
The outline illustrations, reduced from accurate measurements,
were electrotyped and presented by our industrious
collaborator, Dr. Kellogg.
The colors described are in all cases those of the living fish.
DEKAYA, n. g.[6]
_Generic characters._—General shape elongated and fusiform,
head small and short, premaxillaries slightly protractile, eye
large, situated above the level of mouth, profile moderately
sloping, snout broad and obtuse.
Preoperculum serrated behind, operculum with one obtuse spine;
branchiostegal rays five on each side. Opercular openings
connected below.
Front rows of teeth on premaxillaries small, conical, acute,
and slightly recurved; those of upper jaw largest, their size
decreasing from the middle towards each angle, where there are
one or two large canines; those below hidden by the upper jaw.
Behind this row in both jaws, a band of velvet teeth in about
six irregular rows near the symphysis, but ending entirely
near the middle of each ramus. Tongue and vomer toothless.
Pharyngeal bones and branchial arches densely crowded with
large velvet teeth.
Infraorbital bone short, curving up under posterior border of
orbit, and not connected with the operculum.
Nostrils double, anterior opening smaller, lips rather thick
and fleshy.
Scales small, numerous, oblong, subquadrangular, finely
pectinated, covering the whole body and head as far as front of
orbit, but leaving a bare space around the eye.
Fins scaleless, as well as caudal rays. Dorsal and anal fins
very long at base; spinous rays few. Lateral line normal.
DEKAYA ANOMALA, Cooper, n. sp., State coll. No. 618. [FIG. 17.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.]
_Specific characters._—Length of head contained five times in
total length. Distance from end of snout to orbit one-third
the length of head, and greater than width of orbit. Height
of head just behind orbit about equal to distance from tip of
snout to edge of preoperculum; breadth one-third to one-half of
its length. Skin on occiput elevated from the bone by a thick
layer of fat, not by any bony expansions.
Height of pectoral fin less than length of head; its width
about one-third of its height, middle rays longest.
Dorsal arising above pectoral joint, its length one-third that
of the fish; first spine one-ninth the length of the fin;
the other spines lengthening to the commencement of the soft
portion, of which the longest ray is one-fifth the length of
the fin, and the last ray one-fifteenth; the entire fin having
a gradually arching outline.
Caudal moderately broad, deeply forked, and acutely pointed;
the upper lobe slightly the largest.
Anal similar in form to dorsal, arising opposite its
eighth soft ray and prolonged a little farther back. It is
three-fifths as long as dorsal, its height about one-fourth its
length, the first (spinous) ray and the last each half as long
as the longest.
Ventrals four-fifths the height of pectorals, arising
immediately behind them; their width one-third of their length.
D. VII, 23-2, C 3-1-6-6-1-3, A I-2-21-2, P 6-1-11, V, I-1-1-3.
Scales 175, 13/32-10/10.
_Colors._—Pale silvery brown, white below; an obscure row of
brown spots and mottlings on sides; fins and tail olive near
base; iris dark brown and gilt.
_Remarks._—This fish seems to be a very aberrant form of the
Percoid family, having many of the characters of other orders.
Its general form and dentition are those of some Sciaenoids,
while its entire dorsal, opercular armature and only five
branchiostegals separate it both from them and the Percoids.
The very long anal is another character found in few if any
members of these families. I can find nothing in the pharyngeal
bones to indicate its affinities, these being closely like
those of both the above families as shown in _Seriphus politus_
and _Paralabrax clathratus_, which on comparison have them
almost exactly similar.
The genus _Heterognathodon_, of Bleeker, has several of the
most peculiar characters of this one; but not having a full
description of it, I cannot compare them. There are generic
differences at least, and the habitat is widely different,
being the East Indies. Richardson places it with other aberrant
genera in the family _Theraponidae_—(_Datninae_, of Swainson,)
which is probably a mixture of several.
The outline figure represents the fish one-third the natural
size; 22 inches.
This fish is caught rather plentifully in autumn at Catalina
Island, where I obtained the one here described, in October,
1861. During my late visit there, in June and July, none would
bite, and I have not yet obtained any duplicates. It is called
by the very vague name of “White-fish.”
The figure being made from a skin may be a little inaccurate in
proportions; but I hope to be able to present a better one in
the Report of the Geological Survey.
This white-fish is not remarkable for excellence as food.
AYRESIA, n. g.[7]
_Generic characters._—Form elongated, suboval; the outline
more curved above than below. Scales large, finely pectinated,
completely covering the body and head, except in front of
orbit; smaller on head, and becoming very small where they
extend over parts of the fins and tail.
Teeth numerous, acute, entire, the anterior row largest; those
below larger than above, and flattened posteriorly. A few
smaller ones crowded behind these near symphysis. Pharyngeals
villiform.
Premaxillars protractile, the upper arched, twice as high as
wide, the lower shutting within it.
Preoperculum entire, a very small obtuse spine at angle of
operculum.
Pectorals rather long and pointed. Caudal deeply forked, the
lobes acute. Dorsal long, anal moderate.
Differs from _Pomacentrus_ (Lacepede) chiefly in a more arched
dorsal outline, armed operculum and unarmed preoperculum,
pointed fins and tail, proportions of fins.
The dorsal outline appears to become much more convex with age,
chiefly from deposit of fat on the occiput, as is the case
in some Labroids, as for instance, _L. pulcher_ (Ayres) and
_Julis modestus_ (Girard), the latter also growing higher in
proportion to its length throughout. The dotted line represents
the dorsal outline of a specimen one-fourth larger than that
figured, but otherwise closely like it.
AYRESIA PUNCTIPINNIS, Cooper, n. sp., State coll. No. 596.
[FIG. 18.]
[Illustration: FIG. 18.]
_Specific characters._—Head forming less than a fourth of total
length (0.18), eyes less than one-third the length of head, and
less than its own diameter from end of snout, height of head
behind orbit about equal to its length. Greatest thickness of
body about one-eighth of total length.
Height of pectoral equal to one-fourth the distance from snout
to fork of tail (0.21). Dorsal commencing above pectoral joint,
its spinous portion nearly one-third of its total length, and
one-sixth of its height, the first spine shortest. Soft rays
becoming three times as high, forming an obtuse point behind;
the last ray about as long as the spines (the first dorsal
spine should be one-fourth longer than in the figure). Caudal
peduncle slightly contracted, shorter than caudal rays. Fork of
tail extending half-way to its base, the upper lobe longest,
being one-fifth of the total length. Anal commencing beneath
the tenth dorsal spine, and ending a little anterior to end
of soft dorsal, its base less than one-sixth of total length
(0.17).
Br. V-V D.XIII, 6-1-6, C. 3-1-6 6-1-3, A.II-11, V. I-8, P-19.
Scales 30 3/8 4/9 3/3 lat. line ant. 19.
_Color._—Bluish or greenish-black; sides, paler, sometimes
coppery, fins smoky, the dorsal and caudal spotted with black,
iris bronzed brown. Beneath whitish in young, all the hues
darker in the old fish. Some are also spotted on the body
posteriorly.
In the winter of 1861-2, I caught several in San Diego Bay,
which bit freely at the usual baits. I did not hear any
peculiar name applied, but they are confounded with “Perch,”
which they little resemble. Also found at San Pedro.
A larger one, taken in a net at Santa Barbara Island, in May,
1863, has the different characters supposed to indicate an
older fish, and is much fatter; its head is also shorter in
proportion, but as I find a similar difference in specimens of
_Girella nigricans_ Ayres, as well as in the Labroids before
mentioned, I must consider these as sexual differences, or in
part depending on age and condition. They do not differ more
than some specimens of _Embiotoca jacksoni_ from each other,
and agree closely in the number of spines and rays of their
fins.
ORCYNUS, Cuvier, 1819.
ORCYNUS PACIFICUS, Cooper, n. sp., State collection, species
1033. [FIG. 19.]
[Illustration: FIG. 19.]
_Specific characters._—General profile elliptical, height of
body nearly one-quarter its length, breadth about half the
height.
Head laterally compressed, somewhat flattened on top, the nose
horizontally rounded, but laterally pointed. Base of tail
vertically compressed, one-third broader than it is high. Head
half the length of body, its height behind orbit equal to half
its length. Diameter of orbit one-sixth the length of head, its
form obliquely oval. Jaws equal, gape of mouth one-third the
length of head.
Pectoral fin, arising at middle of vertical of side, nearly
half the total length, its width at base one-eighth of its
length, but suddenly narrowing to one-fifteenth, which width it
retains nearly to the end, its outer third curving gradually
downward, and becoming pointed. First dorsal commencing
directly above pectoral, its length nearly one-fourth of total
length, and its height in front two-fifths of its length.
Spines rapidly decreasing in length from the first to the
eighth, the next six about equal, and a third of the first, the
last one very short. Second dorsal immediately behind the first
and a little higher, triangular, nearly one-third higher than
long, its base lengthened posteriorly, and one-third the length
of the first dorsal. Finlets eight above and eight below,
acutely triangular, those near the middle a little larger.
Caudal large, its lobes equal, their length three times their
width, and one-third that of the pectoral; posterior outline
arcuately concave, with slightly widened lobes near the middle.
Anal opposite end of second dorsal, similar to it in form, but
smaller, and about twice as high as long, its position half way
between the ventrals and caudal. Its first spine is only about
one-third as long as the second, which is two-thirds the height
of fin; both concealed by the skin.
Ventrals arising opposite second dorsal spine, about twice as
high as wide, their inner margin with a small pointed lobe.
Cartilaginous ridge on side of caudal peduncle moderate,
highest anteriorly, its length half that of caudal lobe. Two
slight oblique ridges behind the median ridge.
Lateral line imperceptible in front of fourth dorsal spine,
parallel with outline of back. No scales on head. Thoracic
corselet of very large consolidated scales above pectoral,
bordered by six rows of large distinct scales, which grow
smaller from before backwards. Scales underneath ventrals and
around other fins, similarly consolidated, and depressed under
pectoral and ventral. Rest of scales nearly uniform in size.
Teeth numerous, very small, in one row, the palatine dense and
velvety. Rays of second dorsal and anal fins nearly hidden by
adipose skin.
Br. VI-VI D.XIV-12-|-8, P 32, V, I-8 A.II-8,-|-8
C.11-1-6-6-1-12.
_Colors._—Above blackish, sides steel-blue, below silvery
white, fins smoky, iris brown, finlets yellow edged with blue.
The largest I saw measured thirty-three inches to fork of tail,
and weighed twenty-five pounds.
Numerous in summer among the islands off the southern coast
of this State, and is said to occur as far north as San Luis
Obispo. It affords excellent sport, being caught by trolling
while sailing very rapidly, biting voraciously at a white rag.
It is in my opinion the best fish for the table that is caught
on this coast, but it is said to be sometimes poisonous.
It belongs to the typical _Orcynus_ of Cuvier, distinguished
from _Thynnus_, by the very long pectoral, eight pairs of
finlets, small corselet, etc. The type of _Orcynus_ (Scomber
alatunga, Linn., or O. alalonga, Duhamel), is called “Ala
longa” (Long-wing) in the Mediterranean and resembles this
species closely, but is figured as less high and with a smaller
pectoral fin.
This species is one of several confounded by sailors under
the Spanish names of Albicore and Bonito. The English name
Tunny is applied to an allied species on the coast of Europe,
the _Thynnus vulgaris_, Cuv., and to its near representative
the _T. secundi-dorsalis_, Storer, of the eastern American
coast. These, however, are evidently of a different genus, and
as _Thynnus_ is preoccupied in insects, the name _Orcynus_,
applied by Gill to the same type, may perhaps be retained,
although _founded on a mistake_. _O. coretta_, Cuv. and Val.,
probably represents our species in the Gulf of Mexico.
[6] Named in memory of the distinguished author of the
Zoological portions of the “Natural History of New York,”
Dr. James E. Dekay.
[7] The name of Dr. W. O. Ayres, is well known in connection
with Ichthyology, especially that of California.
REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 16TH, 1863.
Dr. Kellogg in the Chair.
Six members present.
Dr. Cooper read a letter from Mr. A. S. Taylor, now of Santa Barbara,
complaining that his name had been omitted from the list of corresponding
members, though he was elected several years since. It was resolved that
his name be restored, having been omitted on account of his new address
being unknown to the Secretary.
Mr. Bolander read the following article:
Enumeration of Shrubs and Trees growing in the vicinity of the mouth of
San Francisco Bay.
BY HENRY N. BOLANDER.
The territory in question is divided naturally into three parts:
1. The northern part of the peninsula of San Francisco, with an
undulating and hilly surface, consists of drifting sand, with a
small per centage of humus mingled with it.
2. The Oakland Hills, running N. 54° W. mag., from the Bay of
San Pablo to San Leandro, a distance of twenty-three miles,
with the adjacent slopes and valleys. Heavy clayey soil
predominates; but where shrubs and trees grow it is mostly a
loose, light, and slightly sandy soil.
3. That part of Marin County between San Rafael, the head of
Tomales Bay and Bolinas Bay, forming a triangle, with a hilly
surface, the ridges running N. 54° W. mag. Soil a heavy clay,
in the valleys and on bare hills; or a light, slightly sandy
loam among shrubs and trees.
In all parts a metamorphic sand-stone underlies the soil.
_Berberis (Mahonia) Aquifolium_ Pursh.
A low evergreen shrub, three to four feet high, not gregarious;
in clay soil on the hill sides; rare.
_Dendromecon rigidum_ Benth.
A shrub with slender upright branchlets, four to six feet high,
rare; on white sand-stone, Oakland hills, third range eastward,
not gregarious.
_Rhus diversiloba_ Torr. and Gray. POISON OAK.
Everywhere, deciduous, exceedingly variable, three to eight
feet high.
_Negundo Aceroides_ Mœnch. BOX-ELDER.
A medium sized tree, twenty to thirty feet high; common among
the Oakland hills, on banks of creeks.
_Acer macrophyllum_ Pursh. LARGE-LEAVED MAPLE.
Common on the banks of Walnut Creek, N.W. of Mount Diablo;
fifty to seventy feet high, and two to five feet in diameter,
in light sandy soil.
_Æsculus Californica_ Nutt. HORSE-CHESTNUT.
Mostly a shrub, seldom a medium sized tree, largest on the
banks of creeks and moist hill sides; grows commonly in groups.
Common.
_Euonymus Occidentalis_ Nutt. SPINDLE-TREE.
A shrub seven to fifteen feet high, with slender upright
branches; in swampy places, near the head of Tomales Bay; rare.
_Frangula Californica_ Gray. CALIFORNIA BUCKTHORN.
Very common, variable, four to ten feet high; evergreen,
gregarious, in clayey soil.
_Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ Esch. CALIFORNIA LILAC.
Very common, and variable in size, sometimes handsome trees;
exceedingly gregarious, forming dense chaparral, on the
northern and eastern slopes of hills and mountains; evergreen.
Much cultivated on account of the profusion of its fragrant
flowers, and the various shapes that may be given it by
trimming.
_Ceanothus rigidus_ Nutt.
Low, straggling, four to six feet high, less gregarious than
the former; on the white sand-stone hills, east of Oakland.
_Ceanothus ——._
A small shrub, three to four feet high, with very small
glandular leaves; mostly single or in groups, on Mount Tamal
Pais at 2,700 feet elevation.
_Lupinus albifrons_ Benth. SILVER-LEAVED LUPINE.
Very common in almost pure sandy soil, oblong in outline, two
to six feet high; growing mostly single, evergreen.
_Lupinus macrocarpus_ Hook. and Arn. YELLOW LUPINE.
Large, spreading, oval in outline, evergreen, with large
fragrant flowers; gregarious in moist gravelly places along the
shore of the bay, and in depressions, or banks of runs, where
the soil partakes of a clayey nature.
_Pickeringia montana_ Nutt.
Large, spreading, four to seven feet high; evergreen, and
gregarious on the Oakland white sand-stone hills.
_Cerasus Ilicifolia_ Nutt. CALIFORNIA CHERRY, or PLUM.
A small tree, eight to fifteen feet high, with thick, shining,
spinously serrate, evergreen leaves; fruit of a yellowish pink
color, with a thin pulpy external portion. Hill sides on the
peninsula of San Francisco, growing mostly in groups; rare.
_Cerasus serotina_ Ehrh. BLACK WILD-CHERRY.
A group of three or four small trees, eight to twelve feet
high, near a road in the Oakland hills. Undoubtedly introduced
from the Atlantic States.
_Cerasus emarginata?_ Dougl.
A small shrub, three to four feet high, with very slender
reddish and white dotted branchlets, and deciduous leaves;
rare. Tamal Pais, 2,700 feet elevation.
_Nuttallia Cerasiformis_ Torr. and Gray.
Oblong in outline, four to six feet high, deciduous; common on
the northern slopes of hills, in clayey soil. Along the bay and
Oakland hills.
_Spiræa Opulifolia_ Linn. NINE-BARK.
Large, spreading, eight to fifteen feet high; common on the
banks of creeks among the Oakland hills.
_Spiraea Ariæfolia_ Smith.
Common on banks of creeks and northern slopes of hills, Oakland.
_Cercocarpus parvifolius_ Nutt.
Rare, on the hills in Marin County. Its spirally-tailed seeds
give the shrub an appearance as if in full blossom.
_Adenostema fasciculata_ Hook. and Arn.
Oblong in outline, four to five feet high; very gregarious,
forming extensive dense chaparral on the southern and western
slopes of the Oakland bills; evergreen.
_Rubus Nutkanus_ Lindl. THIMBLE-BERRY. _Rubus velutinus_ Hook.
and Arn. _Rubus macropetalus_ Dougl. BLACKBERRY.
Northern slopes of hills, Oakland and Marin County.
_Rosa blanda_ Ait. WILD ROSE.
Very common on the banks of creeks, forming thickets. Oakland
hills and Walnut Creek.
_Rosa gymnocarpa_ Nutt.
Hill sides, Oakland. A small but beautiful species, rather rare.
_Photinia Arbutifolia_ Lindl.
A handsome evergreen tree of medium size, in sandy soil. Common
everywhere in the vicinity of water and springs.
_Amelanchier Canadensis. Var. Alnifolia_ Torr. and Gray.
SERVICE-BERRY.
Northern slopes, four to twelve feet high; in clayey soil, at
Mission Dolores and Oakland hills.
_Ribes divaricatum_ Dougl. BLACK GOOSEBERRY. _Ribes glutinosum_
Benth. RED GOOSEBERRY. _Ribes malvaceum_ Smith. BLACK CURRANT.
Banks of creeks and northern slopes.
_Whipplea modesta_ Torr.
In loose, light soil, in the Redwoods; one to two feet high,
rare.
_Cornus pubescens_ Nutt. SOFT-LEAVED DOGWOOD.
Large, spreading, ten to fifteen feet high. Banks of creeks,
Oakland hills.
_Lonicera involucrata_ Banks. TWIN-BERRY.
Large, with slender upright branches, ten to fifteen feet high.
Borders of creeks and swamps, Bay of San Francisco, Oakland,
Marin County.
_Lonicera Californica_ Torr. and Gray; _et var. hispidula_.
HONEYSUCKLE.
Slender, climbing; borders of streams. _L. hispidula_, on the
out-croppings of white sand-stone, Oakland hills.
_Symphoricarpus racemosus_ Michx. SNOW-BERRY.
Forming thickets in depressions on the Oakland hills, at
2,000 feet elevation, and along streams in the valleys. Clay
soil—three to four feet high.
_Sambucus glauca_ Nutt. ELDER. _Sambucus pubens_ Michx.
RED-BERRIED ELDER.
Dry hill sides and borders of wet places. _S. glauca_, often
tree-like and twenty feet high. Oakland, Marin County.
_Aplopappus Laricifolius_ Gray.
A low fastigiate-branched shrub, one to three feet high; very
common in drift-sand on the peninsula of San Francisco.
_Linosyris ——?_
A beautiful little shrub, three to five feet high, with upright
branches and long linear leaves, densely set. Branchlets and
leaves covered by a resinous exudation. In glades on the
northern slopes of Tamal Pais, 1,500 to 2,000 feet elevation.
_Grindelia ——?_
A low shrub, two to six feet high, bordering the channels in
the salt marshes at Oakland and San Rafael.
_Baccharis consanguinea_ D. C.
_B. pilularis D. C. et B. glomeruliflora Hooker_, seem to be
identical. It is an exceedingly varying shrub; on sandy soil,
low, creeping, with numerous fastigiate branchlets, the flowers
mostly pistillate, and the heads less crowded; on clayey soil,
especially on the banks of creeks, it is often fifteen feet
high, quite tree-like, oblong in outline, the flowers mostly
staminate, and the heads very much crowded. All forms are
subject to excrescences, but especially those growing in a
sandy soil. Evergreen.
_Bahia Artemisiæfolia_ Less.
Ovate in outline, two to three feet high, evergreen; common on
northern slopes, shores of the bay, and Oakland hills.
_Artemisia filifolia_ Torr. WORMWOOD.
Large root-stocks with numerous slender branches, three to four
feet high. Occupying almost invariably the southern slopes in
common with Diplacus glutinosus. Both plants, on account of the
leaden color of their leaves and branches, give the southern
slopes that barren appearance, contrasting so strongly with the
vegetation of the northern slopes.
_Artemisia pachystachya_ D. C.
Sandy soil, three to four feet high. Peninsula of San Francisco.
_Vaccinium ovatum_ Pursh. EVERGREEN HUCKLEBERRY.
A beautiful shrub, five to ten feet high, with slender upright
branches; berries delicious. In light sandy soil, on the
eastern slopes of Oakland hills.
_Arbutus Menziesii_ Pursh. Madroña.
Evergreen, twenty to thirty feet high, on the northern and
eastern slopes of the Oakland hills, but more common and
generally larger and finer on the hill sides near San Rafael.
_Arctostaphylos tomentosa_ Dougl. Mansañita.
Low, straggling, evergreen, and gregarious on the out-croppings
of white sandstone in the Oakland hills.
_Arctostaphylos pungens_ H. B. K. Mansañita.
Obovate in outline, ten to fifteen feet high; scattered.
_Gaultheria Shallon_ Pursh. MARIS. SALLAL.
Low, creeping, evergreen, covering large tracts of land among
the hills of Marin County. Berries eatable.
_Azalea occidentalis_ Torr. and Gray.
On the banks of creeks in Marin County. Quite common; five to
twelve feet high.
_Diplacus glutinosus_ Nutt.
Southern and western slopes. Resinous, eight feet high; common.
_Sphacele calycina_ Benth.
Mostly gregarious, five to eight feet high. Near the coast,
Marin County; eastern slopes near San Mateo.
_Eriodiction Californicum_ Benth.
Very glutinous, two to four feet high—evergreen. Dry hill
sides, Tamal Pais.
_Solanum umbelliferum_ Esch.
A slender evergreen shrub, two to four feet high on the bluffs
of the bay.
_Fraxinus Oregana_ Nutt. OREGON ASH.
On the banks of creeks, Marin County; twenty to thirty feet
high.
_Oreodaphne Californica_ Nées. SPICE BUSH, MOUNTAIN LAUREL,
BALM OF HEAVEN.
Often a large tree in moist localities, forty to fifty feet
high, sometimes three to six feet in diameter; used for
ship-building.
_Dirca palustris_ Linn. LEATHERWOOD.
Very common on the eastern slopes of the Oakland hills, where
its flowers make it very conspicuous in spring; two to four
feet high.
_Croton (Hendecandra) procumbens_ Hook and Arn.
A very low shrub, common on the peninsula of San Francisco, in
almost pure sandy soil.
_Garrya elliptica_ Lindl.
Mostly a shrub with slender branches, but sometimes a
small-sized tree; evergreen, gregarious, in sandy soil in this
city, and on the eastern slope of the Oakland hills.
_Platanus racemosa_ Nutt. SYCAMORE.
Banks of San Leandro Creek, Oakland hills.
_Alnus viridis_ D. C.
A large tree on the banks of creeks, Oakland hills.
_Myrica Californica_ Cham. and Schl. WAX MYRTLE.
Mostly a medium sized tree, in moist localities and on the
eastern slopes of Oakland hills.
_Juglans rupestris_ Engelm. Var. _major_ Torr. WALNUT.
A beautiful large tree, forty to sixty feet high and two to
four feet in diameter, with rather smooth bark and dense,
graceful foliage; it may well vie with its Eastern congeners.
Banks of Walnut Creek east of the Oakland hills.
_Castanea chrysophylla_ Dougl. CALIFORNIA CHINQUAPIN.
A low, straggling evergreen and gregarious shrub, occurring
only on the outcroppings of the white sandstone in the Oakland
hills.
_Quercus densiflora_ Hook and Arn.
Tamal Pais and Redwoods of Marin County.
_Quercus agrifolia_ Nées. LIVE OAK.
A shrub as well as a large tree; everywhere in moderately moist
situations.
_Quercus tinctoria var. Californica_ Torr. BLACK OAK.
Hill sides, Marin County.
_Quercus lobata_ Nées. WHITE OAK.
Hill sides Marin County and banks of Walnut Creek.
_Quercus acutidens?_ Torr. SCRUB OAK.
Evergreen; forming dense chaparral on Tamal Pais.
_Corylus rostrata_ Ait. BEAKED HAZELNUT.
Very common on the eastern slopes of the Oakland Hills. A shrub
four to six feet high.
_Salix_ (four species.) WILLOW.
Wet grounds everywhere, six to twenty feet high.
_Populus tremuloides_ Michx. ASPEN.
A medium sized tree on the banks of Walnut Creek.
_Torreya Californica_ Torr. CALIFORNIA NUTMEG TREE.
A large tree with long spreading branches, and rather smooth
bark. Wood valuable; rare, on banks of Papermill Creek, Marin
County.
_Sequoia sempervirens_ Endl. REDWOOD.
A very large tree, forming small groves on the northern slopes
of hills in Marin County, and on the eastern slopes of the
Oakland hills.
_Pinus insignis_ Dougl.
A small tree ten to fifteen feet high, on the outcroppings of
white sandstone in the Oakland hills, third ridge eastward;
rare.
_Pinus contorta_ Dougl.
A medium sized tree, ovate in outline. Hills of Marin County;
rare.
_Abies Douglasii_ Lindl. OREGON PINE.
A very large tree, yielding excellent timber. Grows with S.
sempervirens in small groves on the northern slopes of hills,
Marin County.
_Cupressus Mac-Nabiana?_ Murray. CEDAR.
A spreading shrub, eight to twelve feet high, on Tamal Pais;
rare.
Dr. Behr presented the following article:
On Californian Lepidoptera—No. III.
BY H. BEHR, M. D.
The following species of butterflies were mostly collected by
the members of the State Geological Survey, among the higher
regions of the Sierra Nevada; but some of them are from other
portions of California.
DANAIS, Latr.
1. _Danais Archippus_, Cramer.
This species was found everywhere, both on the plains and at
the highest elevations, up to the limits of Lepidopterous life,
10,500 feet above the level of the sea. The specimens caught in
the Sierra were in a poor condition, and differed remarkably
in habits from those found near San Francisco Bay. Like most
Danaids, ours is rather a lazy and heavy butterfly, gifted
it is true with great power of flight, which is shown not by
swiftness, but by perseverance. It is however quite easily
caught. But according to the statement of Mr. Hoffman, of the
Geological Survey, this same Danais was on the mountain summits
so restless and active that although very common, only two
specimens could be obtained.
We consider these specimens as something like “enfans perdus,”
of an otherwise respectable family, led away by an innate
desire to strive against the current. Thus they struggle
against the mountain breeze until finally they reach the bleak
heights of the Sierra, where such tropical forms contrast
strikingly with the alpine flora.
ARGYNNIS, Fabr.
2. _Argynnis montivaga_, Behr, n. sp. [Argynnis, No. 4. Proc.
Cal. Acad. II, 1862, p. 174.]
If, as I strongly suspect, this species is still undescribed, I
propose for it the above name. It is not found near this bay,
but seems to be widely spread through the Sierra from whence
I have specimens collected at different localities. Those
obtained by the Geological Survey are from an elevation of
10,500 feet.
3. _Argynnis rupestris_, Behr, n. sp. [No. 6 of former article.]
To the diagnosis formerly given I add the following character:
Margo anterior alarum anteriorum subtus quam disco pallidior.
The saturated coloration of the radical half of the hind wings,
is not always equal in its extent beyond the middle macular
fascia, so that the diagnosis of No. 9 is in some respects
near enough to cause confusion, if it were not that in No.
9 the anterior margin of the forewings is always decidedly
darker than the disk, furnishing a good diagnostic character.
In general aspect they differ enough to be recognized at the
first glance, but it is very difficult to describe the other
differences.
The name I propose for No. 6, is derived from its inhabiting
the steep rocky declivities characterizing the lower part of
the Sierra. The specimens were collected by Prof. Brewer at a
moderate elevation above the sea.
4. _Argynnis monticola_, Behr, n. sp. [No. 8 of the former
article.]
This species was found in Yosemite Valley and some other
localities, being apparently not rare.
5. _Argynnis Antithore_, Boisd.
One specimen only from Yosemite Valley.
MELITÆA, Fabr.
It will be necessary to give a monograph of this genus before
we go on with the enumeration of the mountain species.
We have in California _eleven_ well-marked species, a number
far exceeding those of the Atlantic Slope, and about equal
to those of the whole of Europe. In the “Synopsis of North
American Lepidoptera,” written for the Smithsonian Institution
by John G. Morris, I find only two Californian species
mentioned and described, viz.: _M. Editha_ and _M. Palla_, the
“_M. Zerene_” of the same work being without doubt an Argynnis.
In a catalogue published by the same author in 1860, I find
besides those just mentioned another, viz; _M. Chalcedon_.
Dr. Boisduval names several Melitæa in his letters to me, but
gives no diagnosis.
Our Californian Melitæa belong to four types.
TYPE I. The first is that of _M. Tharos_, represented by four
distinct species in California. This type is peculiar to the
American Continent, occurring also in the Atlantic States, and
in the tropics.
TYPE II. That of _M. Athalia_, represented by _M. Palla_, and
several others. It is also abundantly represented in Europe,
but seems to be wanting in the Atlantic States.
TYPE III. That of _M. Phaeton_, corresponding exactly to the
European, _M. Maturna_, _M. Artemis_, etc., is represented in
California by _M. Editha_, _M. Chalcedon_, and others.
TYPE IV. That of _M. Leanira_ is numerous in the tropics of
America but seems to be wanting everywhere else except in
California.
MELITÆA, Type I.
1. _M. montana_, Behr. Syn? _M. Pyrrha_, Doubleday.
Alae supra aurantiacae, nigro clathratae, inter secundam et
tertiam fasciam nigram magis dilutae; posticae inter primam et
secundam fasciam, serie punctorum nigrorum signatae, fascia
prima ab angulo anteriori interrupta, et costam versus quintam
tantum denuo cursum ad angulum posteriorem recipiente.
Alae anticae subtus aurantiacae, disco fere concolori,
nec maculis pallidiouibus nec fasciis obscurioribus bene
distinctis, apicem versus flavidae, maculls fasciisque fuscis,
et prope angulum posteriorem macula nigra signatae. Alae
posticae flavidae signaturis plus minus obscurioribus, in
morem Argynnidum undulatis, serie punctorum brunneorum inter
primam et secundam fasciam ut supra pertranseunte. Insuper
inter costam quintam et sextam exstat lunula submarginalis
pallidior, interdum candida pruinaque argentea induta, quam
umbra amplectitur obscurior. Altera umbra a margine anteriori
prope apicem extenditur.
This species is very variable as to the markings of the
underside of the hind wings. Two specimens, which I received
through the kindness of Mr. Lorquin, have scarcely any markings
there. These were collected in the neighborhood of Los
Angeles. The others, received from the gentlemen of the survey,
were mostly collected at the headwaters of Tuolumne River, but
some from Yosemite Valley.
2. _M. collina_, Behr, n. sp.
Alae omnes supra fulvae, nigro clathratae, posticae inter
fasciam primam et secundam serie punctorum nigrorum instructae.
Alae anticae subtus fulvae apicem versus gilvescentes, ubique
signaturis fuscis, marginemque versus aliquot maculis nigris
obsitae.
Alae posticae subtus gilvae, hinc pruina argentea indutae,
signaturis fuscis in morem Argynnidum undulatis, binis semper
per umbram quandam connexis, hinc et illinc confluentibus,
serie punctorum nigrorum halone amplexorum ut supra inter
fasciam primam et secundam pertranseunte. Lunula submarginalis
inter costam quintam et sextam major quam reliquae lunulae
submarginales, et umbra brunnea amplexa.
This species is not rare in the vicinity of San Francisco, and
the hills of Contra Costa, especially on the grassy valleys,
along creeks, and on hillsides with a varied vegetation of
herbaceous plants. There must be many generations of these
annually, for the perfect insect is found from spring to autumn.
3. _M. campestris_, Behr, n. sp.
Alae supra nigrae fasciis macularibus ochraceis et aurantiacis
alternantibus. Series punctorum nigrorum in alis posticis in
fascia aurantiaca submarginali.
Alae anticae subtus aurantiacae apicem versus luteae. Macula
disci et fascia intermedia infracta luteae, haec intus nigro
marginata. Alae posticae subtus luteae, linea transversa
undulata divisae; A radice usque ad lineam transversam brunneo
signatae et prope mediam lineam transversam umbra obscura
indutae; quae umbra extenditur usque ad seriem punctorum.
Lunula inter quintam costam et sextam candida, aucta et umbra
amplexa.
This species is very common in different localities, especially
on marshy places, where Hemizonia abounds. Seems to be peculiar
to the lower regions, and produces several annual generations.
4. _M. pratensis_, Behr, n. sp.
Alae supra nigrae fasciis macularibus fulvis instructae.
Maculae fasciae submarginalis alarum posticarum singulae
singula puncta nigra gerentes.
Alae anticae subtus ochraceae maculis pallidioribus hinc et
illinc signatae. Marginem versus posticam extant aliquot
maculae nigrae. Alae posticae subtus hepaticae lineis
undulatis, maculis, umbris serieque punctorum cunctis aeque
brunneis instructae. Lunula submarginalis vix pallidior et
umbra amplectente tantum e reliqua ala discerni potest.
This species is found on grassy hillsides and is common enough
in some localities near San Francisco. Several generations are
found from spring to the beginning of the rainy season.
Before I had a sufficient series of these nearly allied species
in my possession, I considered them local varieties of one
single species. Afterwards I had an idea that two of them,
_M. collina_ and _pratensis_ might be seasonal varieties or
alternating generations, like for instance _Arachnia Prorsa_,
whose vernal generation _A. Levana_ was for a long time
considered another species. But according to my observations
continued through several years, these species are not confined
to certain seasons, but are to be found throughout the dry
season. If they were alternating generations of the same insect
the different forms would be found only at certain seasons; but
such is not the case.
_M. montana_ is very variable but never approaches to the
characters of the other three species. The rest are as constant
as a species can be, and in a long series of duplicates
from different localities I do not find anything like an
intermediate form.
The four species of this type agree in the following points:
1. A row of dots between the first and second transverse lines
of the hindwings, in the space that represents in these species
the submarginal fascia. This row is clearly visible on both
sides.
2. The marginal lunula between the fifth and sixth vein is
perceptibly augmented on both sides, and on the other side is
frequently of lighter color and always surrounded by a deeper
shade.
The most positive characters distinguishing the species is
found on the disc of the underside of forewings.
1. _M. montana_, has the disc uniform fulvous the markings of
the upper-side shining through the coloration of the disc.
2. _M. collina_, has the disc orange color; markings very
perceptible and towards the exterior margin bordered by a
series of black spots.
3. _M. campestris_, has the disc with a yellow spot between the
first and second primary costa, and is bordered towards the
exterior margin by an angular row of yellow spots, which are
themselves bordered at the inner side by deep black.
4. _M. pratensis_, has the disc ochre yellow with irregularly
diluted spots and some black marks near the _posterior_ margin.
There are plenty of other points of difference, as may be
seen by comparing the diagnoses. But for recognition of any
of the species it is sufficient to examine the disc. The
other differences are difficult to describe, as all those who
know by their own experience the difficulties of analyzing
the complicated markings of the underside of the hindwings
in this group will testify. As to the larval state of these
insects nothing is known, and this want of facts regarding
their metamorphosis, is the more to be lamented as the natural
affinities of this type are by no means very clear or simple.
It seems to constitute a kind of intermediate group between
the true _Melitæae_ and the Arctic type of _Argynnides_. The
eyes are more prominent than in the typical species of Melitæa,
and I find a similar conformation of the head in _M. Tharos_
from the Atlantic States. At the same time the underside of
the hindwings of all these species does not represent the
well-defined alternate bands of the typical _Melitæae_, but
the intricate undulations and undefined lights and shadows
of the underside of the Arctic type of _Argynnis_. In fact
_M. montana_ approaches in this respect very closely to _A.
Aphirape_.
TYPE II.
This type corresponds to the European type of _M. Athalia_,
and even in the differential characters of the four species
known to me there is a striking parallelism to those of
four European species, so that each of them looks as if it
was the transposition of a foreign species separated by a
peculiarly Californian character, afterwards to be pointed out,
from its European congener, and separated amongst themselves
by the very same characters that separate the four European
parallel species from each other. Their analogies are as
follows:
_California._ _Europe._
M. PALLA, M. DICTYNNA,
M. WHITNEYI, M. ATHALIA,
M. GABBII, M. PARTHENIE,
M. HOFFMANNI, M. ASTERIA.
The Californians differ from their European analogues in the
orange color that fills the space between the margin and the
marginal line on the underside. In the European species this
space always has the same pale tint that forms the ground color.
Then the two waving lines that inclose the submarginal band on
the underside of the hind wings, are not entirely filled by the
orange or fulvous spots as in the European, but have an empty
space between the first and second, and the second and third
veins.
1. _Melitæa Palla_, Boisd.
Alae maris supra fulvae nigro clathratae, feminae nigrae
nonnullis fasciis macularibus gilvis instructae.
Alae posticae subtus gilvae lineis nigris et maculis
aurantiacis ordinariis instructae, necnon serie lunularum
fasciae submarginalis fulvarum a vena tertia inchoantium usque
ad ultimam decurrentium. _Quaeque lunula continet ocellum._
I repeat the diagnosis for the purpose of adding a character
that has been hitherto overlooked but is essential for
separating this species from the following. It is the
eye-spot contained in each of the orange-colored spots of the
submarginal band. It is true that these spots are not in every
specimen equally visible, and often require the help of the
glass to make them visible, but still they are never wanting as
in the following species.
_M. Palla_ is the only one of this type found in the vicinity
of San Francisco, where it is rather common. Nevertheless I
have not yet succeeded in finding the caterpillar, but have
heard from our celebrated entomologist, Mr. Lorquin, that he
has raised this butterfly from a caterpillar found on a species
of _Plantago_.
2. _Melitæa Whitneyi_, Behr, n. sp.
Alae maris supra rubricantes nigro clathratae feminae, fere
eædem, colore tantum dilutiori hinc et illinc paululum
alternantes.
Alae posticae subtus iis _M. Pallae_ similes sed _lunulae
fasciae submarginalis ocellis omnino destitutae_.
At the first look the difference between this species and _M.
Palla_ is striking enough, for the coloration of the upperside
is quite different and the reticulate black marking runs in
much thinner lines and is more regular than in _M. Palla_,
where towards the margin the black markings unite more or less
and cover the ground color. The striking alteration in the
colors of the upper side in the series of _M. Palla_ does not
exist here and the female is sometimes quite like the male.
Sometimes the ground color alternates transversely with a
slightly diluted tint, and for the female this character would
be sufficient. But both sexes differ in the constant absence of
the eye-spots of the submarginal band.
I received this species from the headwaters of the Tuolumne
River where it was collected during the stay of the State
Geological Survey in the elevated and uninhabited regions. I
take this opportunity of showing my respect for Prof. Whitney
and the other members of that learned party, to all of whom I
am under obligations for the kindness with which, under all
kinds of hardships, they collected materials for a Fauna of our
Californian Lepidoptera.
3. _M. Gabbii_, Behr, n. sp.
Alae maris supra ut in _M. Palla_, feminae fasciis transversis
alternantibus luteis et fulvis totae nigro clathratae.
Alae inferiores ut in _M. Palla_, sed maculae radicales
candidae pruinaque argentea renitentes ita ut fascia intermedia
lunulaeque marginales. Fasciae, maculae, et margo aurantiacae
ordinariae. Fasciae submarginalis spatium, quae non occupatur
lunulis aurantiacis, sulphureum.
I received this species from the mountains near Los Angeles
and have seen a series of specimens constantly showing the
same characters. This description I made from a pair kindly
communicated to me by Mr. Lorquin.
4. _M. Hoffmanni_, Behr, n. sp.
Alae et maris et feminae a radice usque ad medium nigrae hinc
et illinc maculis luteis fulvisque obsitae, a media ala luteae
marginem versus fulvescentes plus minus nigro clathratae.
Alae inferiores subtus ut in _M. Palla_, sed fascia
submarginalis inter lineas undulatas nigras, non lunulis sed
punctis omnino rotundis constituta.
This species is less rare than the two preceding. Nevertheless
it has not yet been found near San Francisco and seems peculiar
to the higher regions of California.
MELITÆA, Type III.
Of this type, we know already as many Californian as European
species, but except _M. Phaeton_, I do not know any Eastern
representative of this type. The most robust and gaily
colored species belong to this type and it is one of the most
predominant of the diurnal types in California, not only from
the number of its species but also of its individuals.
1. _Melitæa Chalcedon_, Doubleday.
This showy species is very common around the Bay of San
Francisco. The caterpillar is somewhat of the coloration of
that of _Vanessa Antiopa_, but short and thick like all the
_Melitæa_ caterpillars and beset with short fleshy thorns. The
dorsal row of spines is brick red and so is the lateral stripe
above the feet. All other parts, both of the body and spines,
are black, which tint, being thickly sprinkled with white dots
has a bluish luster like the same tint in the caterpillar of
_V. Antiopa_.
Most commonly this caterpillar is found on _Scrophularia_,
but I have found it also on _Diplacus glutinosus_ and on a
_Lonicera_, related to _L. Caprifolium_. The chrysalis is
white with black and yellow dots. The butterfly is developed
towards the end of April and is found until the end of June.
There exists only one generation. The caterpillars grow very
slowly through the summer. They are social and weave a kind of
nest, in which they also hibernate. In spring their growth is
quick enough, but they seem to be subject to much disease, and
even in their natural state are frequently found half dried up.
The butterfly also is often caught with crippled wings.
2. _M. Cooperi_, Behr, n. sp.
Alae supra ut _M. Chalcedontis_, subtus inferiores sulphureae
fasciis et maculis ordinariis fuscis, maculis fasciae
submarginalis _fuscis concoloribus, neque ullo halone
cicumdatae_.
This species is very similar to _M. Chalcedon_, but the want
of the yellowish halo around the lunulae of the brown band on
the underside, is a very positive diagnostic character. The
brown color of the bands also is always of the same somber
hue as that of the underside of the forewings, and never of
the fiery brick red that colors this fascia on the underside
of _M. Chalcedon_, forming a perceptible contrast to the
somber coloring of the underside of the forewings, which is
the same in _M. Chalcedon_ and _M. Cooperi_. With all these
well-marked differences, the two species look so much alike,
that it would have been a long time before _M. Cooperi_ would
have been recognized as a distinct species, if it had not
been for the striking difference of its caterpillar, which
was discovered by Mr. Lorquin near Clear Lake on a species of
_Scrophularia_. This caterpillar is much more elongated than
that of _Chalcedon_. It is nearly of the shape and coloration
of that of the European _M. Artemis_, brimstone yellow, with
a dorsal and a lateral black stripe. We were quite justified
in expecting from such a caterpillar something strikingly
different from the very common type of _Chalcedon_. But to
our surprise our chrysalids gave us a series of crippled
butterflies, which could scarcely be distinguished from _M.
Chalcedon_. Since that time I have received a well-developed
specimen through the kindness of Baron Koels, who caught it
with several other insects on an excursion to Mount Tamal Pais.
It is pretty certain that _M. Cooperi_ will be found in many
other localities, as it is only its similarity to our most
common vernal butterfly, the _M. Chalcedon_, that makes it
escape our attention.
3. _M. Quino_, Behr, n. sp.
_M. Chalcedonti_ similis sed antennae clava discolor, fusca nec
concolor antennae reliquae aurantiacae.
Alae supra ut in _M. Chalcedonte_ sed series macularum
submarginalium in anticis rubra et marginalium in posticis
flava rubro tincta. Series quarta in anticis bifida, fere tota
rubra, tertia in posticis omnino rubra.
Alae inferiores subtus ut in _M. Chalcedonte_ sed fascia flava
prope radicem in maculas sex dissecta maculaque flava discalis
puncto ejusdem coloris extus aucta.
_Melitæa Quino_ may at once be distinguished by the entirely
different and much gayer coloration of the upper side, which
much more resembles that of _M. Anicia_ than _M. Chalcedon_.
To the latter species it comes the nearest in the peculiar
shape of the wings, so characteristically different in the
two sexes. In _M. Anicia_ this difference exists but not to
the same degree. The yellow part of the underside of the
hindwings is much paler than in _M. Chalcedon_ and _M. Anicia_.
The yellow radical band is dissolved into six distinct but
nearly connected maculae. In _M. Chalcedon_ the band is not
interrupted and only the sixth macula is separated, making part
of the yellow coloration of the anal side of the wing. From _M.
Anicia_ it differs besides, in the underside of the forewings
being nearly all of a reddish-brown color with scarcely any
indication of the markings of the upperside, closely resembling
_M. Chalcedon_. From both species _M. Quino_ differs in the
coloration of the club of the antenna.
This species I received from Dr. Cooper, formerly of the State
Geological Survey, who collected several specimens near San
Diego. I have called it Quino in remembrance of the California
Pioneer, Padre Quino, the first European that ever succeeded in
erecting a permanent settlement in California, and at the same
time contributed very considerably by his learned writings to a
more exact knowledge of these then scarcely discovered regions.
4. _M. Anicia_, Doubleday.
This species seems to be restricted to the eastern and more
elevated part of the State. Most of my specimens are from
Mariposa.
5. _M. nubigena_, Behr, n. sp.
_M. Aniciae_ similis sed antennarum clava nigrescens, et subtus
in alis posticis fasciae pallidae intermediae bipartitae pars
exterior aurantiaca, ut fascia lunularum quae sequitur eam.
This species was caught in considerable numbers by Mr. Hoffman
at the headwaters of the Tuolumne River and beyond, up to
elevations of 11,500 feet. It evidently stands in the same
relation to _M. Anicia_ as in Europe _M. Merope_ does to _M.
Artemis_. I am not certain if _M. nubigena_ is to be considered
an alpine variety of _M. Anicia_ or an independent species, nor
as far as I know is the question yet decided as to the right
to distinction of _M. Merope_, a long-known alpine insect of
Europe. Nevertheless, considering the different coloration
of the antenna club, I am very much inclined to think _M.
nubigena_ more than a mere alpine variety.
6. _M. Editha_, Boisd.
This species is found in different localities near San
Francisco and Contra Costa. Nevertheless, it is much rarer than
_M. Chalcedon_ and of a more restless disposition. It makes its
appearance before _M. Chalcedon_ and is one of our first vernal
butterflies. About the caterpillar I have not yet succeeded in
ascertaining anything.
MELITÆA, Type IV.
Of this type only one Californian species is yet known, but
there may be perhaps some other species in the southern parts
of the State, as the subtropical territory of New Mexico seems
rather to abound in this type.
1. _M. Leanira_, Boisd. (In litteris.)
Antennae totae fulvae.
Alae supra nigrae, fasciis macularibus duabus et radicem
versus maculis tribus quadrangularibus omnibus gilvescentibus
instructae. Alae anticae prope marginem anticam, apicem versus
et ad marginem externam mediam, e nigro rubescentes.
Alae anticae subtus rubrae iisdem maculis ut supra ornatae.
Fascia macularis externa extus nigro marginata. Alae posticae
subtus gilvescentes nigro venosae, et nigro marginatae, radicem
versus nigro signatae; supra medium fascia nigra instructae,
catenam moniliformem continente punctorum gilvorum.
Limbus ubique et supra et subtus nigro alboque variegatus.
_M. Leanira_ is so distinct from all other _Melitæae_, that it
is impossible to make any error in reference to its diagnosis.
It is found in June and July in valleys of the Contra Costa
hills, where I collected it myself. I received other specimens
from Yosemite Valley. I have not succeeded in finding the
caterpillar.
I have to add a few observations regarding the geographical
distribution of the genus _Melitæa_ in general and of its
different types separately.
The genus _Melitæa_ spreads from the Arctic zone to the tropic
of Cancer and some mountain species even farther. Unlike the
genus _Argynnis_ in its geographical distribution _Melitæa_ has
no Antarctic species. It has its center of abundance in the
temperate zone and decreases towards the tropics as well as the
arctic zone. According to that peculiarity of the western slope
of continents by which the temperate zone is more developed in
extent and quality, than in the eastern slopes, the greatest
number of species are found in Europe and on our coast. Eastern
Asia has very few species, but the genus is better represented
on the Atlantic side of this continent, where however, it
appears in the aberrant forms of _M. Tharos_, _M. Pyrrha_, etc,
whose real nature seems still doubtful and which are at least
intermediate between _Argynnis_ and _Melitæa_.
The genuine type is very uniform, and therefore the diagnosis
of the Californian as well as the European species is enveloped
in many difficulties, so that even in regard to many European
species known and described for more than a century, the limits
of the species are frequently more or less doubtful and nearly
every Catalogue gives the series of closely allied species in a
different form.
California possesses two types wanting to the European Fauna;
Europe one type wanting to California. To us the type of _M.
Cinxia_ is wanting, to Europe that most characteristic form of
_M. Leanira_, which is a very natural transition to the genus
_Synchloe_. The other wanting to the old world is that of _M.
Pyrrha_, an osculant form peculiar to the new world where it
extends nearly as far as the equator.
As regards the development of the genus in size and brilliancy
of color, the Californians have a decided advantage. The giants
of the genus are all Californian and the coloration more bright
and more distinct than the somber hues of their less-developed
European allies.
Like the Argynnides the Melitæae are essentially local. There
is no Amphigeic species, and even the Polar species (which in
Argynnis are sometimes Amphigeic) are always different in this
genus, never occurring both in Europe and America. In the same
way the Atlantic and Pacific species seem always to differ.
These butterflies not having a very powerful flight are
generally confined to circumscribed localities, in which
they are generally plentiful and easily collected. Their
caterpillars are frequently social like those of the
_Vanessæ_, preferring the family of Scrophalarineous plants,
(_Scrophularia_ in California, _Linaria_ and _Veronica_ in
Europe), but inclined more to polyphagy than the Argynnides,
in their predilection for the Violarineae. Besides the
Scrophalarineae the _Melitæae_ live on _Plantago_, _Lonicera_,
_Scabiosa_, and some even are found on shrubby trees of
_Salix_, _Populus_, and _Fagus_.
Dr. Cooper presented a continuation of his descriptions of fishes:
On new Genera and Species of Californian Fishes—No. II.
BY J. G. COOPER, M. D.
EXOCŒTUS, ARTEDI.
E. CALIFORNICUS, Cooper, Californian Flying-Fish, State
collection, species 1012. [FIG. 20.]
[Illustration: FIG. 20.]
_Specific characters._—Height of body one eighth of its length
from tip of nose to fork of tail, length of head almost one
fifth of the same (0·19). Width of forehead in front of eyes
more than five eighths the length of head (0·69); diameter of
eye less than one third of same length (0·30). Scale between
eyes equilateral, and a little less than half of the width
of head. No granulated area in front of orbit, and but a
very narrow one behind it. Preoperculum rounded rectangular.
Pectoral fin extending to halfway between end of dorsal and
base of caudal, 0·60 of total length. Ventrals inserted nearer
operculum than base of caudal, and extending to middle of anal.
Dorsal commencing over 36th scale and extending to 48th.
D. 12, P. 14, V. 6, A. 10, C. 3-1-4-5-1-6. Scales 58-7/1.
_Colors._—Steel-blue, fins smoky, below silvery, iris gilt.
_General form_ much elongated, subcylindrical. Top of head
perfectly flat, its width equal to its depth. Anterior half of
body nearly as broad as high, compressed above. Posterior half
compressed laterally, tapering to tail, the caudal peduncle
three times as high as it is broad. A slight ridge along
insertion of dorsal. Lateral line prominent, running close to
insertion of ventrals. Proportions of fins to total length, as
follows:
Length of dorsal 0·11
Height of ventrals 0·23
Length of anal 0·07
Length of caudal, upper lobe 0·15
Length of caudal, lower lobe 0·22
Height of pectoral 0·60
Length of specimen fifteen inches, the figure representing it
half the natural size. One specimen obtained at Catalina Island.
REMARKS.—In the preceding diagnosis I have followed the
arrangement of specific characters adopted by Gill in his
description of two new species of _Exocœtus_ from the Pacific
Coast of Central America. (Proc. Acad. Phil., June, 1863, p.
167.) By comparison it will be seen that our species is very
distinct.
This large species of Flying-Fish is found in great numbers
during the summer south of Point Conception, and some wander as
far north as Santa Cruz at least. They can only be taken when
they happen to alight on board of a vessel or in gill-nets,
which I was not provided with during my late voyage among the
islands. Their flight is rarely higher than ten feet above the
water, but sometimes extends nearly a quarter of a mile.
UROLOPHUS, Müller and Henle.
UROLOPHUS HALLERI, Cooper, State collection, species 522. [FIG.
21.]
[Illustration: FIG. 21.]
_Specific characters._—Disk suborbicular, obtusely pointed
in front, and with the pectoral fins rounded behind. Length
anterior to anus a little greater than that of the tail
behind it. Posterior outline of ventral fins projecting a
little behind that of disk. Claspers as long as ventrals and
projecting entirely behind them. Tail 0·47 of total length,
gradually tapering from a cylindrical base to the spine, thence
becoming flattened laterally expanding into a fin, which
commences opposite the base of spine below, and ends opposite
to its end above, broadest near its end, where its width is
0·10 the length of tail. Spiracles a little larger than orbits
and farther apart, the distance between them equal to that from
snout to orbits. Ventrals forming nearly equilateral triangles,
their basal length one fifth that of head and body. Caudal
spine arising at 0·48 of the length of tail, and not quite one
third as long. Female more elongated than male but tail and
spine shorter; the ventrals a fourth longer and more acute.
_Colors._—Reddish speckled with yellow, below white. In some
specimens the dark and light colors above are about equally
distributed, the spots having a somewhat marbled arrangement.
In others the light spots are very few and widely separated.
Popular name “Round Stingray.” The figure is half the natural
size. The dots show the principal outlines of the cartilaginous
skeleton.
REMARKS.—While this fish has the nearly orbicular outline of
_Urotrygon_ (_mundus_), Gill, from Panama (Proc. Phil. Acad.,
June, 1863, p. 173), it differs generically in having obtusely
triangular teeth (equilateral), tail shorter than body, spine
nearest to its base, smooth skin, etc.
It differs from _Urolophus_, as described by Richardson, in the
upper velum of mouth being entire, and in having about twenty
small tubercles on the surface of lower velum. These however
can scarcely be considered generic differences.
Found abundantly in muddy creeks at San Pedro and San Diego,
those from the former place being more uniform in color.
While I was at San Diego the little son of Major G. O. Haller,
U. S. A. was wounded in the foot, probably by one of these
fish, while wading along a muddy shore of the bay. The wound
was very painful for some hours, though small. Another large
rhomboidal species also abundant there but apparently still
undescribed, inflicts very severe and dangerous wounds, of
which I may have more to say hereafter.
This fish has great muscular power and can dart very rapidly
through the water by lateral vibrations of its tail, at the
same time quickly flapping the edge of its disk, to keep its
level in the water and to regulate its direction.
It frequently buries itself slightly under the mud, and if
disturbed obscures the water by stirring the mud, vanishing
in the cloud thus raised to hide itself again. It will allow
a boat to pass over its place of concealment, and may, if
detected, be easily killed by a blow with the end of an oar.
Many are also caught in the seines of the fishermen.
Their food consists of small mollusca, crustacea and such other
animals, alive or dead, as they can obtain.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 7TH, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, ten members.
Donations to Cabinet:
Rock Salt, from the Upper Colorado River, by F. Ailing. Wood, from near
Carson City.
Dr. Cooper stated that he had received a communication from Mr. P. P.
Carpenter, of England, offering to describe any new species of shells
from the collections of the State Geological Survey or of the Academy,
and to publish the descriptions in its proceedings. The Society accepted
the proposition.
Two new sheets of the Proceedings were laid upon the table.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 21ST, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, seven members.
Messrs. Royal Fisk and R. L. D’Aumaile were elected resident members.
[Illustration: FIG. 22. OPHISURUS CALIFORNIENSIS—Garrett. [Described on
p. 66 of this volume.]]
ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 4TH, 1864.
President in the Chair.
Fifteen members present.
E. Mathewson, Esq., of Martinez, was elected resident member.
The following is an abstract of the Annual Reports of the officers of the
Society, for the past year (1863):
The Financial Report of the Trustees was received and accepted. During
the year, $815.35 have been received from various sources, besides the
balance on hand from 1862, of $141.22; $903.75 expended; and $52.82
remains in the hands of the Treasurer.
The Librarian (Prof. Whitney) reported verbally, that about fifty
volumes have been added to the Library, mostly the publications of other
Societies; that some sets of Journals have been rendered complete, by his
own donations, and that the volumes of the “American Journal of Science”
have been bound.
The Curator of Mineralogy (Mr. Moore) reports, that the collection is
in nearly the same condition that it was at the commencement of the
last year, that but few additions have been made, and that the work of
cataloguing and classifying the specimens is in progress.
The Curator of Palæontology (Mr. Gabb) made no report.
The Curator of Botany (Dr. Kellogg) reports, that some additions have
been made; that the collections are not in good condition for want of
suitable cases, and recommends that new cases be procured, and that a
suite of the specimens described by members of the Society be sent East,
for comparison with specimens in those herbariums to which we have no
access.
The Curator of Zoology (Dr. Cooper) made a verbal report, that he has
been absent the most of the year, and that the collection has not
materially changed since the last report, with the exception of an
interesting collection of Birds deposited by Mr. Holder.
The Curator of Conchology (Dr. Trask) reported verbally, that about three
hundred species of shells have been added to the collection during the
year. Also, that he had received from Mr. Andrew Garrett, a collection of
one hundred and fifteen species of Hawaiian Fishes, for the Museum.
The Curator of Entomology (Dr. Behr) reported verbally, that there
have been no contributions, but that he will contribute from his own
collection, and other persons have expressed their desire to do likewise,
when the Society shall possess the means of accommodating and preserving
the specimens.
The officers of the preceding year were reëlected, with the exception of
Treasurer—S. Hubbard being elected in the place of Wm. Heffley, resigned.
The following resolution, prepared by Dr. Ayres, was unanimously adopted:
_Resolved_, That hereafter the Proceedings of the Academy be
distributed gratuitously only to resident members and to such
Societies and individuals as the Academy shall direct; and
that the price of subscription to others be regulated by the
Publishing Committee.
The Society authorized the publication of the following Constitutional
amendments, adopted at the annual meeting, January 6th, 1862, the
publication of which was accidentally omitted in the Proceedings of that
year:
Amendment to Art. II, Sec. 4—That the Membership Fee, to be
paid by an applicant for Resident membership, shall be two
dollars, etc.—the remainder of the section remaining as before.
Amendment to Art. III, Sec. 2—This Association shall hold
meetings on the First and Third Monday evenings of each month,
for the investigation of Natural History, etc.—the remainder of
the section remaining as before.
Dr. Ayres read extracts from letters containing inquiries in regard to
the first volume of the Proceedings of the Society, which terminated
abruptly, and was never finished. The supply has long been exhausted,
and the republication has been frequently discussed; but as yet this is
beyond the means of the Society.
Prof. Brewer communicated the following paper by Prof. Gray, giving
the first installment of a series of descriptions of new plants from
the botanical collections made by himself, while engaged in the State
Geological Survey. These are a portion of the new species collected
previous to 1863. The remainder will be described in future papers, along
with those from the collection made after that time.
Descriptions of New Californian Plants—No. I.
BY PROF. ASA GRAY.
STREPTANTHUS Nutt.
_S. Breweri_, n. sp. [§ Euclisia.]
Wholly glabrous and glaucous, annual, branched from near
the base; cauline leaves (except the lowest) strongly
cordate-clasping, with a closed sinus, entire or denticulate,
the uppermost sagittate; flowers purple, on very short
ascending pedicels, the lowest often leafy-bracted; the buds
often a quarter of an inch long, obtuse, or barely acute;
the sepals with scarious but blunt recurved tips; siliques
narrowly linear, ascending or erect, straight or slightly
incurved (1½-2½ inches long, less than a line wide,) compressed
but torulose, the nerve of the valves obscure; seeds wholly
marginless.
This most resembles _S. tortuosus Kellogg_ (which is S.
_cordatus Torr._, in _Bot. Pacif. R. R. Whipple’s Rep._ but
evidently not of _Nuttall_), from which the above character
indicates the differences.
There are three forms in the collection: 1. A dwarf state, in
flower only, from Mt. Shasta, at an altitude of 8,000 feet. 2.
A very glaucous form, with more numerous and rather smaller
flowers, and with fruit, from the top of a dry mountain of
the Mt. Diablo Range, near head of Arroyo del Puerto, at an
altitude of 3,200 feet. 3. Another, in flower and fruit, with
more naked and virgate branches, a foot or two in height, from
San Carlos Mountain, near New Idria, 5,000 feet altitude. This
is remarkable for having the calyx hoary-downy, but the plant
is otherwise glabrous and glaucous.
_S. hispidus_, n. sp. (§ Euclisia.)
Very dwarf, (2-3 inches high, from an annual root,)
hispid throughout, even to the siliques; leaves cuneate
or obovate-oblong, coarsely toothed or incised, the
cauline-sessile but hardly at all clasping; raceme short and
loosely flowered; pedicels spreading or at length recurved in
flower (which is red or red-violet) but the linear compressed
siliques (1½ inch long, a line wide,) are erect; stigma almost
sessile; immature seeds winged.
Mt. Diablo, dry places near summit.
This ranks next to _S. heterophyllus_.
VIOLA L.
_V. ocellata_, Torr. and Gray, _var._
Glabrous, smaller; leaves somewhat thickish; peduncles
elongated. Very curious and distinct. From Tamalpais.
ARENARIA L.
_A. brevifolia_ Nutt.? _var. Californica_.
Much branched or diffuse, cymosely many-flowered; petals and
sepals somewhat narrower.
Leaves as in Nuttall’s plant, thickish, plane, mostly obtuse
and spreading. Valves of the capsule entire. Filaments
opposite and twice the length of the sepals, more dilated
and glandular at the base. Seeds minute, minutely muricate,
turgid. The fruit and seed are known only from Frémont’s
specimens communicated to Dr. Torrey (No. 284 of Coll. 1846,)
from California, a taller and less diffuse form than that
now collected by Prof. Brewer, and more like Nuttall’s, from
Tatnall County, Georgia. But my original specimen of the
latter little-known plant is too incomplete to make certain
the identity; and the two are widely sundered in geographical
station. Still no adequate characters yet appear to distinguish
specifically. Prof. Brewer collected his plant April 18th, in
the valleys among high ridges in Sonoma, where it abounded.
CALANDRINIA H. B. & K.
_C. Menziesii_, Hook.
In various forms in southern California. Capsule slightly if at
all exceeding the calyx; seeds rather turgid, shining; petals
mostly much exceeding the calyx.
_C. Menziesii, var. macrocarpa._
Stems and racemes at length more elongated and loosely-leaved;
pedicels in fruit much spreading or recurved; capsule
ovoid-fusiform, projecting beyond the calyx; seeds smaller,
compressed and opaque.
Dry hills of the Santa Inez mountains, near Santa Barbara.
Perhaps a distinct species, but I want to see it confirmed by
other specimens.
LINUM L.
_L. Breweri_, n. sp.
Annual; glabrous; stem very small, not striate, with few
flowers crowded at the apex; leaves filiform, smooth, alternate
and opposite; stipules conspicuously glandular; pedicels
shorter than the calyx; sepals oblong-ovate, acute, one-nerved,
margin not scarious, glandular, less than half as long as the
bright yellow, obovate-oblong petals; anthers elongated-oblong;
sterile filaments almost wanting; styles three, distinct;
stigma somewhat acutely pointed.
Dry hill sides of the Diablo Range, near Marsh’s Ranch, May
29th.
Plant barely two to three inches high, “but seen in the valley
larger, with many flowers, not yet expanded.”
This, like _L. Californicum_, appears to be uniformly
tri-carpellary; flowers about the size of those of that
species, and the anthers elongated-oblong; but the leaves
narrower; the stigmas not at all capitate or enlarged, but
minute and acute; fruit not seen.
TRIFOLIUM, L.
_T. bifidum_, n. sp.
Somewhat villose or glabrous; stems from small (annual?)
root, slender, spreading; stipules ovate-lanceolate,
setaceously-acuminate, entire; leaflets linear-cuneate,
lateral ones rarely dentate, bifid or incised at the apex
with a mucronate point between the lobes; peduncles twice or
three times as long as the leaves; heads naked, six to twelve
flowered, or more; flowers pedicelled, at length reflexed;
calyx five-parted, dentate, subulate-setaceous, somewhat
hirsute, and nearly equal to the persistent, rose-colored
scarious corolla.
Near Marsh’s Ranch, between Monte Diablo and the San Joaquin,
among grass in a ravine near the water, May 29th.
Stems six to sixteen inches long. Heads and flowers about the
size of those of the small form of _T. gracilentum_, to which
species it is allied. Ovary two-ovulate, seeds single.
ASTRAGALUS L.
_A. curtipes_, n. sp. (§ Phaca, *Inflati.)
Minutely canescent, at length glabrate, a foot high; stipules
connate, opposite the leaf; leaflets twelve to sixteen pairs
narrowly oblong, retuse petiolulate, glabrous above; raceme in
fruit short; calyx-teeth slender, subulate, slightly shorter
than the campanulate tube; legume membranaceous, inflated,
glabrate (1½ inches long,) semi-ovoid, (the ventral suture
nearly straight, the dorsal very gibbous,) scarcely acute at
either end, jointed to a rigid stipe, which does not exceed the
tube of the calyx.
Dry hill sides, San Luis Obispo. Corolla not seen.
_A. oxyphysus_, n. sp. (§ Phaca, *Inflati.)
Tall, very softly canescen-villous; stipules small, scarious,
distinct; leaflets 8-11 pairs, oblong; peduncles much
surpassing the leaf; raceme elongated; bracts small and
subulate; teeth of the silky calyx subulate, half the length
of the cylindraceous tube; corolla white or greenish; legume
obovate-acuminate, the base attenuate into a recurved stipe
which somewhat exceeds the calyx.
Monte Diablo Range, near Arroyo Puerto, on dry hills.
A most distinct and striking new species.
_A. Breweri_, n. sp.
Allied to _A. tener_ Gray, Rev. Astrag. (_Phaca astragalina,
var._? Hook. and Arn., and probably _A. hypoglottis, var.
strigosa_, Kellogg,) but more branched from the annual root,
and with broader leaflets, (4-5 pairs, oblong-obcordate);
head 5-7 flowered, compact; immature legume globose-ovate,
silky-canescent, not stipulate, erect, six-ovulate, one-celled,
the dorsal suture slightly intruded.
Fields in Sonoma Valley, April. Common.
Dr. Ayres read letters from Mr. A. Garrett, and presented the following
paper:
Descriptions of New Species of Fishes—No. II.
BY ANDREW GARRETT, OF HONOLULU, SANDWICH ISLANDS.
CHEILODACTYLUS Lacep. 1803.
_C. vittatus_ Garrett.
B. 6; D. 17-30; A. 3-8; V. 1-5; P. 8-6; C. 5, 1, 7, 6, 1, 4.
The height of the body is a trifle less than one-third of
the total length. The upper profile rises in a convex line
from the snout to the occipital region, whence it suddenly
ascends in a nearly vertical curve, giving that portion of the
fish a strongly gibbous appearance. The body rapidly tapers
posteriorly, though preserving a slightly convex outline. The
head enters nearly four and a half times in the entire length.
The eyes are large, sub-circular in shape, even with the line
of profile, and their greatest diameter is nearly one-third the
length of the head. They are placed nearer the origin of the
lateral line than the end of the snout. The small maxillary
bone extends as far back as the anterior margin of the eye.
The dorsal fin takes its origin immediately above the posterior
limb of the orbit and terminates within one diameter of the eye
of the caudal fin. Its three anterior rays are very small, and
the fourth, which is the tallest, is one-third as long as the
base of the whole fin, or equal to two-thirds the height of the
body. Posteriorly the spiny rays rapidly diminish in altitude
so that the last one is shorter than the succeeding soft rays.
The soft portion of the fin is comparatively low, gently convex
along its upper edge, and is equally as long as the spiny part.
The anal fin is small, being inserted just in advance of the
middle of the soft portion of the dorsal. Its extreme margin
is slightly concave and the rays rapidly diminish in length
posteriorly. The ventrals when laid back reach as far as the
anal fin. The second simple pectoral ray extends as far back
as the vent. The caudal, which is deeply forked, has its lobes
rounded off.
Color greyish-silvery, and ornamented with five oblique
blackish-brown bands which are disposed as follows: one extends
from the snout to the preopercular margin, the second starts
from the eye and terminates on the pectoral base, the third,
which passes over the occipital region, extends below the
pectoral axilla; the fourth, which is much broader, starts from
the origin of the dorsal fin, curves downward and backward,
becoming wider in its descent, and passes beneath the abdomen;
the fifth one commences on the upper anterior half of the spiny
dorsal, extending along the back to near the termination of
that fin. Three irregular, pale spots may be observed in the
dorsal band, and three large blackish-brown spots on the caudal
trunk. The opercular flap and snout tinged with orange-red. The
interorbital space is marked with two transverse brownish-red
bands. Irides yellowish-silvery. That portion of the dorsal fin
anterior to the fifth band is white, the remainder, together
with the anal and caudal, light-yellowish, the latter tipped
with blackish-brown. The pectorals are orange-red, and the
ventrals are deep blackish-brown.
Length, 7 inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
REMARKS.—An extremely rare fish, of which the solitary specimen
now before me is the only example that has come to my notice.
It is the more interesting in a geographical point of view, as
being the only species—as near as I can ascertain—recorded from
the Polynesian Seas. Sir John Richardson, in his interesting
“Notices of Australian Fish,” published in the “Proceedings
of the Zoological Society of London,” describes, and gives a
list of thirteen species. Nine of those occur in the Australian
Seas, one from China and Japan, two from the Cape of Good Hope,
and one from Tristan d’Acunha. In the number and arrangement
of the fasciae, our fish closely resembles the _C. gibbosus_,
Sol., (_Chætodon_) from Van Diemen’s Land. The latter species
is less gibbous, the eyes smaller, the soft portion of the
dorsal fin shorter, and the caudal forks are more pointed than
in the _C. vittatus_.
APOGON Lacep. 1802.
_A. maculiferus_, Garrett.
B. 7; D. 7-1-9; A. 2-8 V. 1-5; P. 13; C. 4, 1, 8, 7, 1, 3.
The upper profile of the head is slightly concave; otherwise
the general shape of the fish closely resembles the _Apogon
fraenatus_, Val. The greatest depth of the body, taken at the
commencement of the anterior dorsal fin, equals the length of
the head, or two-sevenths of the entire length of the fish. The
eye is large, sub-circular in shape, even with the upper line
of profile, and its diameter nearly one-third as long as the
head. The upper jaw is slightly the longest, and the hinder
termination of the maxillary is on a line with the posterior
border of the pupil. The margin of the preopercle is finely and
regularly dentated, and its anterior crest or ridge exhibits
but few irregular teeth. The lateral line may be traced over
twenty-four scales.
The first and second dorsal fin are of equal length along their
base, both being higher than long, and the altitude of the
latter, which exceeds that of the former, is, as compared to
the entire length of the fish, one to five. The anal fin is
inserted a trifle more posterior than the fin above. The large
ventrals, when laid back, cover the vent with their tips. The
caudal is sub-bifurcate.
Color brilliant silvery, with an iridescent reflection in which
carnation predominates. The upper two-thirds of the body is
ornamented with longitudinal rows of small olivaceous spots,
one on each scale, and those above the lateral line more or
less coalescing, forming broken bands. The head, which is more
or less tinged with diluted carmine-red, is marked by a diffuse
olivaceous band, which extends from the end of the snout,
passing through the eye and terminating on the opercle. Irides
silvery white; cornea black. The membranes of all the fins are
tinged with orange-yellow, and their rays are red.
Length, 5½ inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
Vernacular, “Upapalu.”
REMARKS.—The longitudinal series of maculations will readily
determine this species. Under the lens the spots assume the
appearance of clusters of minute dots, some of which have blue
central points.
SCORPÆNA Artedi, (L.)
_S. parvipinnis_, Garrett.
D. 13·10; A. 3-5; V. 1-5; P. 7-9; C. 5, 1, 6, 5, 1, 3.
In this species the upper and lower outlines are quite
similar, being gently arched. The greatest depth of the body
falls slightly short of one-third of the total length, and
the greatest thickness at the base of the head, is a little
more than two-thirds of the above mentioned depth. The head
constitutes just one-third of the whole fish. The eye is large,
circular, its diameter being nearly one-fourth of the length
of the head. Four spines may be seen along the upper edge of
the orbit, and the same number on each side of the occipital
region and nape, the posterior one the larger. Two intraorbital
spines, one on the nasal bone, and a longitudinal row of four
along the supratympanic region. Two on the opercle, the lower
one long and projecting posterior to the margin of that bone.
A stout one may be observed on the humeral region, one on the
infra-orbital, three on the margin of the preopercle, and a
longitudinal row of irregularly disposed ones along the cheek.
The lower jaw is slightly longer than the upper, and the tip
of the maxillary extends as far back as the hinder border of
the eye. Fine scales envelop the basal portions of all the fins
except the ventrals, and cover all parts of the head except the
jaws and the lower half of the maxillary bone. Minute filaments
are observed on all parts of the fish, being more numerous on
the upper anterior third of the body. The dorsal and anal fins
are small, the former commencing above the origin of the latter
line. The spiny portion of the dorsal is very low, gently
arched, and constitutes nearly two-thirds of the fin. The soft
portion of the anal fin is very narrow and rounded off.
The head and anterior half of the body is greyish, passing into
light carnation beneath, and obscurely clouded with dusky.
The posterior half of the body is dusky black, which fades
into pink beneath, maculated with small darker spots. Caudal
trunk, pink. Two large dusky black spots on the anterior dorsal
region. Irides greenish-yellow. Fins pinky-red, the spiny
dorsal mottled with dusky, and the other fins dotted with
pinky-brown, and a bar of the same color on the caudal base.
Length, 4 inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
REMARKS.—The scaly head, small dorsal and anal fin will readily
distinguish this beautiful species.
CRENILABRUS, Cuv.
_C. modestus_, Garrett.
B. 6; D. 12-10; A. 3-12; V. 1-5; P. 17; C. 2, 1, 6, 6, 1, 2.
The greatest depth, which occurs beneath the origin of the
dorsal fin, is about one-fourth of the total length, and the
greatest thickness is just half of the above mentioned depth.
The head, which comprises a little more than one-fourth of the
whole fish, presents a slight concave depression above the
eyes. The preopercular serrations are very small. The eyes
are sub-circular, their greatest diameter entering nearly six
times in the length of the head, and twice in advance of their
own orbit. The hinder tip of the maxillary reaches a vertical,
passing through the center of the eye. Twelve longitudinal
rows of scales may be enumerated between the lateral line and
the vent, ten rows on the side of the caudal trunk, and the
median longitudinal row on the body contains thirty scales. The
lateral line, which passes over thirty-three scales, consists
of slightly branched tubes.
The dorsal fin extends over a base equal to half the length of
the fish, caudal fin excluded. Its soft portion falls slightly
short of one-third of the whole fin. The anal fin, which is
nearly half as long as the dorsal, has its hinder termination
slightly more posterior. The acuminately pointed ventrals,
when closely appressed to the abdomen nearly reach the anal
fin. The large caudal has its posterior upper and lower angles
considerably prolonged and pointed.
Color purplish-brown, passing into bluish grey beneath, and
obsoletely lineated longitudinally with darker. A large oblong
pale diffuse spot beneath the posterior end of the dorsal
fin, which is directed obliquely downward and forward. Irides
silvery, tinged with yellow. The dorsal fin is pale greyish,
marked anteriorly with a large diffuse blue-black spot, its
soft portion being tinged with reddish and margined above with
yellow. The anal, ventrals and caudal are bluish-grey, the
former posteriorly tinged with faded red and edged with yellow.
Pectorals nearly colorless.
Length, 18 inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
REMARKS.—We have obtained only two individuals of this large
species, both of which were exposed for sale in the Honolulu
fish-market. The colors, which are no doubt considerably
changed, were taken from the dead fish.
CHIRONECTES Cuv. 1817.
_C. niger_, Garrett.
D. 3-12; A. 6; V. 5; P. 10; C. 1, 7. 1.
The head constitutes about one-third of the total length,
caudal excluded. The eyes are elliptically-oval, and inserted
just once their greatest diameter distant from the margin
of the upper jaw. The skin is covered with fine closely set
prickly asperities, which gives it a velvety appearance. The
general outline is ovate, and the greatest thickness equals
one-sixth of the entire length. A range of conspicuous pores
commences on the upper part of the gill covers, curving
downward and upward to the symphysis of the lower jaw. Another
row follows the margin of the upper jaw, passing over the
snout, where it branches off posteriorly, curving over the
eye and disappearing on the posterior portion of the body.
Each pore is encircled with brush-like appendages, which gives
them a tufted appearance. The dorsal fin extends over a base
equal to one-third the length of the fish. Its upper margin is
arched, and its height as compared to length is as one to two.
The height and length of the anal fin are about equal.
Color deep black and obsoletely maculated with rather small
roundish darker spots. On the basal portion of the dorsal and
anal fins may be observed two large ocellations, with deep
black pupils and paler areolae. Very minute opaque white points
may also be seen scattered along the lower parts. Eyes blackish.
Length, 3½ inches.
Habitat, Sandwich Islands.
REMARKS.—This species possesses the nasal tufted bristle
and two horn-like processes that we observe in all the
species inhabiting these seas. When handled it emits a most
disagreeable odor.
Dr. J. G. Cooper presented the following paper:
On New Genera and Species of Californian Fishes—No. III.
BY J. G. COOPER, M. D.
MYXODES Cuvier, 1817.
_M. elegans_, Cooper, State Collection, No. 707. [FIG. 23.]
[Illustration: FIG. 23.]
_Specific characters._—Form elongated, high and narrow, the
head wider than the thickest part of body. Length of snout
equal to diameter of eye, lower jaw very slightly longest.
Total length a little more than four and a half times that
of head, which is equal to the greatest height of body. Head
moderately arched, rounded above, the width between eyes a
little less than the width of orbit. Orbit circular, contained
four and a half times in length of head. Anterior lobe of
dorsal commencing just behind head, triangular, one-twentieth
of the length of fin, equal to the middle lobe in height;
middle lobe gradually arched, its spines more slender than
those of the first lobe; posterior lobe with soft rays only,
about equal to the first, in size and form, extending nearly to
the tail. Caudal fin quadrangular, its end obtusely truncate,
nearly twice as long as wide. Anal commencing opposite
seventeenth dorsal spine, nearly straight, its height one-fifth
its length, and ending a little anterior to end of dorsal.
Ventrals narrow, the middle ray longest. Pectorals arising
opposite third dorsal spine, nearly as wide as long.
D. V-xxvii to xxx-8; C. 5-5; A. 26 to 28; V. 3; P. 11.
Scales in about 250 rows along middle of side, in 18/50-18/18
vertical rows along lateral line. Proportional measurements:
Length of largest specimen, 4 in. 100.
Length of head .20
Height of pectoral .15
Length of dorsal .72
Length of caudal .12
Length of anal .44
Height of ventral .09
Height of body .22
Width of body .08
_Colors._—Exceedingly variable, but the general pattern, as
preserved in alcohol, consists of a series of vertical bands,
alternating with spots of various shapes and sizes, and often
densely mottled with dark and light blotches distributed
regularly, but not describable. The fins have alternating
bands, and in all the specimens the membrane between the third
and fourth dorsal spine is as clear as glass, as if intended
to be seen through, but probably shines in the water as a sort
of signal. When fresh the colors of those from San Diego were
as follows: 1st, dark brown, a purple lateral stripe, sides
with dark and light brown bars, having silvery blotches between
them; below yellowish, top and sides of head blotched with
yellow, a bright red ring with a green centre near pectorals,
and another near caudal. Dorsal with alternating bars of olive
and yellow; pectoral yellow at base, its rays reddish, barred
with purple, ventrals and anal smoky.
Another was striped and cross-barred with brown, and mingled
with this pattern were blotches of olive-brown, yellowish and
purple, but no rings. Fins marked like the body, but paler.
It is possible that the rings observed in the first one, and
not seen in any other, were caused by the growth of vegetable
parasites, which are often found on fish of similar habits.
REMARKS.—This is the first instance of a _Myxodes_ being found
on our coast north of the equator, though a nearly allied
genus, the _Heterostichus_, has been long known. I was in some
doubt whether to refer the fish to _Myxodes_ on account of the
meagre descriptions of the genus accessible, but having sent a
copy of the outline to Mr. Gill, I have been confirmed in the
correctness of the diagnosis. The following are some of the
most important generic characters not shown in the outline of
our species:
Branchiæ VI-VI, the apertures freely connected below. Teeth
uniserial in each jaw, those of lower jaw largest, some of
those along sides larger than the rest. No teeth on vomer.
Scales minute, entire, cycloid, closely adherent—none on head
or fins.
The two-lobed form of the spinous dorsal does not apparently
exist in some of the species. Suspecting that some of the
other characters will be found sufficient to distinguish it, I
propose for it provisionally the name GIBBONSIA, in honor of
Dr. W. P. Gibbons, of Alameda County, whose descriptions of our
viviparous fishes, published in 1854, by the Academy, have only
of late been awarded the credit they deserve.
These beautiful little fish are found at low water in holes
among rocks along our coast south of Point Conception, and at
the adjoining islands. Their varied and elegant coloration
would make them beautiful objects for a marine aquarium, but
I had nothing suitable for the purpose, in which I could keep
them alive long enough to study their habits.
I obtained three at Pt. Loma, San Diego, three at Catalina
I., and two at Santa Barbara I., all manifestly of the same
species, though differing individually in color, as above
mentioned. They have no popular name.
GILLICHTYHS, n. g.[8]
_Generic characters._—Form moderately elongated, laterally
compressed. Head depressed, broader than body, forming more
than one-fourth of total length. Eyes small, situated far
forward, and obliquely turned upward. Mouth moderate, its gape
extending to the vertical of the posterior rim of orbit, but
the angle of lower jaw half way to branchial aperture. Upper
maxillaries extending back the same distance, thence prolonged
by a cartilaginous expansion which reaches as far back as the
opercular opening, and being there connected to an expansion
of the skin of the lower jaw, forms a channel running back
from the mouth and as long as the gape of the mouth itself.
This channel is entirely free from the side of head, but only
slightly movable forwards, so that it cannot serve to widen the
mouth when opened.
Premaxillaries not protractile, movable at their symphysis, and
only half as long as maxillaries, with which they are connected
by a thin membrane, ending below orbit.
Villiform teeth on premaxillaries throughout, also on lower
maxillaries to angle of mouth, and on pharyngeals; none on
upper maxillaries, vomer or palate. A minute nasal aperture
close behind maxillary and another opening just in front of
anterior rim of orbit.
Preoperculum covered by the skin of the head.
Branchiæ four, all double, and free, opercular apertures small,
as wide as base of pectorals, and separated by the whole width
of the base of head.
Tongue broad and thick. Air-bladder small, liver very large and
alimentary canal short.
Scales small, cycloid and thin, imbedded in the skin so as to
be scarcely perceptible anterior to dorsal fin, or on back.
None on ventral surface.
No lateral line perceptible. Dorsal fins two, situated far
back, and rather large. Caudal small, obtusely rounded. Anal
opposite to second dorsal. Ventrals united into a funnel-shaped
disk opposite base of pectorals. Pectorals large and rounded.
Fin rays all soft, dividing into three or four branches toward
their ends. A small “_papilla genitalis_” in front of anal fin.
Whole fish covered with thick mucous secretion. Skin of head
rather loose and soft, and perfectly smooth.
GILLICHTHYS MIRABILIS Cooper, State Coll. No. 627. [FIG. 24.]
[Illustration: FIG. 24.]
_Specific characters._ Scales along middle of side, about 90 in
27 rows.
D. 6-13; C. 13-13; A. 11; V. 6 + 6; P. 20.
Length of largest specimen obtained, 5¼ inches 100.
Distance from snout to orbit .06
Length of orbit .03
Snout to end of maxillary process .26
Snout to opercular aperture .27
Snout to first dorsal fin .36
Length of base of dorsal fin .15
Height of dorsal fin .10
From first to second dorsal .03
Length of base of second dorsal .19
Height of second dorsal .10
Length of caudal .16
Width of caudal .12
From caudal to second dorsal and anal .10
Length of base of anal .12
Height of anal .06
From ventral to anal .26
Height of ventral anteriorly .02
Height of ventral posteriorly .08
Height of pectoral .14
Width of base of pectoral .08
Lower jaw to ventrals .27
Width of head between orbits .02
Width of head at opercula .15
Height of head at opercula .16
Width of body at first dorsal .12
Height of body at first dorsal .18
Width of caudal at base .02
Height of caudal at base .09
Distance between ends of maxillary processes .58
_Colors._—When alive mottled with light and dark olive, paler
below, sides of head reddish. In alcohol black, pale below, and
scales below middle of sides finely punctate each with 8-10
dots, only visible under a microscope.
_Hab._—I found these remarkable fish only in San Diego Bay, and
in but one station, which was among seaweed growing on small
stones at the wharf of Newtown the military post, in November,
1861. They were left by the receding of the tide, and must have
been out of the water from three to six hours daily, though
kept moist by the seaweed. The four obtained were all females
containing large masses of ova, and may have come to the spot
in order to deposit them.
I could not obtain a glass vessel suitable for an aquarium, so
as to keep them alive and observe their habits. The use of the
strange maxillary processes or channels is obscure, nothing
analogous being known in other fishes, the nearest approach
to them being apparently the lengthened maxillaries of some
_Salmonidæ_ and _Clupeidæ_, fish of entirely different habits
and affinities, this one being evidently one of the _Gobidæ_.
The stomach contained small crabs, apparently swallowed whole.
PTEROPLATEA Müller and Henle, 1837.
_P. marmorata_, Cooper, State Collection, Species 674. [FIG.
25.]
[Illustration: FIG. 25.]
_Specific characters._—Outline of disk rhomboidal, the anterior
borders forming an obtuse angle in front, nearly straight in
their course to the lateral angles, which are sub-acute; the
posterior borders rounded.
Ventrals small, oblong, obtuse-angled, projecting a little
behind the disk. Tail nearly twice the length of ventrals,
slender and pointed, flattened laterally behind the spine, and
bordered by a very narrow membrane, commencing opposite the end
of the spine below, and ending a little farther back above.
Spine arising at a point one-third the length of the tail from
its base, one-sixteenth of its length, and less than a fourth
as wide as it is long.
Both surfaces are nearly flat.
Proportional measurements:
Total length of specimen, 9½ in. 100.
From median line to tip of pectoral .80
From anterior angle to eyes .13
From anterior angle to ventrals .70
Antero-posterior length of ventrals .10
Length of claspers .04
Length of tail beyond ventrals .25
Length of caudal spine .04
Distance between eyes .15
_Colors._—Thickly marbled with blackish and grayish mottlings
equal in size; ventrals and tail with a few scattered white
spots; below, white. It is probable that the colors are
variable, as in the allied _Urolophus_.
I was doubtful at first whether to consider this fish a
_Pteroplatea_, as that genus is described by Richardson as
having the mouth curved, and the dental plate extending to its
corners, also the teeth lobed. These characters, however, may
change with its growth, this being evidently a young specimen.
Mr. Gill, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., to
whom I sent a figure of it, agrees with me in referring it to
this genus.
Compared with the _P. Maclura_ (Lesueur), of the Atlantic
coast, described and figured by Dekay in the Nat. History
of New York, this species is less wide in proportion to its
length, the difference being as 10 to 16. There is also some
difference in the markings. The _P. Maclura_ is said to attain
the enormous width of 18 feet.
I found but one specimen of this fish at San Diego, where it
was caught in a seine. I have also seen one, when the steamer
was lying at anchor, at San Pedro, swimming near the surface
of the water, apparently supporting itself by flapping its
wing-like expansions, while it progressed slowly by lateral
motions of its tail.
NOTE.—By an oversight of the printer, the proper references to
the figures on page 110 were left out. The reader will however
understand from the descriptions that the right hand figure is
the _Myxodes_ (Fig. 23), and the others the _Gillichthys_ (Fig.
24).
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE.—This oversight has been addressed!
Illustrations were relabelled correctly and placed next to the
text describing them.
[8] Named in honor of Mr. THEODORE GILL, of the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington D. C., the author of various learned
treatises on fishes; ICHTHYS, from the Greek for fish.
REGULAR MEETING, JANUARY 18TH, 1864.
President in the Chair.
Present twelve members, four visitors.
Donations to the Cabinet: Cone of _Pinus pinea_ from the south of
Europe, by Mr. Grosseillier. Bottle of Scorpions and other insects, by
Mr. Dawson. Jar of fruits, and cloth made by the natives of Hilukukaki
Island, by Capt. J. B. Edwards: A jar of alcoholic specimens from
Rio Janeiro, one from Panama, and one from Acapulco, by S. Hubbard.
A specimen of _Phasma_ from Manzanillo, Mex., by Col. Heintzelman.
A specimen of _Gordius_ from this vicinity, by Mr. Keith. A box of
cretaceous and tertiary fossils from the Atlantic States, by the
Smithsonian Institution.
Donations to the Library:
Correspondenzblatt des Naturforschenden Vereins zu Riga, 13ter Jahrgang;
Riga 1863. Verhandlungen der K. K. zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft
in Wien, Band XII, Heft 1, 2, 3, 4, Wien 1862. Personen-Orts-und
Sach-Register der Sitzungsberichte und Abhandlungen der Wiener K. K.,
Zool. bot. Gesellschaft, Wien 1862. Oversigt over det Kongelige danske
Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhandlinger Aaret 1861; 8vo. Kiöbenhavn. Der
Zoologische Garten, IV Jahrgang, Nr. 1-6, 1863, 8vo. Frankfurt a M.
Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. III, Nos. 6, 7,
June and July, 1863. Schriften der Königlichen physikalish-ökomischen
Gesellschaft zu Königsberg, IIIter Jahrgang, Abtheilungen 1, 2, 4to,
1862-3. Abhandlungen der K. K. geologischen Reichsanstalt, Band I-III
& IV, 1-2, 3-4, 4to, Wien 1855-6. Jahrbuch der K. K. Reichsanstalt,
Band XII 3, 4; XIII, 1, 8vo. Wien 1862-3. General-Register der ersten
zehn Bände des Jahrbuchs der K. K. geol. Reichsanstalt, 8vo. Wien 1863.
Considerations on the phenomena attending the fall of Meteorites on the
earth, by W. Haidinger, (from the Philosophical Magazine for Nov. and
Dec., 1861.) Seven papers on natural History, by George V. Frauenfeld,
extracted from the Verhandlungen der K. K. Zool. bot. Gesellschaft
in Wien. Also three papers by Messrs. Böck, Brunner, V. Wattenwyl,
and Doleschall, from the same journal, together with the seven papers
mentioned above, presented by G. Ritter V. Frauenfeld.
Prof. Whitney remarked that these donations were of great value,
especially those relating to the Geological Survey of Austria,
obtained through Baron von Richthofen. On motion, the special thanks
of the Academy were tendered to him and to the “K. K. Geologischen
Reichsanstalt” for the donation.
Sheet seven of the Proceedings of this Academy, pps. 97-112, was received
from the printer.
Committees of Finance and of Publication were then elected.
Dr. Cooper, on behalf of Dr. Newcomb, corresponding member, presented
the following paper on new Californian Helices, all of which, except the
first species, were discovered by Dr. Cooper, while connected with the
State Geological Survey.
Descriptions of Nine New Species of Helix Inhabiting California.
BY W. NEWCOMB, M.D., OF OAKLAND, CAL.
HELIX L.
_Helix Hillebrandi_ Newc.
H. testa supra planulata, luteo-cornea, sub-carinata, fasciis
albis bi-cingulata, sub-lente crebre granulata, hirsuta;
anfractibus 6 undique minute striatis, striis oblique
transversis; anfr. ultimo descendente; umbilico late-aperto;
apertura lunari-ovale; peristomate tenuo, albo, reflexo, prope
umbilicam expanso.
Lat. maj. 0.9, min. 0.8 pol. Alt. 0.35 pol.
_Hab._ Tuolumne County, California.
Shell sub-planulate above, yellowish horn color, sub-carinate,
under the glass thickly granulate, hairy(?); whorls 6 very
finely striate, striæ obliquely transverse; the last whorl
descending; umbilicus broadly open; aperture lunate oval; lip
thin, white and reflected, near the umbilicus expanded.
REMARKS.—But one recent specimen, with a number in a fossil
state, were collected by M. Voy and kindly placed in my hands.
The granulated surface is confined to the epidermis, and the
summit of many of the granules is marked with a cicatrix
indicating a hirsute character. The nearest allied species
is _H. Dupetit-Thouarsi_, from which it differs in its more
depressed form and surface structure. It is dedicated to Wm.
Hillebrand, M.D., of Honolulu, a well-known naturalist.
_Helix Tryoni_ Newc. State Collection, Species 1098.
H. testa solida, depresso-globosa, anguste obtecte umbilicata,
supra cæruleo-cinerea, infra sordido-alba, spira sub-turbinata;
anfr. 6 convexi, ultimus descendens; striæ sub-lente numerosæ
insculptæ circum-volutæ; apertura sub-rotundata; columella
callosa, obsolete unidentata; peristoma vix reflexum, introrsum
callosum.
Diam. maj. 1, min. 0.88 pol. Alt. 0.75 pol.
_Var. b_, anfr. superiores undis transversis albis.
_Hab._ Insulis “Santa Barbara,” et “San Nicolas,” Cal.
Shell solid, depressly globose, umbilicus narrow and covered,
above of an ashy sky-blue, below of a dirty white; spire
sub-turbinate; suture well impressed, whorls 6 convex; numerous
microscopical striæ, sculptured and revolving with the whorls;
aperture rounded; columella callous, obsoletely one (sometimes
two) toothed; lip scarcely reflected, thickened within; _var.
b_, superior whorls with white transverse undulating lines.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara, and San Nicolas Islands, Cal.[9]
This species was found in great abundance alive. The animal
is of a deep smoky hue, almost black, with _sometimes_ the
terminal half-inch of the foot of a dirty white. It is
dedicated to a distinguished American Conchologist.
_Helix crebri-striata_ Newc. State Collection, Species 1036.
H. testa obtecte vel aperte umbilicata,
turbine-depresse-globosa, translucido-cornea; anfr. 5
convexiusculi, ultimo descendente; apice sub-mamillato; sutura
bene impressa; striæ transversæ valde et creberrime insignæ,
striæ longitudinis microscopice incisæ; apertura sub-rotunda;
peris. diverso (tenue, acute, sub-reflexo, vel crasso intus
calloso) approximato cum callo profuso conjuncto, vel sine
callo; prope umbilicam expanso.
Diam. maj. 0.92, min. 0-75 pol. Alt. 0-55 ad 0-80 pol.
_Hab._ Ins. “San Clemente,” Cal.
Shell with a covered or open umbilicus, turbinately depressly
globose, whorls 5 a little convex, the last descending; suture
well impressed; transverse striæ well and densely shown,
longitudinal striæ fine and impressed; aperture rounded;
peristome various (thin, acute, a little reflected, or heavy,
with an interior thickening) approximate, with (or without) a
profuse callus connecting the outer and inner lips; near the
umbilicus the columellar lip expands so as to partially cover
the perforation.
_Hab._ San Clemente Island, Cal. Abundant.
This shell, so difficult to describe, owing to its variable
characters in different specimens, makes the nearest approach
to _H. Kelletii_ Forbes, from which it may readily be
distinguished by its sculpture and other characters. In size
and the elevation of the spire, it is one of the most variable
of the California species of Helix. Distinguished from _H.
intercisa_ W. G. Binney, by its not being _solid_, having the
umbilicus partially or completely _open_, and from the figure
referred to, in being more depressly trochiform in shape. The
locality of _H. intercisa_ is given as “Oregon Territory.”
The shell varies in some minor particulars, as in the want of
a rufous apex, and its not being of the same color; in other
respects it seems to be a closely allied species.
_Helix rufocincta_ Newc. State Collection, Species 624.
H. testa depresso-globosa, cornea, rufo-unifasciata,
umbilicata, sub-lente decussata-striata; anfr. 6 ultimus non
descendens; apertura sub-rotundo, labio reflexo, albo; sutura
impressa; columella non callosa.
Diam. maj. 0.70, min. 0.60 pol. Alt. 0.40 pol.
_Hab._ San Diego, et Insula “Santa Catalina,” Cal.
Shell depressly globose, horny, red-banded, umbilicate,
under the lens decussately striate; whorls 6, the last not
descending; aperture sub-rotund; lip white, reflected; suture
impressed; columella not callous.
The adult of this species is allied in outline to _H.
Pytyonesica_ Pfr., but is less elevated, and bears in other
respects no especial relation to that species. The size varies
considerably, and the umbilicus in some specimens is nearly
closed, while in the typical specimens it is quite open.
But one dead specimen was found at San Diego; but on Catalina
Island it was more common, 19 adult and mostly living specimens
occurring, æstivating on the under surface of stones, in June.
_Helix Gabbii_ Newc. State Collection, Species 1097.
H. testa sub-obtecte umbilicata, tenuis, pallide cornea,
depresso-orbicularis, fusco obscure zonata; anfr. 5
convexis ultimus descendens; sutura bene impressa; apertura
sub-orbiculari; labro albo non calloso, reflexo.
Diam. maj. 0.40, min. 0.35 pol. Alt. 0.20 pol.
_Hab._ Insul. “San Clemente,” Cal.
Shell with umbilicus partially covered, thin, pale corneous,
depressly orbicular, with an indistinct brown band; whorls
5 convex, the last descending; lip white, not thickened,
reflected.
I have seen but a solitary specimen of this species. The size
corresponds nearly with _H. facta_, but the thinness of the
shell, the color, the more rounded whorls, the deeper suture,
and the thin, white, reflected lip, sufficiently characterize
this as a distinct species.
_Helix facta_ Newc. State Collection, Species 1099.
H. testa obtecte rimata, depresso-orbiculari, solida,
compacta, glabra, albida, fusco-rubro uni-zonata; anfr. 5 ad
5½ convexiusculi, ultimus descendens; sutura modice impressa;
apertura ovalis; labro crasso, reflexo, flavido.
Diam. maj. 0.42, min. 0.35 pol. Alt. 0.22 pol.
_Hab._ Insul. “Santa Barbara,” et “San Nicolas.”
Shell with perforation covered, depressed orbicular, solid,
_compact_, smooth, whitish, zoned with a brownish red band;
whorls 5 to 5½ somewhat convex, the last descending; suture
slightly impressed; aperture oval; lip thick, reflected,
yellowish.
A sub-fossil variety measures 0.60 by 0.32 inches. Very
numerous on Santa Barbara Island; less so on San Nicolas.
This species differs so essentially from the ordinary type
of California Helices as to suggest a tropical region as its
original habitat. One character in common with many of our
species may be noticed, viz.: the colored band cutting the body
whorl, inclosed between two faint light colored cinctures.
The shell has a little the aspect of _H. Rothi_ Pfr., from the
Island of Syra, but is smaller, less elevated, and with a thick
reflected yellow lip.
_Helix Whitneyi_ Newc. State Collection, Species 1112.
H. testa corneo-fumosa, sub-planulata, polita umbilico
perspectivo; sutura bene impressa; apertura lunaris; labro
simplici; anfr. 4.
Diam. 0.20 pol. Alt. 0.10 pol.
_Hab._ prope “Lake Taho,” Cal., in montibus “Sierra Nevada,”
elevatione 6100 ped. Angl.
Shell smoky horn color, nearly flat above, smooth, with a
perspective umbilicus; suture well impressed; aperture lunate;
lip simple; whorls four.
In the umbilicus resembling _H. striatella_ Anthony, with a
smooth surface and a dull, smoky hue. Only three specimens
were found, under damp logs and bark along a mountain stream,
together with _H. Breweri_, and _chersina_.
_H. Breweri_ Newc. State Collection, Species 1113.
H. testa discoidea, pallide-cornea, nitida, lucida; sutura
sub-canaliculata, late umbilicata; anfr. 5. apertura lunaris;
labro tenue simplici.
Diam. 0.20 pol. Alt 0.10 pol.
_Hab._ prope “Lake Taho,” Cal., et montibus septentrionalibus.
Shell discoidal, pale corneous, shining, transparent, suture
slightly channelled, broadly umbilicate; whorls 5; aperture
lunate; lip thin, simple.
This shell may be compared with _H. arborea_ Say, from which
it differs by its less elevation, more polished and lighter
colored surface, and more open umbilicus. Eight specimens
found; one from Northern California, by Prof. Brewer.
_Helix Duranti_ Newc. State Collection, Species 987.
H. testa depressa, discoidea, pallide-cornea sub-lente
minutissime striata, opaca, late et perspective umbilicata;
anfr. 4. ultimus declivis non descendens; sutura linearis;
apertura rotundata-lunaris; peristomate simplici, approximato.
Diam. 0.20 pol. Alt. 0.07 pol.
_Hab_. “Santa Barbara Island.”
Shell depressed, discoidal, pale corneous, under the lens
minutely striated, opaque, broadly and perspectively
umbilicated; whorls 4, the last shelving but not descending (at
the aperture); suture linear; aperture rounded, lunate, lip
simple, the external and internal approximating.
This pretty little planorboid Helix bears a striking
resemblance to _Planorbis albus_ Müller, (_hirsutus_ Gould,)
especially in its upper aspect. Beneath, the whorls are less
distinctly shown than in the _Planorbis_. I take pleasure in
dedicating this species to Professor Henry Durant, of the
College of California.
In addition to the above, the State Collection contains the
following species of Californian Helices:
_Helix arrosa_ Gould, sps. 858, common near mouth of S. F. Bay.
Also a yellow variety from Santa Cruz, Mr. Rowell.
_Helix Californiensis_ Lea, (?) sps. 969, or a var. of _H.
nickliniana Lea_? J. G. Cooper.
_Helix Carpenteri_ Newc., sps. 1136, a broken dead shell, from
the head of San Joaquin Valley, Mr. Gabb.
_Helix Columbiana_ Lea, sps. 901, near San Francisco.
_Helix chersina_ Say, sps. 1125, found near Lake Taho; very
large. J. G. C.
_Helix Dupetithouarsi_ Desh. sps. 492, from Point Cypress,
Monterey. J. G. C.
_Helix exarata_ Pfeiffer, sps. 920. Mt. Diablo, Prof. Brewer;
Santa Cruz, Mr. Rowell.
_Helix fidelis_ Gray, sps. 1135, Humboldt Bay, and mountains
near lat. 42°. Prof. Brewer. A black variety; Dr. Frick.
_Helix infumata_ Gould, sps. 880, near Ballenas Bay, Mr. Rowell.
_Helix Kellettii_ Forbes, sps. 856, San Diego, and Catalina
Island; the latter a very fine variety. J. G. Cooper.
_Helix loricata_ Gould, sps. 880, near Oakland, Dr. Newcomb.
_Helix Newberryana_ W. G. Binney, sps. 881, Temescal mountains,
near Los Angeles, Prof. Brewer.
_Helix Nickliniana_ Lea, sps. 912, near S. F. Bay; common. J.
G. C.
_Helix sportella_ Gould, sps. 899, near San Francisco. J. G. C.
_Helix mormonum_ Pfeiffer; San Joaquin Valley, Mr. Gabb; north
to Mount Shasta, Prof. Brewer.
_Helix Traskii_ Newc., sps. 863, from mountains near Santa
Barbara, Prof. Brewer. May be a variety of _H. Dupetithouarsi_.
_Helix tudiculata_ Binney, sps. 768, near San Diego and San
Pedro. J. G. C.
_Helix Vancouverensis_ Lea, sps. 1093, Straits of Fuca, Mr.
Gabb. Perhaps extends south to Humboldt Bay.
[9] This is the “_H. Kelletii_” mentioned on page 63 of this
volume.—J. G. C.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 1ST, 1864.
President in the Chair.
Eleven members present.
Donation to the Cabinet: A collection of dried plants from Arizona, by
Mr. Spence.
Prof. Brewer presented the following papers:
Description of a New Species of Virgularia from the Coast of California.
BY WM. M. GABB.
VIRGULARIA LAM.
_V. gracilis_ Gabb.
Polypidom long and very slender. Decorticated stem circular
or elliptical in section, smooth on the surface. Polypiferous
lobes, slender, exsert, lunate, acute at the tips and broad
at the base; arranged obliquely and alternately on the
antero-lateral face of the stem. These lobes occupy the upper
half of the polypidom; retaining their full size to the extreme
apex, but diminishing below, so that on the middle of the stem
they are exceedingly minute; and an inch or two below, are only
represented by a slight ridge on the sheath, in which are two
or three cells. The lower fourth of the sheath is dilated to
about three times the thickness of the rest of the stem.
Length 19 inches; diameter of the naked stem .03 in.; smallest
diameter of stem, with the sheath, .04; diameter of expanded
base .13 in.; length of largest lobes .15 in.
Locality, Bay of Monterey, 20 fms. Collected by Dr. J. G.
Cooper, of the State Geological Survey.
This species can be at once distinguished from _V. elongata_,
G. (Proc. Cal. A. N. S., vol. 2, p. 167) by its more slender
form, its proportionally large polypiferous lobes, its
cylindrical stem, without any grooves, and by the comparatively
smaller portion of the stem bearing the lobes.
Notice of Plants found Growing in Hot Springs in California.
BY PROF. WM. H. BREWER, OF THE STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
More than two years ago I laid before this Society some facts
in regard to the growth of plants in the thermal waters of this
State. Since that time we have more observations, and some of
the facts are worthy of record, although the fact is not new
that plants will grow in hot water.
At the Geysers in Lake County, there are numerous hot springs
and steam jets, in and around which there is an abundant growth
of a low form of vegetation (_Nostoc_?) growing on the soil and
covering it with a bright green coating. In some of the warm
springs and streams it accumulates in considerable quantities
in the water. The highest temperature of water observed at the
time of our visit, in 1861, was 207° F.; the water of many of
the springs boiling violently at temperatures ranging from
196° to that stated. This vegetable flourished in waters of
the temperature of 200° F., but was most abundant where the
temperature ranged from 125° to 140° F. It coated the soil
around the steam jets, where it would be alternately exposed to
the jets of steam issuing at a higher temperature than that of
boiling water, and of the cooler air.
In water of the temperatures of 100° to 125° there are
filamentons algæ.
At the Little Geysers similar facts were observed.
In Plumas County, near Lassens Peak, there are three groups
of hot springs, at all of which the same form of vegetation
is abundant under similar conditions, especially around steam
jets. Various gases, especially sulphohydric and sulphurous
acids, accompanying the steam in all of these localities,
and the soil is generally impregnated with various saline
substances. All the specimens of the plants were unfortunately
lost, so that no microscopic examination has been made, further
than could be done on the spot with a pocket lens.
Near all of these springs, the _Panicum thermale_ Bolander,
grows on the saline soils, sometimes where the soil is warm
and the grass is subjected to steam; but its station appears
to depend more upon the saline character of the soil than upon
its temperature. It was frequently found on soil saturated
with sulphates of soda, lime, etc., and having a strongly acid
reaction.
None of these forms are universally found about all the hot
springs of the State; many springs have been visited where
neither of them occur, but where one is found the other is
generally found also.
Dr. Cooper presented the following paper for Dr. Newcomb, corresponding
member:
Description of a New Species of Pedicularia.
BY W. NEWCOMB, M. D.
PEDICULARIA SWAINSON.
_Pedicularia Californica_ Newc.
P. testa depresa-globosa, coccinea, minute transverse
striata, supra rotundata, infra late aperta; labio expanso,
semi-circulare; columella crassa, dilatata, intus recta;
apertura elongato sub-ovata; extremitatibus effusis:
Long. 0.4 pol.
Lat. 0.3 ”
Alt. 0.25 ”
Hab. _California_.
Shell depressly globose, crimson colored, minutely transversely
striated, above rounded, below broadly open; lip expanded,
semicircular; columella thick, dilated within, straight;
aperture elongately sub-ovate; extremities broadly notched.
The Genus Pedicularia was established by Swainson for the
reception of a single species (_P. sicula_) of that author.
During the past year another species has been added by that
eminent Naturalist, G. P. Deshayes, of Paris.
In a work published, on the shells of the Isle of Bourbon, he
describes a beautiful violet-colored species under the name
of _P. elegantissima_. The California species (of which only
one specimen has been obtained) can scarcely be surpassed in
brilliancy by its Indian Ocean congener, although bearing the
exquisite name of _elegantissima_.
For the specimen of the species here described, I am indebted
to the extreme liberality of D. N. Robinson, Esq., of San
Francisco, who obtained it from a coral growing on a monster
crustacean of the genus _Echidnocerus_, which was taken in very
deep water at the Farallones Islands.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 15TH, 1864.
Vice-President Trask in the Chair.
Present thirteen members.
Messrs. A. Thyark and R. E. C. Stearns were elected resident members.
Donations to the Cabinet: Coral, from the Aitutaka Islands, by Capt.
Edwards. Botanical specimens from the White Mountains, N. H., by Dr.
Cooper.
Donations to the Library: Report of the Committee to prepare a plan for a
State University. Journal of the Society of Arts and of the Institutions
in Union, London, Eng. American Journal of Science and Arts for November,
1863.
Mr. W. P. Blake exhibited specimens of Coal, said to have been found
on the mountains east of the Colorado River, about twenty-five miles
from La Paz. He stated that it was of very good quality and seemed too
brilliant for surface coal, but that this might perhaps be attributed to
the dryness of the climate. He had, however, doubts as to the occurrence
of coal associated with obsidian, as was stated to be the case with these
specimens.
The publishing committee was authorized to furnish copies of the
Proceedings for 1863 to certain libraries and journals in this State.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 7TH, 1864.
President in the Chair.
Present twelve members; also Messrs. Turnbull, Smith, Gardiner, and
Burgner, by invitation.
Donation to the Cabinet: Stuffed skin of a large venomous Snake, from the
Sierra Madre of Mexico, east of Mazatlan, presented by Mr. Burgner.
Donations to the Library: Pamphlets on the North American Helicidæ, by
Thomas Bland, extracted from the Annals of the N. Y. Lyceum of Natural
History. American Journal of Science and Arts for January, 1864. Boston
Journal of Natural History, Vol. VII, No. 4.
Dr. Behr presented the following paper:
On Californian Lepidoptera. No. IV.
BY H. BEHR, M.D.
FAM. VANESSIDÆ.
GRAPTA.
_Grapta Comma_ Harris.
I possess but one specimen of this Grapta. It was collected by
Dr. Hillebrand, in Yosemite Valley, during his late visit to
California. It agrees in all essential points with two other
specimens which I obtained through the kindness of Mr. W. H.
Edwards, of New York. The California specimen differs by a
somewhat lighter coloration on both sides, especially below
where the ground color passes into a yellowish brown, while in
the Eastern specimen it becomes a bluish gray. On the upper
side, also, the bluish coloration of the edge of the angulated
wings of the Eastern form is replaced by a yellowish tint.
I would be inclined to take _G. Comma_ for a local variety of
_G. C-album_, were it not for the caterpillar, which, according
to Mr. Harris, resembles that of _G. interrogationis_, and
is entirely without that strangely dimidiate coloration so
characteristic in _G. C-album_.
In _G. C-album_ I cannot find any difference between my
Californian and European specimens. Our vernal generation is
larger and somewhat lighter colored than any European specimens
I have ever seen. The caterpillar has a curious dimidiate
coloration, which I have never seen except in this species: the
fore part being white, the abdominal part yellow. I found it
on Urtica, but it will probably be found on other Urticaceous
plants, herbaceous as well as arborescent. _G. C-album_ is not
common in the immediate neighborhood of San Francisco, but it
is rather abundant in woody and mountainous districts.
The Atlantic States are richer in species of this genus than
either Europe or California, the two latter of which possess
the same number of species.
Europe. California. Atlantic Slope.
_G. C-album._ _G. C-album._ _G. C-album._
_G. Triangulum._ _G. Comma._ _G. Comma._
—— —— _G. Faunus._
—— —— _G. Progne._
—— —— _G. interrogationis._
VANESSA Fabr.
_Vanessa Californica_ Boisd.
The caterpillar of this species feeds on Ceanothus, and lives
socially like that of _V. Urticæ_ L., from which it differs
very little. It is of a velvety black, and the spines which
cover it are also black.
_V. Californica_ is remarkable from its being one of the few
wandering Lepidoptera yet known. The first migration I observed
was on November 15th, 1856, when numbers of this butterfly flew
over San Francisco in a general direction of south-south-east.
They flew singly, and never crowded into swarms. Most of these
butterflies passed over our streets at too great a height
to permit close inspection—a few alighting here and there
on lamp-posts, sign-boards, or in the more rural parts, on
flowers. It was from these that I obtained the specimens in
my collection. They nearly all looked worn and shattered, and
there were no fresh specimens among them: clearly indicating
that they were not raised in the neighborhood of the city,
but had come from distant parts. On the 18th some of the
stragglers were still to be seen, but on the 19th they had
all disappeared. The second migration took place last fall,
but did not reach San Francisco. I received a series of
specimens, caught by Dr. Cooper, on the road to Lake Taho.
Others I received from Oregon, where they were collected by
Mr. Gabb, during his geological examination of those northern
regions. Neither Dr. Cooper nor Mr. Gabb observed any marked
direction in the flight of these butterflies; they agree that
the species was strikingly numerous. Mr. Gabb represents it
as settling on the ground in dry arroyos, very shy, and when
frightened, always returning to the same spot—a behavior which
pretty nearly corresponds with that of the nearest relative,
the European _V. Polychloros_. Both of these authorities prove
merely an unusual number of this butterfly at an unusual time
of the year. The description of the habits of the insect, as
observed by Mr. Gabb in the Umpqua Valley, show clearly that
there it felt at home. By comparing notes received from Mr.
Johnson, of Marin County, I have come to the conclusion that
the country to the northward, crowded with this Vanessa, must
have sent at least one colony south; and I was told by the
above-mentioned gentleman, the statement being confirmed by
several intelligent farmers of the same neighborhood, that
large numbers of a brown butterfly had come from San Quentin,
and crossed over that part of the bay which stretches between
San Rafael and Saucelito. About the same time, great numbers of
the same insect were observed in Lagunita Valley, at the base
of Tamal Pais, where the swarms gathered in a great crowd, and
disappeared as suddenly as they came.
I trust that my loquacity in regard to the habits of this
species will be pardoned. I consider the observation of facts
touching the migration of animals, of the highest importance,
and think it desirable that all observations on these points
should be put on record: so that hereafter, when a sufficient
number of instances may have been collected, conclusions may
be drawn, and perhaps many hitherto inexplicable points in the
geographical distribution of insects, and of organic life in
general, may be explained.
This butterfly is rather rare in common years, and is, perhaps,
notwithstanding its name, _V. Californica_, not exactly an
indigenous species, at least not in the middle counties of our
State. Unlike all other _Vanessidæ_ known to me, it has but one
generation, at least in California, where the imago is always
found late in the season. I do not venture to decide whether
_V. Californica_ requires a longer time for development in the
larva state than the other _Vanessidæ_, or whether it has
its vernal generations somewhere else in adjacent countries.
I have found but one colony of caterpillars. It was in July,
and most of the individuals were nearly full grown; they were
rather delicate, the majority died in the larva state, seven
transformed about the end of the month, and a single chrysalis
produced a crippled butterfly.
_Vanessa Milberti_ Godt.
This species is common in woody localities. The caterpillar
is very much like that of _V. Californica_, and only a few
individuals show a distinguishing mark in the shape of a
longitudinal, lateral stripe of sulphur yellow. It feeds on
_Urtica_.
_Vanessa Antiopa_ L.
There is nothing to add in regard to this long and well-known
species. The caterpillar feeds here, as everywhere else, on
willows.
The true Vanessæ have about the same geographical distribution
as the Graptæ. They also have a predilection for Urticaceous
plants. Only the most northern species is amphigeic.
Europe. California. Atlantic Slope.
_V. Antiopa._ _V. Antiopa._ _V. Antiopa._
_V. Urticæ._ _V. Milberti._ _V. Milberti._
_V. Polychloros._ _V. Californica._ _V. C-album._
There is a balance in favor of the Old World—the beautiful type
of _V. Io_ not being represented on this continent—and also the
type of _V. Polychloros_, containing a few species, as, for
instance, _V. Xanthomelas_, that make it appear more numerous.
PYRAMEIS Hubn.
_Pyrameis Atalanta_ L.
Larva feeds on Urtica.
_Pyrameis Carye._
This species is by far the most common butterfly in California.
The caterpillar is very variable in its coloration, and is
so like that of _P. Atalanta_, in company with which it is
frequently found, that I have never succeeded in finding any
distinguishing characters. It feeds throughout the year on
_Urtica_ and on several malvaceous plants, and has the habit of
all its congeners, of hiding itself in a rolled up leaf.
_Pyrameis Cardui_ L.
This most cosmopolitan of all diurnals, affects here, in its
larva state, several malvaceous plants, and also the genus
_Gnaphalium_, and its relations; but the plant for which it
shows the greatest predilection is _Silybum Marianum_, a
plant which formerly did not exist here, and has only spread
since 1852. It now forms thickets in the neighborhood of San
Francisco, as well as near most of our inland towns, but has
never spread to a great distance from settlements. _P. Cardui_
frequents the same localities, and I found the same species in
Australia in the same relation to the same immigrated plant,
_Silybum Marianum_. I know very well that _P. Cardui_ existed
here, as well as in Australia, before the immigration of this
Mediterranean plant; but still, it is a remarkable fact that
this cosmopolitan butterfly, notwithstanding its ability to
adapt itself to plants of the most different families, still
clings with such tenacity to a cosmopolitan plant, to whose
universal distribution it is perhaps much indebted for the wide
range which it itself attains.
Next to the cosmopolitan character of this plant, _P. Cardui_
owes its great extent probably to its many generations and
certain irregularities in the time of the appearance of the
perfect insect; so that small colonies of the species are
not so liable to be destroyed by inclemency of climate or
exceptional atmospheric agencies; for a being that exists at
the same time in the four stages of the egg, larva, chrysalis,
and imago, has more chances of escaping cataclysms and deluge
than others that are all at one time in the same stage of
existence. The extent of the influence exerted by the number
of generations, and the irregularity of period, can be very
clearly recognized by the circumstance that species with one
generation are always the most local; for instance, certain
_Meliteæ_, _Argynnidæ_, _Theclæ_, most of _Sphingidæ_, etc.;
that also the cosmopolitanism develops in proportion to the
number of generations, and attains its maximum in certain
_Vanessidæ_, _Danaidæ_, _Pyrameis_, etc.
_Pyrameis Hunteri_ Fab.
This species seems to have, in California, but one generation.
It is not common. I have found it only in the latter part
of the season, and have not yet succeeded in finding the
caterpillar. The genus _Pyrameis_ has the widest range of all
the genera of this family. It extends through all latitudes
from the Arctic regions to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape
Horn. On the northern hemispheres it is best represented in
California, which country possesses one peculiar species in
addition to all three of Europe and the Eastern Slope of the
United States.
California. Eastern Slope. Europe.
_P. Atalanta._ _P. Atalanta._ _P. Atalanta._
_P. Carye._ —— ——
_P. Cardui._ _P. Cardui._ _P. Cardui._
_P. Hunteri._ _P. Hunteri._ ——
JUNONIA Hubn.
_Junonia Cænia_ Boisd. et Lee.
Several generations. Caterpillar not yet found in California.
From this enumeration of California _Vanessidæ_ we find, 1st.
That with the exception of _V. Californica_, there is not yet
found any species of this group peculiar to our State, for even
_P. Carye_ exists as well in Chili as here, and is also said to
have been found in Brazil. This circumstance is more striking
since our _Argynnidæ_ and _Meliteæ_ prove altogether local;
none of them being identical with Eastern species, unless a
_Melitæa_, of the type of _Mylitta_, should be found identical
with a form found in Texas. 2. The genera of this group,
north of the Tropic of Cancer, are essentially amphigeic, the
European _Arachnia_ being almost the sole exception. But, as
it were, to compensate this, the tropical amphigeic genus
_Junonia_, wanting in Europe, extends, on our continent, to
high latitudes. 3. As regards the number of specks, the genus
_Grapta_ predominates at the Eastern Slope, _Vanessa_ in
Europe, _Pyrameis_ in California, and our own _Junonia_ is
counterbalanced in Europe by our _Arachnia_.
FAM. LIMENITIDÆ.
LIMENITIS Fabr.
_Limenitis Lorquini_ Boisd.
Like its congeners in other parts of the world, this species
occurs in shady woods, or on the banks of arroyos. It is
peculiar to California and Oregon.
_Limenitis Eulalia_ Doubleday.
In localities similar to the preceding species. These two
species are, as yet, the only ones found in our State. They
represent a peculiar type, forming, in their coloration,
a transition from _Limenitis_ to the South American genus
_Heterochroa_. Neither of these Californians have been found on
the Eastern Slope. _L. Eulalia_ extends to Mexico.
The family _Apaturidæ_ as yet, has not been found in California.
Dr. Trask offered the following article:
Earthquakes in California During the Year 1863.
BY JOHN B. TRASK, M.D.
During the year 1863 we have had but five earthquakes, and as
in former years they have been marked by no serious event, if
we except the light degree of fright induced at the time among
our people.
January 25th.—A severe shock was experienced at San Diego at
2h. 20m. M., which lasted five to eight seconds. There was no
undulation in this case, it consisting of a series of sharp
jars. It was preceded by a deep rumbling noise.
February 1st.—A very smart shock at the Mission San Juan,
Monterey County, at 4h. 1m. P.M. This shock was felt at Gilroys
at 4h. 15m. This town is twelve miles east of the former. At
both places the shock was marked by the undulatory motion. It
was not observed at Monterey, which is nearly twelve miles west
of the Mission.
June——A smart shock at midnight at San Francisco.
August 1st.—Two light shocks at San Francisco, at 10h. 48m.
P.M., and at 11h. 6m. P.M., another shock.
December 19th.—At 2h. 38m. P.M. a smart shock was felt
throughout the city; directly afterwards another and more
severe one occurred. The first was a short, sudden jar, while
the second was undulatory. The accuracy of the telegraph
operator at Santa Clara has enabled us to form a correct idea
of the course of this shock, and to correct to some extent the
popular errors relating to the direction of the seismic wave.
His time was 2h. 44m. 31s., being within 29 seconds of true
time, which would then be 2.45. This gives us only 6½ minutes
difference in elapsed time, and gives for the direction of the
wave an east course in place of north and south, as reported,
which corresponds to our measured observations here. I take
this opportunity of expressing the thanks of the Academy to
this operator for his accuracy and kindness in furnishing us
data in this and other phenomena of scientific and public
interest.
February and March, 1864.
During the present year, 1864, we have had two smart
earthquakes at the date of writing this report.
February 26th.—At San Francisco a light shock at 0h. 40m.
M., and another at 2h. 10m. M. These were reported to me by
persons who were up in the south and west parts of the city.
At 5h. 47m. a very smart shock occurred, having three distinct
vibrations, which induced many to rise somewhat earlier than
was usual. This earthquake was preceded by a strong _electric
storm_ (so called here), between this city and Visalia; the
particulars of which have not as yet all come to hand. It was
followed next day by one of those severe “northers” with which
the people of this State are very familiar. Barometer very low.
This fact is mentioned only on account of the unseasonable
period at which the gale occurred.
This earthquake was felt more severe at San José and Santa
Clara than at this place, and occurred at nearly the same hour.
March 5th.—A severe shock of earthquake at San Francisco at
8h. 49m. M. The first wave had a north and south direction
and continued 1¾ seconds; nearly 1¾ seconds elapsed before
the second shock, which was at 8h. 49m. 3s., and continued 1½
seconds. The second shock was rotatory; the pendulum swinging
north and south from the first shock, began and continued to
describe a short oval or nearly a circle from the effects of
the second shock, and continued thus for more than half an
hour, until stopped and brought to rest. Magnetism was not
suspended in this earthquake, nor any other that has occurred
since my instrument was suspended. These observations were made
at the height of twenty feet four inches from the ground. The
total of time included in the shock was nearly five seconds.
The farthest point south to which I have been able to trace
its effects is the Mission San Juan, and north to Sacramento,
a distance inclusive of 177 miles. In an easterly direction
we have not traced it east of Stockton, about 60 miles. It
was felt at Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Gilroys, south of San
Francisco, and at Santa Rosa and Petaluma to the north.
Since the above was in type, advices have been received from
Visalia. At that locality the shock was very smart. The first
shock took place at 8h. 45m. M., being four minutes earlier
than that at San Francisco. This gives for the entire distance,
north and south (over which the earthquake extended), 257
miles. This extent of latitude, and the almost simultaneous
period of time at which it was observed along the entire line
of distance so far as heard from, leads to the conclusion that
its probable centre was south of San Francisco and nearly in
the same longitude. From the violence of its action I feel
inclined to the belief that its centre was in the neighborhood
of San José, for all accounts agree in this one point, that
more turbulence of the earth’s surface occurred in this region
during its continuance than at any other place yet known. At
Visalia the first shock was a mere tremor, but was followed by
an undulatory movement when the second shock occurred, which
was some three or four seconds later. This wave moved in an
east and west direction at that place.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 21ST, 1864.
Dr. Trask in the Chair.
Eleven members present.
Messrs. J. G. Kellogg and Jacob Deidesheimer were elected resident
members.
Resolutions were passed in memory of the Rev. T. Starr King, late a
member of the Academy, and a copy directed to be forwarded to the family
of the deceased.
Donation to the Library: “Descriptions of New Species of Tropical
American Birds,” by Geo. N. Lawrence, extracted from the Annals of the
New York Lyceum, by the author.
A discussion was held on the popular error of supposing that thunder
and lightning are very rare in California, several members stating from
their experience that both are common in the higher and more mountainous
portions, at all seasons of the year, though rare in the lower regions.
Dr. Behr stated that he had used the root of the _Aspidium argutum
Kaulf._, successfully as an antidote for tape-worm since the year 1852,
and with better results than attend the use of _A. filixmas_ of Europe.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 4TH, 1864.
President in the Chair.
Present, ten members.
Professor Whitney read a paper by Major Williamson, U. S. Engineer,
giving the methods of determination and results of measurement by
barometer of the depression of “Death Valley” below the level of the sea,
made in 1860 by the Cal. and U. S. Boundary Commission. Death Valley
was found to be the “sink” of the Armagoza River, which runs near the
boundary, east of Owen’s Lake. The observations, are sufficient to show
that the valley is from one hundred to two hundred feet lower than the
level of the sea.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 18TH, 1864.
Dr. Trask in the Chair.
Present, nine members.
W. S. Brigham and Horace Mann were elected corresponding members, being
about to proceed to the Sandwich Islands to make a thorough scientific
exploration, under the auspices of the Boston Society of Natural History.
The name of Mr. Louis Janin, elected in 1861 but accidentally omitted
from the list of members, was directed to be published in the proceedings.
Donations to the Cabinet: About two hundred specimens of rocks and ores
from Humboldt River District, by Mr. Highton.
Dr. Trask presented the following paper:
Earthquakes in California from 1800 to 1864.
BY JOHN B. TRASK.
As the subject of earthquakes for some years past has engrossed
much of the attention of scientific observers, I have, at the
request of several members of the Academy, made out a complete
report upon the occurrence of those phenomena upon this coast,
as far as personal observation is concerned, and also so far
only as we have authentic records prior to the occupancy of the
present State of California by the American Government.
The present paper contains, probably, all that can be verified,
and places the subject in a form to which future reference
may be made by other observers abroad; thus enabling them and
ourselves also, to bring together the statistical facts which,
it may be hoped, will help to form some rational theory in
future years relating to the causal agency of those phenomena,
as well as the physical laws governing their action.
In this paper I have reduced the periods of their occurrence
for the thirteen years past to astronomical time, in all
instances where the hour on which the shocks occurred have been
known with certainty, and, without attempting to combat any
theory that has been advanced, or the suggestion of another
relating to their origin, their history has been left as a
record of facts, which will become useful when others of like
character accompany them. Our record, in this State alone has
reached a little more than one-tenth of the number on which M.
Mallet has founded his theory of their origin, and which were
drawn from all parts of the world, and although this may seem a
large proportion for this district of country alone since 1850,
it is not to be presumed that a greater frequency of shocks
have occurred here than elsewhere, but that the same attention
has not been bestowed in recording their occurrence in other
countries where they are known to be much more frequent and
severe than upon our coast.
It might be asked why, if such unquestionable frequency
occurs within the limits of this State we are not subject
to momentary destruction from their effects; the answer to
this is found in the preceding paragraph, from which cause it
will be seen that our experience is more apparent than real,
relatively, and farther still, we should find a much greater
frequency of shocks, beyond all doubt, if the instruments
for their registry in different parts of the State were more
plentiful than at present.
There is no good reason for the supposition that we are in more
danger from these phenomena than upon the Atlantic border,
for the reason that we are so far removed from the centers of
immediate and violent volcanic action, that it would require
dangerous tension of the imagination to place California within
the range of those physical causes which are so conducive to
violent, repeated, and destructive earthquakes. This State
cannot be considered more subject to earthquakes than it is to
volcanoes, relatively, and this is said too in the face of our
own records relating to the former. We need have little fear
from these disturbances so long as we are so far removed on
either hand from the great centers, and even from the terminal
points of those centers of volcanic disturbance, from the
action of which such disastrous consequences have, and will
again follow to their immediate districts.
A moment’s consideration will convince the most sceptical of
the prevailing fallacy relating to this subject. In the first
place, we are situated between two great termini of active
volcanic ranges, the nearest being Colima, 1,200 miles south,
the other on the coast of Alaska, more than 1,300 miles to the
north; the distance inclusive between the points being nearly
or perhaps quite 2,600 miles, in which NO active volcanic vents
abound, unless we make an exception of Mounts Hood and St.
Helen in Oregon, of which the testimony is somewhat dubious,
and the nearest of which is 700 miles. To the east there are no
volcanoes for a distance of 2,500 miles, and to the west for a
much greater distance than in either of the other directions.
This, certainly, should be sufficient to palliate the fears of
the timid, in some degree at least, and to silence in part also
the sensational articles which appear from time to time in the
press of this and the eastern States, as to California being an
oven within the range of active volcanic action, and a volcanic
country.
In preparing this paper I have endeavored to obtain, as far as
possible, the most correct information relating to the history
of these phenomena in former years. It is my desire also to
correct some of the misrepresentations and statements current
relating to the severity of earthquake shocks in this country
during the earlier periods of its history.
I have at the present time some additional information relating
to the great earthquake of 1812, which did not appear in my
first paper on this subject, and which must now be placed on
record. These facts relate more to the phenomena occurring
during that year, rather than to the destruction of the
missions, all of which will be found in their proper place
below.
From careful inquiry of the early settlers and residents I
cannot learn that any more than one earthquake has occurred
which was in any considerable degree of a serious character,
and but one which has caused the destruction of either life or
property to any extent.
This earthquake occurred in the month of September, 1812, and
destroyed the Mission San Juan Capistrano, in Los Angeles
County, and the Mission Purissima (Viejo) in the County of
Santa Barbara. The following is the history of that event
as obtained from the older native inhabitants and foreign
residents on the coast at that time.
The day was clear and uncommonly warm; it being Sunday the
people had assembled at San Juan Capistrano for evening
service. About half an hour after the opening of service,
an unusual loud, but distant rushing sound was heard in the
atmosphere to the east and also over the water, which resembled
the sound of strong wind, but as it approached no perceptible
breeze accompanied it. _The sea was smooth and the air was
calm._ So distant and loud was this atmospheric sound that
several left the building attracted by its noise.
Immediately following the sound, the first and heaviest shock
of the earthquake occurred, which was sufficiently severe
to prostrate the Mission Church of San Capistrano almost in
a body, burying in its ruins the most of those who remained
behind, after the first indication of its approach was heard.
The shock was very sudden and almost without warning, save from
the rushing sound above noted, and to the severity of the first
shock at that moment is to be attributed the loss of life that
followed.
The number reported to have been killed outright, is variously
estimated from thirty to forty-five (the largest number of
persons agree on the smallest number of deaths given), but
in the absence of records such statements should be received
with many grains of allowance, where memory alone is the only
means left, and the term of forty-three years has elapsed
before the period at which this account was placed on paper. A
considerable number are reported to have been badly injured.
There is a universal agreement on this point with those from
whom these facts were derived, viz.: _that the first shock
threw down the entire building, and that a large number of
persons were in it at that moment_, and under the circumstances
it would be most singular if no deaths were caused by such an
event.
It is now nine years since the above facts were published,
and in March, 1864, a writer to me unknown, corroborates this
statement relating to that Mission in these words. “The church
thrown down at San Juan Capistrano by an earthquake in 1812,
was a well built-affair of stone and cement. The cupola or
short steeple falling over the church completely destroying the
building.”
The motion of the earth is described as having _lifted
vertically_, attended by a rotatory movement. _No undulatory_
motion is described by any one. Dizziness and _nausea_ seized
almost every person in the vicinity.
A heavy, loud, deep rumbling, accompanied the successive shocks
that followed, which were five in number, all having the motion
above described, though comparatively light in their effects to
the first. The sounds attending the phenomena came apparently
from the South and East.
In the valley of San Inez, to the south and west of Santa
Barbara, the church now known as the “Mission Viejo” (La
Purissima), was also completely destroyed. At this locality
there were also a number of lives lost, but what number is as
yet very uncertain. The distance between Capistrano and San
Inez is about one hundred and seventy miles. The shock which
destroyed this building occurred about one hour after the
former, and the greater portion of the inhabitants had left
the building but a few minutes before it fell, service having
closed. The first shock felt here prostrated the building, as
in the preceding case.
A Spanish ship which lay at anchor off San Buenaventura,
thirty-eight miles from Santa Barbara, was much injured by the
shock, and leaked to that extent, that it became necessary to
beach her, and remove the most of her cargo.
The writer above quoted corroborates the fact of a ship having
been in this vicinity at the time. The distance of this ship
from Santa Barbara is nearly the same as in my original
statement but in a different direction. From the circumstantial
details of the writer as to the ship “Charan,” _alias_, “Thomas
Newland,” I am inclined to the belief that his statements are
more entitled to adoption than my own; I therefore present his
statement also and leave the reader to adopt either, so far as
regards the ship and her position. “At the same time a Boston
ship the Thomas Newland, known before as the Charan, commanded
by Capt. Isaac Whitmore, was lying off the anchorage not far
from the Gaviota Pass, Santa Barbara County.”
It is an interesting fact, and at the same time somewhat
remarkable, that the time which elapsed between the advent of
the shocks at Capistrano and San Inez is widely variant from
what we should look for, when the distance apart and velocity
of motion in earthquakes are taken into consideration. If the
velocity of the seismic wave in this earthquake was uniform
with those of more recent times, it should have reached La
Purissima in twenty-eight minutes and fifty seconds in lieu of
an hour; but all due allowances must be made for a question of
time in an event of this nature, and also for errors in memory
of persons after the lapse of so many years.
The effect of this earthquake on the sea, in the Bay of Santa
Barbara, is described as follows: “The sea was observed to
recede from the shore during the continuance of the shocks,
and left the latter dry for a considerable distance, when it
returned in five or six heavy rollers, which overflowed the
plain on which Santa Barbara is built. The inhabitants saw the
recession of the sea, and being aware of the danger on its
return, fled to the adjoining hills near the town to escape the
probable deluge.”
The sea on its return flowed inland a little more than half a
mile, and reached the lower part of the town, doing but little
damage, destroying only three small adobe buildings.
Here again I take the liberty of quoting the late writer above
noticed, in corroboration of its effects upon the sea. “The sea
was seen to retire all at once, and to return in an immense
wave, which came roaring and plunging back, over the beach.
This wave penetrated the low lands and gulches a mile from the
shore, forming one of the most terrific sights possible to
conceive.”
Very little damage was done to the houses in town from the
effects of the shocks, while the Mission at San Inez was
prostrated almost instantly. There is no evidence that I can
find, that this earthquake was felt in San Luis Obispo, though
such has been the report.
In addition to my former paper I will now add some information
relating to this and other earthquakes, touching more
particularly a series continuing through a long period for such
phenomena, but preceding the great event of September of that
year.
So far as the archives of the old missions assist us, it is
found that from the foundation of the first mission in 1769, up
to the year 1800, a period of thirty-one years, not an entry
was made of these phenomena. In the latter year an earthquake
is recorded as occurring at San Juan Bautista, on the eleventh
of October. On the eighteenth of the same month, at supper
time another shock was felt, and another still at about eleven
o’clock on the same night. From the records of the Presidio
of San Francisco, we are able to glean the fact, that between
the twenty-first of June and seventeenth of July, 1808, there
occurred twenty-one shocks of earthquakes at this post.
I will here correct the popular error relating to this
earthquake or series of earthquakes during that year. It
is generally stated that this was contemporaneous with
the earthquake which destroyed San Juan Capistrano and La
Purissima; by reference to the dates it will be seen that the
destruction of those missions did not occur until four years
later.
The above are the only records of these phenomena that have
as yet made their appearance in the archives of the province
during the existence of the Mexican Government; and, from the
fact that these archives are all in our possession, there is no
hazard in stating that they constitute all, of which we have
any positive knowledge. As they stand, they are a sufficient
rebuke to the mendacity of sensational itemizers of the public
press; they will find in those records, no basis on which to
indite column articles of such doleful prophecies as the public
of late have been surfeited with.
During a period of thirty-nine years the records of the country
exhibit the fact, that there were but twenty-three days on
which earthquakes occurred and were deemed worthy of record.
If we compare these figures with those recorded from 1850 to
the close of 1863, we shall find much more ground for prophecy
during the latter period than for the eighty-two years of which
records were kept on this coast previous to that time.
From the above extracts from the archives we are left to infer
one of two facts; either that earthquakes were entirely unknown
during the intervals of the record dates, or that they were of
so trivial a character as not to merit the notice of the early
padres during this time; the latter is the probability, for we
can scarcely conceive that nothing of this nature had taken
place. If, however, such be the fact, it cannot be looked upon
in any other light than a manifest anomaly in the history of
this or any other country.
It appears from all the testimony on the subject, that in May,
1812, the south part of the State was frequently agitated with
shocks of greater or less severity, and their continuance was
literally incessant for about four and one-half months. Their
frequency was not less than one each day or two; four days
seldom elapsing without a shock. As many as thirty shocks
occurred in a single day on more than one occasion. So frequent
were they, that the inhabitants abandoned their houses for the
greater part of this period, and lived under trees, etc., and
slept out of doors at Santa Barbara.
This period of time seems analogous in some respects to the
year 1852, and was one of very marked severity on this coast,
as was also the latter year; it was analogous to other periods
of subterranean disturbance in other parts of the earth since
the historic era began, and there is no good reason why we may
not look for the recurrence of similar events in future time.
But we must not lay too much stress on the destruction of the
two mission churches in 1812, to guide us in an estimate of
the force of this earthquake, for the construction of those
buildings had but little relation to similar structures of
modern date, either in strength or material.
From 1812 to 1850, the archives are silent on this subject. In
the latter year our record began and has continued with little
interruption to 1863, a period of thirteen years. Within that
period there are but few earthquakes occurring north of the
thirty-ninth parallel which have escaped notice and have not
been made matter of record.
1850.
During this year the following earthquakes were recorded:
March 12th.—A light shock was felt in San José.
May 13th.—A light shock in San Francisco. An eruption of Mauna
Loa, S. I., and shock same day.
June 28th.—A light shock in San Francisco.
August 4th.—A smart shock was felt in Stockton and Sacramento.
September 14th.—Smart shock at San Francisco and San José.
Total number recorded in 1850, five.
1851.
May 15th.—Three severe shocks in San Francisco. During this
earthquake windows were broken and buildings severely shaken.
A large amount of merchandize was thrown down in a store on
California Street. The shipping in the harbor rolled heavily.
An eruption of Mauna Loa and shock in the Sandwich Islands same
day.
May 17th.—A light shock in San Francisco.
May 28th.—A light shock on the Salinas.
June 13th.—A smart shock at San Francisco. This was felt at San
Luis Obispo and San Fernando.
December 2d.—A shock at Downieville.
December 31st.—A smart shock at Downieville. Total recorded in
1851, six.
1852.
From the beginning of this year until the middle of its last
quarter, no disturbances of the coast was noted until the month
of November. In this month the southern portion of the State
was violently disturbed.
November 26th.—The number of shocks on this day at San Simeon
was eleven, and at Los Angeles and San Gabriel the same number.
Nearly or quite the same number was also observed by parties
having in charge a Government train in transit from Fort Yuma
to San Diego.
This earthquake or the series was experienced over the entire
country, east and south of Luis Obispo to San Diego and the
Colorado River, covering a line of country about three hundred
miles in extent.
From subsequent accounts we learn that it also reached as far
as Guaymas, in the province of Sonora, Mexico.
For a period of six days subsequent to the twenty-sixth of
November, the whole of this region to the Colorado, was
convulsed, with slight intermissions. During this time a _mud
volcano_ opened on the Colorado Desert, and another south of
the river; one of these was visited by a portion of the United
States command under Col. Hientzelman.
December 17th.—Two smart shocks at San Luis Obispo, which
fractured the walls of two adobe buildings, and threw down a
part of the wall of a house belonging to, and occupied by Don
Jesus Pico and family.
During the months of November and December, the southern
particularly, and middle portions of California were much
disturbed; shocks were experienced in those sections for
sixty-five days, with variable intermissions; they were noticed
as far north as the thirty-seventh parallel, but generally
light in their nature. The latest date of this series was to
the fifth of January, 1853, on the valley of the San Joaquin.
The period of time inclusive between the sixteenth of November
(the date of the terrible earthquake at Banda Neira in the
Moluccas), and the twenty-sixth of January, 1853, must be
regarded as one of the most remarkable and portentious periods
of the earth’s history during modern times. For in that period
a greater proportion of the earth’s surface was convulsed by
subterranean forces than has been known for many scores of
years, in the same length of time.
The area most severely affected by these phenomena is included
between the parallels of forty degrees south latitude and
thirty-seven degrees north latitude, and extending from one
hundred and twenty degrees east to the forty-fifth degree
west longitude, being nearly equal to three-fifths of the
equatorial, and a little more than one-half the polar
circumference of the earth.
At this time the coast of eastern Asia, the Islands of the
South Indian Ocean, Singapore, the fated Moluccas, the east
coast of China, the north, east, and south coasts of Australia,
the coast of California, Mexico (west coast,) South America,
with portions of the Atlantic coast of the United States
south of the thirty-fourth parallel, north latitude, shared
in the general disturbance which prevailed on our own shores
during this time. With the twenty-sixth of January ceased the
vibrations on this coast at that time, but we have positive
intelligence that they continued much later on the east coast
of China and Australia, in which countries they did not
cease until the month of February. With these facts before
us we cannot but believe the period included one of the most
turbulent in the earth’s career during modern times.
1853.
Jan. 2d.—A shock of earthquake was felt in Mariposa; this was
observed in San Francisco, Bodega, and at Shasta City.
Jan. 5th.—A shock at Corte Madeira.
Feb. 14th.—A light shock at San Luis Obispo.
March 1st.—A smart shock at San Francisco, which was felt at
San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
April 24th.—A light shock at Humboldt Bay.
April 25th.—Three shocks in quick succession at Weaverville,
Trinity County.
June 2d.—Two smart shocks on the plains of the San Joaquin.
July 12th.—A light shock at Yreka, Siskiyou County.
Sept. 3d.—Four shocks on the Salinas and San Joaquin Plains.
Oct. 23d.—Three heavy shocks at Humboldt Bay.
Oct. 25th.—A light shock at Humboldt Bay.
Nov. 16th.—A light shock at San José.
Nov. 21st.—A shock at San Francisco.
Dec. 11th.—A light shock at San Francisco and Mission Dolores.
Dec. 23d.—A light shock at Shasta.
Total in 1853, 15.
1854.
Jan. 3d.—Two smart shocks in Mariposa, felt also in Shasta.
March 2d.—A light shock at San Francisco.
March 20th.—A shock at Stockton.
April 29th.—A light shock at Santa Barbara.
May 23d.—A shock at Crescent City.
May 31st.—An earthquake at Santa Barbara at 5h. 10m. In this
earthquake there were three distinct waves. The first was
accompanied by profound rumbling; the second shock was preceded
by a loud, rushing noise like the approach of a strong wind.
About four or five seconds elapsed between each shock. The sea
was much disturbed, and a heavy surf swell came in soon after
the second shock passed. This surf-wave rolled inland some
thirty feet beyond the old wreck at the embarcadero. I saw the
effect of this wave in July following. The inhabitants were
much frightened and left their beds for the open air. Very
little damage was sustained.
June 26th.—Two light shocks in Placer County.
July 10th.—One shock at Georgetown.
July 14th.—A shock at Georgetown.
Sept. 14th.—A light shock at Nevada.
Oct. 21st.—A light shock at Monterey.
Oct. 26th.—A smart shock at San Francisco, near midnight. It
was felt at Benicia. This shock was followed by a swell in the
bay, as vessels at the wharfs swayed heavily on their hawsers.
Total in 1854, 12.
1855.
The following is the record of earthquakes for this year, in
the State of California, with the date and hour of the day at
which they were observed:
Jan. 13th, 18h. 30m.—A smart shock occurred at San Benito and
San Miguel. It was felt at San Luis Obispo.
Jan. 24th, 22h.—A heavy shock of earthquake was felt at
Downieville, which lasted seven seconds.
This earthquake was quite severe at Gibsonville on the north,
at Forrest City, Minnesota, in Sierra County, and at Orleans
Flat, Eureka, in Nevada County, at Georgetown and Nashville
in El Dorado County on the south, and at Keystone Ranch,
in Yuba County, on the west. The entire distance north and
south affected was ninety-four miles, and in a westerly line,
thirty miles. The shock was preceded by a deep rumbling, and
the rushing sound of wind in the distance. It shook buildings
severely. A large pinnacle of rocks on the summit of the
Downieville Buttes was thrown down, and some of the large
fragments reached the south branch of the North Yuba, at the
base of the mountain.
Feb 5th, 22h.—A light shock was felt at Wolf Creek and the
north-east part of Nevada County.
April 7th, 18h.—A light shock was felt at Gibb’s Ferry, Trinity
County, and was experienced as far north as Callahan’s Ranch,
at the head of Scott’s Valley, Siskiyou County.
June 25th, 14h.—A smart shock was felt at Santa Barbara, and
extended northward as far as the valley of Santa Maria. This
shock was cotemporaneous with one that occurred in Switzerland.
July 10th, 9h. 30m.—A light shock was felt in Georgetown, El
Dorado County, which lasted about four seconds.
July 10th, 20h. 15m.—A severe shock at Los Angeles, which did
considerable damage.
There were four distinct shocks during the earthquake, with
a period of about two or three seconds elapsing between each
vibration. During their continuance the ground opened in
several places, in fissures of one or two inches, the marks of
which remained for several days afterwards. There were some
twenty-six buildings in the city more or less injured, which
I personally examined, and among them the church, the west
wall of which was split from top to bottom in two places, the
fissures being from one to two and a half inches in breadth,
running entirely through. The east wall split at a slight angle
from the perpendicular, and had but one fissure. The walls of
the Star Hotel were split in several places, and on the west
side there appears to have been a decided horizontal motion,
as the wall was displaced on that side horizontally to the
depth of about one inch, and some eight or nine feet in length.
The amount of displacement decreased from the west end of the
building towards the center. It is a fact worthy of note,
that none of the _thin_ adobe walls of the buildings suffered
injury, while most of the _thick_-walled buildings were injured
to a greater or less extent.
During the earthquake, many articles were thrown down; those
that were standing on shelves against the east end of the
buildings were thrown westward on to the floor, and those
on the opposite end of the buildings were thrown back in an
inclined position against the walls. These features were
noticed in the drug stores of Doctors Winston and Hope,
situated on the main street, and a short distance west of the
church.
The meteorological condition of the atmosphere was rather
unusual, and is described as follows: The day was unusually
warm and sultry, attended with a little rain, (the latter very
unusual) and a sudden change of temperature to unpleasant
coldness. At Point San Juan there was observed considerable
commotion in the water, attended with a strong rushing sound,
and two unusually heavy surf swells, immediately _following the
last shock_.
This shock was felt distinctly at the saw-mill, some eight
miles east of San Bernardino, about seventy miles east of Los
Angeles, and at Santa Barbara, about one hundred miles in a
westerly direction.
Aug 12th, 9h. 30m.—A light shock of an earthquake was felt at
Georgetown, which lasted about three seconds. The vibration
apparently came from the north. Between this date and the tenth
July there were four other light shocks, the dates of which are
not recorded.
Oct. 21st, 19h. 45m.—A smart shock of an earthquake was felt
in San Francisco. The buildings situated over the water were
violently shaken. There was much commotion in the water of the
harbor a few minutes preceding the shock, which caused several
vessels to heave heavily at their hawsers and cables.
Oct 27th, 15h.—A light shock was felt in the valley of Clear
Lake. On the same day a shock was felt at Downieville, which
lasted about five seconds. At Goodyear’s Bar it was more severe
than at the preceding locality.
Dec. 5th, 11h. 20m.—The shock of an earthquake was felt at
Humboldt Bay, which lasted about three seconds. There were two
vibrations, the last being the most severe.
Dec. 11th, 4h.—A shock was felt in San Francisco and at the
Mission Dolores; at the latter place it is represented as being
quite severe.
The whole number of which I have a record for 1855, amounts
to twelve only; but there may be others which have escaped my
notice on account of absence from the city.
The following table will show the number of shocks for each
year, and each month of the year, for six years from 1850 to
1855, inclusive.
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
| | | | | | |No. for
| | | | | | |each
|1850 |1851 |1852 |1853 |1854 |1855 |month
| | | | | | |in six
| | | | | | |years.
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
January, | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5
February, | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 2
March, | 1 | — | — | 1 | 2 | — | 4
April, | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4
May, | 1 | 3 | — | — | 2 | — | 6
June, | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5
July, | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3
August, | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2
September, | 1 | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | 3
October, | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6
November, | — | — | 11 | 2 | — | — | 13
December, | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | — | 2 | 8
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
Total each year,| 5 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 11 |= 59
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
From the above it will be seen that of the total number of
shocks in six years in this State, forty-eight have occurred
during the spring, summer, and autumn months, and eleven during
the winter months.
Of the total number noted, twenty-seven have occurred from San
Luis Obispo south, and of the thirty-two remaining, nine have
been felt in San Francisco at the same time they were observed
at San Luis Obispo, while the remaining twenty-three were felt
at San Francisco and north of that point.
Notwithstanding we have had, what may, perhaps, be considered
a frequency in the recurrence of these phenomena, still there
are but a _very few_ of the total number that would merit a
moment’s consideration south of the twenty-fifth parallel of
north latitude, for there they would be regarded as minor
affairs entirely.
From all the facts in our possession relating to the phenomena
on our coast, it appears that the greatest preponderance in
action and severity of effects, is exerted, for the most part,
south of Point Conception, for, from this place, east, south
and north, to near the Colorado, the most conclusive evidence
exists of very recent volcanic action having been exerted on
rather an extensive scale, and is also still persistent in
several localities within the area named, though in a minor
degree.
It would be interesting to examine the changes of level that
have evidently taken place in this State within the last five
years; but as more extended observations would greatly assist
us in forming conclusions on this subject, I will defer that
portion until a future day.
1856.
At the close of 1855, I presented to the Academy a statement of
the occurrence of earthquakes in this State for that year and a
term of years preceding.
During the year just passed, I have kept a careful record
of these phenomena, which have been noticed in this city,
and other parts of the State, and which will be found below,
with their date, and the hour of the day on which they took
place; they comprise all that have occurred, with perhaps two
exceptions, the dates for which were so obscure as to render
it impossible to determine with accuracy the precise period
of their occurrence. So far as I am informed, those shocks
that have taken place in this State during the past year have
not been marked with more severity than has been usual in
years preceding, frequently amounting to a slight tremor, and
at other times to more distinct movements; three only have
possessed sufficient intensity as to command general attention
during the busy hours of day.
Very few have been noticed by persons who were standing upon
the earth at the period of their occurrence. By far the greater
proportion were observed in high situations from the ground,
and in the more retired parts of the city, or on the alluvial
covering of the country to the west and south.
The total number for the past year is sixteen, and of this
number thirteen were observed between sunset and sunrise.
By reference to the statistics below, it will be seen that even
mountain districts, where during the day there is much less of
turmoil and noise arising from business than in the populous
city, that of all those noticed, none have been of sufficient
intensity to attract the attention of the inhabitants during
the hours of daylight. These facts, though few in themselves,
are of importance, to disabuse the public mind in relation
to the danger to be apprehended from the occurrence of these
phenomena. The character which we sustain both at home and
abroad, as being in constant danger of being swallowed up
by these occurrences, and that our country is but a bed of
latent volcanoes ready to burst forth at any moment, spreading
devastation over the land, is one of the greatest fallacies
that ever obtained possession of the human brain. Our State is
as primitive as Massachusetts or New Hampshire, and the dangers
that surround us from the sources above mentioned, are equally
great as in the States just named.
We should remember that when speaking of California as a
State, that we include a line of territory equaling that of
the seaboard lying between Cape Hatteras on the south and the
British Possessions on the north, and including eleven of the
seaboard States of the Union; and when we place our comparative
estimates on this basis in matters of this character, it will
become at once evident that the danger of annihilation from the
causes under consideration, are not of that magnitude which at
first sight would appear.
Along the coast of Mexico and Central America, to the south
of California from all the records that are obtainable here
there appears to have been a much greater exemption from those
phenomena than has been usual in former years; this seems to
have been the fact, also, throughout the Pacific, Oceanic, and
most of the Continental Islands along the coast of China, while
to the north and north-west, beyond the fifty-fifth parallel,
both volcanic and earthquake phenomena appear to have been
greater than usual. This has been observable, for the most
part, in the neighborhood of the Aleutian Archipelago, along
the north-east coast of Japan, and in the British and Russian
Possessions of North America on the Pacific, and islands of the
Ochotsk Sea.
It would be interesting to know more of the predominance of
these phenomena in those regions, and such information could be
easily obtained from the commanders of the whaling fleet, if
the proper measures were adopted to secure it.
Below will be found some interesting matter upon this subject,
which took place during the past year near the Straits of
Ourinach.
The earthquakes which have occurred in this State during 1856,
and the period of their occurrence, is as follows:
January 2d, 10h. 15m.—This morning, a smart shock of an
earthquake was felt in San Francisco. The motion of the earth
was undulatory, and came apparently from the northward. A
pendulum indicated a motion of about five and a half inches.
January 21st, 16h.—Quite a smart shock occurred; it was quite
sharp in the south-west part of the city.
January 28th, 3h.—At the town of Petaluma, Sonoma County, a
shock of an earthquake occurred. It was sufficiently heavy to
awake persons from their sleep.
January 29th, 0h. 45m.—A slight shock was felt in San
Francisco. It was observed also at the Mission Dolores. There
were three distinct tremors, with short intervals elapsing
between. The motion was apparently from the westward.
February 15th, 5h. 25m.—A severe shock of an earthquake was
felt in San Francisco, the duration of which was about eight
seconds. Persons sleeping were aroused, and many persons left
their beds and sought the street. There were two distinct
shocks, the second very light and scarcely perceptible. The
motion was _undulatory_ and _vertical_, and at the end of the
first shock a very strong, profound jar, with which it ceased.
The upper part of a building on Battery Street, for seventy
feet in length, was thrown down, the whole of which was above
the cornice, very thin, and the mortar with which it was
constructed had not become hardened, being easily removed by
the fingers—it more resembled wet sand than a firm mortar.
There appears to have been but little difference in the
sensation of persons situated either in upper or basement
stories.
It was preceded by a deep, heavy rumbling, and the motion
apparently came from the north-west. A distinct shock was felt
at eight minutes past two o’clock the same morning, by persons
who were awake and up at the time.
The rotatory movement was shown in the fact that small square
bottles and boxes that stood upon a line, were moved from their
position horizontally, describing an arc of thirty degrees and
upwards, as shown by the dust upon the shelves on which they
stood.
The first wave came with a force sufficient to project small
articles three or four feet on the floor, from shelves on which
they were placed; they were apparently all thrown in the same
direction. Several clocks were stopped at precisely 5 hours 25
minutes.
All the cracks in walls and ceilings had a direction nearly
north-west and south-east, and most of them had the appearance
of having been produced at the moment of elevation.
The earthquake was felt heavily at Monterey, at five hours
twenty minutes; it was also felt at Bodega, but no time is
given.
The vessels on the coast, and ranging from San Pedro on the
south to Southern Oregon, and at distances varying from eight
to one hundred miles from land, did not experience any shock.
They were twenty-two in number.
Up to the present date the most northern point of which we have
any record of its having been felt, is at Santa Rosa, which
is fifty-three miles north of San Francisco, and at Monterey,
ninety miles south of the latter place; to the east of this
city we have no record beyond Stockton. This would give for
its length one hundred and forty-three miles, and its breadth
sixty-six miles.
Inquiry was made through the State line Telegraph at El Dorado,
Nevada, Downieville, Placerville, Marysville, Sacramento,
Stockton, and San José; it was not felt in any of the
localities named, excepting the two last, and at Stockton it
was quite light.
If the time as given at Monterey was the same as at this city
(San Francisco), the velocity of the earth-wave must have been
much slower than that of the great earthquake at Simoda.
March 24th, 22h. 20m.—A slight shock was felt at Canal Gulch,
Siskiyou County, also at Yreka. The motion is described as
being horizontal.
March 31st, 13h. 25m.—A light shock was felt in San Francisco.
It consisted of three light but distinct tremors.
April 6th, 23h. 30m.—A smart shock was felt at Los Angeles and
the Monte, people were aroused from their beds.
May 10th, 21h. 10m.—A light shock was felt in San Francisco.
The shock was accompanied by a loud report, like the discharge
of a cannon; people mistook it for the signal gun of the mail
steamer. This was felt at Monterey, and in Contra Costa County.
May 2d, 0h. 10m.—A severe shock was felt at Los Angeles. It
caused much trembling among the buildings, and considerable
alarm among the people, many leaving their beds. The shock was
preceded by two loud reports like the blasting of rock; it
apparently came from the north-west; no damage was done.
August 2d, 5h. 20m.—A light shock was felt in San Francisco.
It was sufficiently strong to awaken persons in bed; it was
evidently more severe in Stockton.
August 27th, 21h. 15m.—An earthquake was felt at Mission San
Juan, Monterey County. There were two distinct shocks with
short intervals elapsing, the second being the heaviest. The
motion is described as undulatory and coming from the west. It
was felt at Monterey and at Santa Cruz.
September 6th, 3h.—A smart shock felt at Santa Cruz. It created
considerable consternation and many persons left their beds.
September 20th, 23h. 30m.—A very severe shock was felt in
different parts of San Diego County, and at that town. At
Santa Isabel the ceilings of the dwellings were shaken down;
the cattle stampeded and ran bellowing in all directions, and
the Indians seemed equally terrified. The walls of the adobe
buildings were many of them cracked. The motion is described
as oscillatory. A light shock occurred on the following Monday
morning.
November 12th, 4h.—A smart shock occurred at Humboldt Bay.
Another shock was reported but no date given.
From the record before us it will be seen that of fifteen,
the total number of earthquakes recorded during 1856, seven
have been felt in San Francisco in common with other parts
of the State; seven have occurred south of this locality
that were not observed here, and four north of it. Of the
seven shocks noticed here five only were not observed in any
adjacent district, and may be considered as strictly local.
The periods of the year at which the shocks have occurred, are
as follows: During the winter months, five; during the autumn,
three; during the spring and summer, six. None have taken place
between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
We have records of considerable and violent volcanic phenomena
throughout the northern seas, and islands both to the east and
west of Alaska. The Russian frigate _Dwina_, while lying at
Shuam Shu, brings intelligence of the outburst of a volcano
in that vicinity about the twenty-second of June, and on
the twenty-fifth of the same month passed through fields of
floating pumice; the latitude by observation being fifty
degrees fifty-three minutes, and longitude one hundred and
fifty-eight degrees thirty-two minutes east, per chronometer.
An interesting account of a submarine volcano was reported by
the Captain of the bark _Alice Frazer_, in latitude fifty-four
degrees thirty-six minutes, longitude one hundred and
thirty-five degrees west, which is as follows: A portion of the
whaling fleet, four in number, were running through the Straits
of Ourinack, on the twenty-sixth of July last; while passing
the straits a submarine volcano burst out, sending a column of
water several hundred feet upward; immediately following this,
immense masses of lava were projected into the air, and the sea
for miles and for days afterward, was covered with floating
fragments of pumice. The ships _Scotland_ and _Enterprise_ were
nearer the volcano than the ships _Frazer_ and _Wm. Thomson_;
on the decks of the two former considerable pumice, lava, and
ashes fell. There were seven vessels in the straits at the time
of the occurrence, three of which names I could not learn.
The outburst was accompanied with violent shocks of earthquake.
It is the opinion of Captain Newell, of the _Alice Frazer_,
that considerable shoaling has been the result of this
submarine action.
ON THE DIRECTION AND VELOCITY OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN CALIFORNIA,
JANUARY 9, 1857—BY DR. JOHN B. TRASK.
The earthquake which occurred in various parts of this State,
on the morning of the ninth January last excited at the time
considerable attention. This arose from two causes. First,
from the varied reports that appeared on the following day
through the press of the city, detailing its occurrence in
remote mountain towns, and for which there was no foundation.
Secondly, from the great extent over which the commotion was
felt, as was subsequently proved.
Immediately following the occurrence of the phenomenon, letters
were addressed to all the principal towns between Mariposa and
Downieville, east of the valleys, for the purpose of learning
how far the shocks may have extended eastward of this city.
These letters were forwarded by the Pacific Express Company
to their agents, and through them answers were returned in
every case but two through the same source. From the facts
thus obtained, it was found that in no locality east of the
foothills, _was any shock felt on that day or night_.
Another report, equally unfounded, reached us on the arrival of
the steamer from the southern coast, to the effect that several
houses had been demolished in San Diego from its violence,
while the facts in the case are _that the steamer left that
port twenty-four hours before the shock occurred there_.
This earthquake, or more properly speaking the series of shocks
that began on the night of the eighth in this city, and which
continued in the south part of the State during the following
day and night of the ninth, was probably the most extensive of
any on record on this portion of the Pacific coast, excepting,
perhaps, that of the wave of the Simoda earthquake in December,
1854. The linear distance over which we are able to trace its
course, amounts to six hundred and two miles, and its breadth,
so far as now ascertained, is two hundred and ninety miles. It
has all the appearance of having been the terminal movement of
some more violent commotion at a distance from our coast.
From the best evidence obtainable at present, it seems to
have had its origin to the west and traveled in an easterly
direction. This is conclusively proved from the fact that it
was felt earlier at San Francisco than at any other locality
east of this city within the State. We have no record as yet of
its occurrence along the coast of Mexico or of Oregon.
I have been able to determine with considerable accuracy the
period of time at which the shock between eight and nine
o’clock on the morning of the ninth took place, at four
localities east of the City of San Francisco, in this State;
as the shock at that hour seems to have been more generally
noticed than those which either preceded or followed it here
or elsewhere, though at this city it was much less marked than
the shocks at 1h. 33m., 4h. 15m., and 7h., these three latter
occurring at those hours of the morning when most persons are
sleeping. The shock at 7h., produced a circular motion in the
pendulum, the diameter of which was about five inches. The
oscillations of the pendulum in all the others were in an
easterly and westerly direction.
The precise period of time at which the shock took place at San
Francisco, between eight and nine o’clock, is determined by
the stopping of a time-piece belonging to J. W. Tucker, whose
rate of error was three seconds fast. The time at San Diego was
furnished by Mr. Cassidy, of the army, and that of the Tejon
Reserve is by persons at that post. To private gentlemen at
Sacramento and Stockton we are indebted for the time at those
places. The accompanying table of latitudes and longitudes
of localities named, gives the hour at which the shock took
place at each; the difference or elapsed time, from which
the velocity was deduced, are the mean times corrected for
the places named, the time as given above being taken as the
standard at San Francisco.
It is proper to state that three minutes four seconds, was the
greatest error in time found, and the least was twenty-two
seconds:
--------------+-------+--------+----------+---------+----------
LOCALITY. | Lat. | Lon. | Time of | Elapsed | Velocity.
| | | shock. | Time. |
--------------+-------+--------+----------+---------+----------
| ° ´ | ° ´ | h. m. s. | m. s. | miles.
San Francisco | 37 48 | 122 25 | 8 13 30 | 0 00 | 0 0
Sacramento | 38 32 | 121 23 | 8 20 00 | 7 30 | 6 6
Stockton | 37 52 | 121 34 | 8 23 00 | 9 30 | 6 5
Tejon | 35 00 | 118 46 | 8 45 00 | 32 30 | 6 0
San Diego | 32 42 | 117 13 | 8 50 00 | 36 30 | 7 0
--------------+-------+--------+----------+---------+----------
The velocity is given in miles per minute, and by dividing the
sum of the same by their number, it will be found that the
movement of the wave at that time averages a fraction over 6.2
miles per minute.
The results obtained from the above data approximate closely
the deductions of Prof. Bache on the wave which reached our
shores and resulting from the earthquake at Simoda on the
twenty-third December, 1854, and which will be found in a
paper read by that gentleman at the meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, during the early
part of last year.
From the facts before us, there can be but little doubt of the
direction of the commotion, and that it proceeded from the
west, or a little south of that point. The motion of the earth,
as described at the different localities at which it was felt,
with the motion of the pendulum—which was slightly south of
a west line—leads to that conclusion. Time is an important
element in aiding us to form correct conclusions regarding
these phenomena, and it is to be hoped that our friends in
different parts of the State, in reporting the same, will be
precise in this particular. Of the incidents attending the
shocks, many and varied reports have reached us; it seems to
have acted with greater violence in the vicinity of the Tejon
Reserve and upper Tulare County than at any other place. It is
most remarkable that so small an amount of intensity of force
was manifested when the area over which it extended is taken
into consideration.
The effects were felt in San Francisco several hours before
they are reported to have been observed at any other place
north or south. They began here at twenty minutes past eleven,
on the night of the eighth, and continued till thirteen minutes
past eight the following morning—six shocks occurring in the
interval; while to the south, the first shock noticed at the
Tejon, was at six hours thirty minutes, on the ninth. In Los
Angeles they continued at long intervals through the day until
twenty-three hours thirty minutes of the same date. I have
learned from persons who were present in Los Angeles at this
time, and also at the shock of the fourteenth July, 1855, that
the severity of the latter exceeded that of the ninth January
last past.
1857.
During the past year there has been rather a frequency in the
occurrence of the phenomena of earthquakes; and, with the
exception of two, there have been none that were particularly
remarkable either for extent of surface affected or severity
of action. In one, that of the ninth of January, the greatest
extent of surface, and greatest intensity of action was
manifest. Its principal force seems to have been expended in
the more southerly portions of our State, and in the immediate
vicinity of those volcanic (?) vents found at different
localities upon the Colorado Desert. It is manifest, however,
that this shock and those which preceded it on the night of the
eighth, had their origin to the west of our coast, as the times
of occurrence of the shock at different localities most fully
prove. This matter was fully discussed in my previous paper,
“On the direction and velocity of the earthquake of January
9th, 1857,” read before this Society March 30th, which will be
found in their proceedings.
The other shock of greatest extent, on the second of September,
extended over an area of about two hundred miles, but was
marked by no particular severity or injury, except that of
fright to those who experienced it.
The whole number that can be authenticated as occurring during
1857, amounts to seventeen, being greater than the number
recorded in 1853 and 1856; and it would seem probable from
our records that this number is the maximum to which we shall
probably be subjected in this State.
From the Sandwich Islands we have no news of earthquakes save
one, which is here inserted: “A very severe shock of earthquake
was felt at Kawaihae, Hawaii, on the twenty-fourth of February,
the most severe that the residents there have had for many
years.”
The arrival of the whaling fleet from the Northern seas brings
no intelligence of the occurrence of these phenomena, as was
the case of the preceding year; hence, the presumption is,
that subterranean action has not been violent in those distant
regions during the year just passed.
On the coast of Mexico, and inclusive between the twenty-fifth
and thirty-second parallels, we have received intelligence of
the occurrence of one earthquake, which appears to have been
felt on both shores of the Gulf of California for a distance
of nearly two hundred miles, both north and south. We have no
records south of that point.
The shocks which we can authenticate within the limits of our
own State, are as follows:
January 9th.—This shock was felt from Sacramento to the
southern boundary of the State. It was preceded by three smart
shocks the night and morning previous. At Santa Barbara water
was thrown over the surface from a shoal well, seven feet deep,
the water in which was less than three feet in depth.
January 18th, 9h.—A light shock at Martinez and Benicia.
January 20th, 8h. 30m.—A smart shock was felt at Santa Cruz and
Mission San Juan.
January 21st, 23h.—On the evening of this day a smart shock
was felt at Mariposa. The wave and sound seemed to travel from
north-west to south-east. It was accompanied with a report like
that of a distant gun.
February 5th, 7h.—A smart shock was felt in San Francisco,
which shook the buildings that are situated on made-ground very
severely, while those situated on firmer bottoms were affected.
This shock was felt at Oakland and Stockton, but was not felt
at San José or Sacramento, as reported at the time.
March 14th, 15h.—A severe shock was felt at Santa Barbara and
Montecito. It was momentary in duration, attended with a loud
report.
March 23d, 12h. 27m.—A light shock in San Francisco.
May 3d, 22h.—A smart shock at Los Angeles and the Monte.
May 23d.—A light shock at Los Angeles; a report also that a
severe shock had been felt at Fort Tejon.
June 14th.—A shock was felt at Humboldt Bay. On the same day
several severe shocks were experienced at the Penal Island
(Carmen), Gulf of California, and which extended almost ninety
miles north and south of the island.
August 8th, 11h.—A smart shock was felt at Rabbit Creek, Sierra
County.
August 29.—A severe shock at the Tejon Reserve. No time is
given.
September 2d, 19h. 45m.—A light shock at San Francisco. This
shock was felt at Sacramento, Marysville, Nevada, San Juan,
Downieville, and Camptonville.
September 14th, 2 P.M.—A light shock in San Francisco.
October 19th, 18h. 30m.—A severe shock of an earthquake in San
Francisco.
October 20th, 12h. 8m., 12h. 35m., and 13h. 15m.—Three other
shocks occurred; the last was equally severe with that of
January 9th, at 8 A.M. People were much frightened, and left
their beds. The shock was felt at San José, but not at Oakland.
November 8th, 8h. 45m.—A shock at San Francisco, which was felt
at Oakland and Bodega. December 23d, 7h.—A light shock at San
Francisco.
Of the whole number which have occurred during the year, two
only have been felt at San Francisco that were not experienced
at other localities, and four others have occurred which have
been felt in common at other portions of the State—thus making
about one-third of the whole number that were in common here
and elsewhere.
Eight of the aggregate have occurred between the summer and
winter solstices.
Seven have occurred during the spring and summer months, and
ten during the winter and autumn.
Eight have occurred between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
1858.
During the past year we have had occasion to note the
occurrence of eight shocks of earthquake in this State. This
number is one-half less than that in 1857, and one-third less
the number in 1856. The shocks, with one exception, have been
unmarked by anything like violence, being little else than mere
vibrations or tremors, not noticeable by the great majority of
the people. They are as follows:
February 10th.—A smart shock at Kanaka Flat, Sierra County. No
time noted.
February 15th, 4h. 20m.—A light shock in San Francisco. Was
observed in the County of San Mateo ten miles south of the city.
August 19th, 22h. 10m.—A light shock in San Francisco. The
motion was east to west, and was undulatory.
September 2d.—A smart shock at Santa Barbara, no time given.
September 3d, 0h. 40m.—A smart shock in San José. This shock
was felt at Santa Cruz, twenty-five miles west, and was
evidently more marked in strength at that locality. No damage.
September 12th, 19h. 40m.—A smart shock at San Francisco. The
motion was from north to south. There were two vibrations with
undulatory movements lasting about fifteen seconds.
September 26th, 1h. 26m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
November 26th, 0h. 24m.—A heavy shock at San Francisco. This
shock was by far the heaviest during the year, it awoke most
people from slumber and created no little alarm; persons left
their beds and sought cooler situations with less attire
than is usually worn. The iron pillars in the second story
of the custom house have separated from the ceiling above
about half an inch, and are supposed to have settled from the
effects of the shock; I much doubt the alleged cause of this
displacement, as the pillars below present no indication of
similar disturbance. This shock was felt at Oakland ten miles
east of the city, but was not felt at Stockton, Sacramento,
nor Marysville. It was evidently confined to an area of ten or
twelve miles.
1859.
January 25th, 20h. 20m.—A heavy shock of earthquake was felt
in Trinity and Shasta counties. It was felt at Weaverville,
Shasta, and Horsetown.
April 4th, 13h.—Quite a severe shock was felt at San José.
There were several vibrations, apparently from north to south.
August 10th, 22h. 35m.—A smart shock was felt in this city (San
Francisco).
September 26th, 6h. 10m.—A smart shock at San Francisco.
October 5th, 13h. 18m.—A very smart shock at San Francisco.
November 27th, 19h. 15m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
December 1st, 0h. 50m.—A smart shock at San Francisco. Felt at
Oakland and Benicia.
December 1st, 14h. 10m.—Several successive shocks were felt at
San Bernardino; several of them were quite heavy, causing much
alarm. No damage was done.
Whole number of shocks during this year was eight.
1860.
During the year last past this portion of the Pacific coast has
been but little disturbed by earthquakes. There have been but
three during this period that can be well authenticated, and
one, viz.: December 21st, whose character is somewhat doubtful.
The shocks that have occurred are as follows:
March 27th.—A severe shock was experienced at Los Angeles and
vicinity, which was not productive of any damage to person or
property. No time is given in the account.
March 15th, 11h.—A violent shock was experienced at Sacramento;
the wave passed through the counties of Placer, Nevada, El
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
auriferous rocks of California, I stated that fossils had been
found by the Geological Survey, in the rocks associated with
gold, along a line nearly 300 miles in length, extending from
Pitt River to the Mariposa Estate; that the associated rocks of
similar age, bearing gold, had been traced upwards of 550 miles
in the Sierra Nevadas, and that _Jurassic_ fossils had been
found in the “auriferous slates,” along a belt of 200 miles of
this distance, and that both _Jurassic_ and _Triassic_ fossils
had been found in considerable numbers near and in Genesee
Valley, Plumas Co.
REGULAR MEETING, MAY 15TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Eight members present.
Mr. John Klippart, of Columbus, Ohio, was elected a corresponding member.
Dr. Kellogg called the attention of the Academy to the _Œnotheræ
graciliflora_, with a variety of the same. Mr. Bolander made some remarks
upon the isolated position of the Red-woods upon the hills back of
Oakland.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 5TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Eleven members present. Dr. C. T. Jackson, R. Kennicott, and W. H. Dall,
visitors.
Donations to the Cabinet: Marine shells from the neighborhood of Hong
Kong, by Mr. Stearns.
Donations to the Library: Notes on the habits of some species of Humble
Bees, and the Humble Bees of New England, by F. W. Putnam and A. S.
Packard, Jr., presented by the authors; Proceedings of the Academy of
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for November and December, 1864.
Messrs. Kennicott and Dall made some remarks on the workings of the Essex
Institute.
Dr. Jackson spoke of the progress and condition of the Boston Society of
Natural History.
Dr. Jackson also mentioned the discovery by him, in the Mammoth Mining
District, near Austin, Nevada, of Tungstate of manganese and Tungstate of
lime.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 19TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Nine members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Specimen of coral from the Farallone Islands,
by Mr. Hubbard; Specimens of silver and copper ores and cinnibar from
Mexico, by the Editor of _La Voz de Mejico_; Skull of the Sea-otter, (dug
out of the sand near the Cliff House,) by Mr. Daniel E. Webb; Fibrous
bark from China, by Mr. C. A. McNulty.
Donations to the Library: Notes on the Genus Gundlachia and of the fossil
crab of Gay Head, by Dr. Wm. Stimpson; Proceedings of the Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences for January, February and March, 1865;
Silliman’s Journal, May, 1865; Annual Report of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology of Cambridge; Report of the ninth census Of the U.S.
Mr. Hubbard presented the following paper from Mr. W. H. Pease, of
Honolulu:
On the existence of an Atoll near the west coast of America, and proof of
its elevation.
BY W. HARPER PEASE, OF HONOLULU, H. I.
Having read an interesting paper by Dr. Blake, in a late number
of the _Proceedings California Academy_, on the proofs of a
recent elevation of the coast of California, it occurred to
me that I had in my note book, information unpublished on the
same subject. As it lies within the field occupied by your
Academy, I furnish it herewith for publication. My information
was gathered from a Journal kept by Lieut. Griswold,[11] (a
young gentleman of scientific taste, and a close and accurate
observer,) during a cruise off the west coast of Mexico, in
search of guano. Among the islands visited, was “Clipperton
Rock,” which is the locality I refer to.
Before giving any extract, I will state what was known of the
island.
It is situated in Lat. 10° 17’ N., Long. 109° 19’ W., and was
discovered by Capt. Clipperton, in 1705. He appears to have
sighted only the tall volcanic rock, which stands near the
south end of the island, and passed on without learning of the
existence of the island. It appears not to have been noticed
again for more than a century, so that its position, and even
its existence was doubted.
The only published account of its having been visited
since, are those by Capt. Benj. Morrell[12] and Sir Edward
Belcher.[13] The former called there during a sealing voyage,
in 1825, and gives a meagre account of it in a few lines,
remarking, that “it produces a little shrubbery and some coarse
grass, among which, I think, fresh water might be found by
digging. Among the few vegetable productions of this island,
we found a plant resembling sarsaparilla, which badly poisoned
several of the crew who handled it.”
Sir Edward Belcher, during his surveying expedition, wishing
to verify the existence and position of the island, searched
and found it. He did not land, but gives the result of his
examination from the mast-head. With other remarks, he states
that “it is a coral lagoon island, three miles long N. and
S., and the same E. and W. There are two entrances, both on
the weather side, which at high-water may be safe, but at the
moment we passed, the surf was too heavy and the reflux showed
the rocks bare. On the beach several large trees were observed,
but no living trees were seen.” (May 8, 1839.)
Lieutenant Griswold notes in his journal, as follows: “On the
6th of August, 1861, we lay on our oars, just outside the
breakers on the N. E. side. At half past six we were ashore,
shooting in on a high roller, which left us high and dry upon
the beach, with a hole stove in our bow. The beach was covered
with drift wood, and while the crew were collecting it, I
started to examine the island.
“Upon every side it is girdled by a broad barrier of coral,
about fifteen feet above the level of the ocean. There is no
entrance to the lagoon, neither does it communicate with the
ocean by subterranean passages, as the water inside is _fresh_
and _potable_. It is slightly brackish, but will appease
thirst. The ‘ROCK’ is a ragged pile of volcanic formation, on
the south end of the island, gray and splashed over with the
deposit of the birds. It is cracked and split in every possible
direction, here and there shooting into tottering pinnacles.
As you wander through the caverns and clefts, with which it is
perforated, there is an incessant splashing and dropping of
water. On the very topmost pinnacle, which I reached after
a hard climb, I found a little basin containing a couple of
buckets full. The caverns were dreary looking places, dark and
wet, and echoing to the hoarse cries of the sea-birds. The
rock, on its sides, is rounded and smoothed by the action of
the waves, at some long past time, and in many places ‘_the
walls are crusted with coral_.’
“The highest pinnacle of the rock is about 120 feet high, and
it covers, I should think, about two acres. It stands on the
edge of the lagoon, or rather within it, being connected with
the coral barrier only by a narrow isthmus of coral clinker.
Between this rock and the sea, however, the barrier, instead of
being as elsewhere, a solid platform of coral, is only a heap
of fragments, piled in winrows by the waves, 250 or 300 yards
in width. The lagoon is a quiet fresh water pond, two miles
long and about one broad, with a long spit of mud running out
into the middle of it, but elsewhere of a light green color,
which seemed to indicate a considerable depth. Its shores are
abrupt, the coral platform in most places projecting out over
water of a considerable depth. I did not find the least sign of
vegetable life upon the island.
“The only plant[14] seen, grew in considerable quantities in
the lagoon, which I pulled out of the water, where it was
growing. There is nothing but a coral platform, coral clinker
and coral sand. We found nothing to detain us and left the
island on the afternoon of the day on which we landed.”
Mr. Darwin, on his remarks on the geographical distribution of
reef-building corals, states that he could find no evidence
of their living on or near the west coast of America, and
consequently discredits the statement made by Sir Edward
Belcher; for after examining a Ms. chart of Clipperton Rock,
at the Admiralty Office, drawn by Sir Edward, came to the
conclusion that it was more of the shape of a crater. The
Island is, however, a true Atoll and has been elevated at least
100 feet.
It must have been closed since 1839, and the freshening of the
water has probably been caused by rain.
We may also add, that it stands within the limits of reef
building corals, as deduced by Mr. Dana, from tables of the
temperature of the sea, and consequently is confirmatory of his
opinion.
We might add other facts in support of Mr. Dana’s theory, but
from other parts of the Pacific.
[11] Lieut. Griswold was killed at the head of his regiment,
gallantly leading them into action, at the battle of Antietam.
[12] A narrative of four voyages to the South Seas, &c., by
Capt. Benj. Morrell. N. Y., 1832, page 219.
[13] Narrative of a voyage round the world in H. M. S.
_Sulphur_, by Capt. Sir Edward Belcher. London, 1843. Vol.
II, page 219.
[14] Specimens of the plant referred to by Mr. Pease, were
received by the Academy.
Discussion as to the adaptation of certain semi-tropical plants to the
climate of California.
REGULAR MEETING, JULY 3, 1865.
President in the chair.
Eight members present. Prof. John Torrey, R. Kennicott W. H. Dall, Horace
Mann, and Capt. Wright, visitors.
Donations to the Cabinet: A collection of Rocky Mountain plants, by Mr.
Bolander.
General discussion as to the motions of the Flying-fish.
Remarks by Mr. Kennicott and Dr. Behr upon the relation of the Esquimaux
to the North American Indians. Dr. Behr stated that the Esquimaux could
be considered only as a kind of Indians, their language being of the same
structure, and their different habits were owing to physical influences.
He further stated, that the Esquimaux lived formerly farther south. Mr.
Kennicott remarked, that from his observations and information derived
from Madam Roshkin and from St. Zagoshins’ Report, he believed the
natives, for some hundreds of miles up the Kvichpak or Yonkon River, were
Esquimaux rather than Indians.
Dr. Torrey stated, that he found on a trip to the Yosemite Valley, a
plant that he described twenty years ago, and which he had not since seen
in the collections examined by him. He named the plant, finding it to
be a new genus _Kelloggia_; the plant is quite common in the valley and
vicinity, and belongs to the family of Rubiaceæ; the aspect of the plant
is, in regard to its ramification, much like that of a _Galium_, while
its leaves and their arrangement resemble an _Epilobium_. It was first
discovered by some member of Com. Wilke’s Expedition, somewhere along or
near the Sacramento River.
Dr. Torrey also stated that he found _Sarcodes Sanguinea_, (Torrey), the
Snow-plant of the Californians, to be apparently indifferent as to what
plant it fixes itself or derives its nourishment from; he found its fibre
penetrating into the root of a _Rumex_, and not as has been supposed into
the roots of _Sequoia gigantea_. He also spoke of the great beauty and
fragrance of the California White Lily, (_Lilium Washingtonianum_,) and
of its being quite common in the vicinity of the Yosemite Valley. Its
habits are much like that of the common white lily, (_Lilium candidum_).
This evening, at 7 o’clock, a magnificent rainbow was observed, the
colors of which were unusually vivid.
REGULAR MEETING, JULY 17TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Ten members present.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 7TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Nine members present: Dr. C. T. Jackson, visitor.
Donations to the Cabinet: Three boxes of shells; Duplicate fossils of the
U. S. Exploring Expedition; Types of Dana’s Geology; Fossils from the
Upper Missouri; Miscellaneous fossils of the United States, received from
the Smithsonian Institution; Trachytic porphyry from the “Basalt” Cliff,
three miles from the Big Tree Grove, Calaveras, presented by Dr. Jackson.
Donations to the Library: Annual Report of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology of Cambridge, 1864; Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia, for January, February and March, 1865;
Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, June-September,
1864; Review of American Birds, by Prof. S. F. Baird; Proceedings of
Albany Institute; The Law of Increase and the Structure of Man, by F. A.
Liharyik; Oration and Poem delivered at the Commencement of the College
of California; Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society of London;
Meteorological Results, Toronto, 1860-2; Magnetical Abstracts, Toronto,
1854-60, 1856-62.
Dr. Ayres remarked the appearance of a species of Barracouta, (_Sphyrena
Argentea_,) on the coast of California, off Point Conception.
Dr. C. T. Jackson read the following paper, relative to the Big Trees of
Calaveras County.
MEASUREMENTS OF THE HEIGHT AND CIRCUMFERENCE OF TWENTY-FIVE OF THE “BIG
TREES,” (_SEQUOIA GIGANTEA_,) IN CALAVERAS COUNTY, BY DR. CHARLES T.
JACKSON AND MR. JOSEPH B. MEADER, AUGUST 2D AND 3D, 1865.
Instruments made use of:—
1. Sir H. Douglass’ Reflecting Semicircle; (Cary).
2. A Reflecting Level; made by J. H. Temple, of Boston.
3. A common Measuring Tape.
The horizontal point was fixed upon each tree, and the angle
measured by the Reflecting Semicircle, and protracted by it.
The circumference of the trees was measured above the swell of
the roots, about six feet, where the stem takes its proper form.
Several measurements, originally made with too high an angle,
were taken over again with a longer base, so as to avoid the
error of refraction in the glasses of the mirrors.
We trust, therefore, that the following measurements will be
found to be correct.
====================================+=========+=========
| HEIGHT. | CIRCUM.
NAME OF TREE. | |
| Feet. | Feet.
------------------------------------+---------+---------
Arbor Vitæ Queen | 258 | 31
Pride of the Forest | 260 | 50
Andrew Johnson | 273 | 32
Bay State | 280 | 48
Edward Everett | 265 | 46
Henry W. Beecher | 291 | 45
William C. Bryant | 305 | 49
Abraham Lincoln | 281 | 44
Mother of the Forest[15] | 305 | 63
Daniel Webster | 270 | 49
General Jackson | 320 | 42
General Scott | 327 | 45
General Washington | 284 | 52
Beauty of the Forest | 258 | —
Two Sentinels | 315 | —
Old Kentucky | 277 | 45
Mother and Son | 269 | 64
T. Starr King | 366 | 50
Trinity | 308 | 48
Salem Witch | 310 | —
Henry Clay | 241 | 44
Empire State | 275 | 50
Vermont | 259 | 44
Granite State | 286 | 50
John Torrey, (Nobis) | — | 50
| |
(All the above-named trees are the _Sequoia Gigantea_.)
| |
A Sugar Pine, (_P. Lambertiana_) | 165 | —
A Yellow Pine, (_P. Engelmann_) | 232 | 27
Another of same species | 220 | 19
====================================+=========+=========
[15] Bark off Mother of the Forest to the height of 121 feet.
The stump of the “Original Big Tree” measured in six diameters,
gives for mean, 23 ft. 1⅓ in., diameter inside of the
bark,—which was two feet thick.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 21ST, 1865.
Mr. Fisk in the chair.
Nine members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Specimen of Chromic Iron, from Tuolumne County,
by Mr. Hanks.
Mr. Bolander submitted a paper on the Grasses of Arizona, with the
following remarks:
The following List of Grasses, accompanied by the very
judicious and practical observations of the Corresponding
Member of our Natural History Society, Mr. C. J. Croft, of
the 1st Cavalry California Volunteers, was received by mail
from Fort Goodwin, Arizona Territory, some little time since.
From the same intelligent source, we have, from time to time,
received many valuable specimens, preserved with uncommon care,
and reaching us in a state quite unusual, even from localities
far more favorably situated. We are very hopeful, we shall
shortly be placed in possession of specimens of the seed of
the _White Layia Mexicana_, for ornamental culture, as also
of a species of native Potato, from the same indefatigable
individual, who has also furnished us with a very interesting
account of numerous species of the Cactus family, of that
District.
The Grasses of Arizona.
BY C. J. CROFT, U. S. A.
The grasses of this Territory, principally consist of four
varieties:
No. 1. (_Pleuraphis Jamesii_, Torr.,) is the lowland Grama
which grows in great profusion along the valley of the Gila,
and constitutes the principal feed for our animals, which do
quite well upon it, moderately worked.
No. 2. (_Aristida purpurea_, Nutt.) The highland Grama, growing
upon the sand “mesas,” or highlands, seems to differ but
little, if any, from that found in some portions of California.
No. 3. (_Muhlenbergia pungeus_, Thurb.) Black Grama, or, “Grama
China,” as vulgarly called by the natives, is the most valuable
as feed; upon it animals will fatten. It grows on the highlands
in sandy arid soil. I have never met any of this variety in the
valley of the Colorado, and but very little in the territory of
New Mexico. At this post we have had as many as 700 animals,
and the scarcity of forage required us to herd our stock upon
this grass during the winter. We were often obliged to make
rapid and distant marches in pursuit of Indians, over a country
almost impassable, yet our horses stood it well, fed only upon
this grass. Our cavalry here had no grain during the entire
winter. This Grama, like the other species, grows in bunches
several feet apart, and the lower stalks are green during the
winter season.
No. 4. (_Sporobolus airoides_, Trin.) This grows in the
valleys. A great portion of the Gila Valley is covered with it.
Animals eat it readily when green; it is however a powerful
diuretic. As a winter grass it is of no account.
Besides these four enumerated grasses, the letter contained
three others from the same locality:
1. _Panicum capillare_, L.
2. _Tricuspis pulchella_, Kunth.
3. _A Poa_, much of the habitat of _Poa sudetica_. Vivid
green; leaves plane, rather large; spikelets four-flowered,
oval; lower glume one, and the upper three nerved; lower palea
distinctly three-nerved, scabrous on the Red nerve. The nerves
of the glumes, as well as of the lower palea, are of a vivid
green color, and exceedingly prominent. The whole aspect of the
plant sent, would rather suggest that it is not indigenous to
that section of the country.
REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 4TH, 1865.
Mr. Minns in the Chair.
Eight members present.
Donations to the Library: A paper on the origin and formation of
Prairies, by Leo Lesquereux; Report of the Vancouver Island Exploration,
1864; Review of American Birds, by Prof. S. F. Baird; Silliman’s Journal
for July; Proceedings of the Essex Institute, January, February and
March, 1865; Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
of Cambridge; The Naturalists’ Directory, Part I.
Dr. Ayres presented the following paper from Prof. W. P. Blake:
Note on the abundance of Iron Ore in Northern Arizona.
BY WM. P. BLAKE.
In 1863 I observed an iron formation of considerable extent
and interest upon and near the William’s Fork of the Colorado,
near its mouth. The ore is chiefly the micaceous variety of
Hematite, or “specular iron,” and occurs in thick beds and in
thin sheets, in a ferruginous limestone or dolomite, evidently
metamorphic, and tilted up at a high angle.
It forms a belt of peculiar appearance, that may be traced
by the eye for miles across the country, in a direction
a few degrees south of west. This rock and iron ore is
inter-stratified with chloritic and talcose slates and granite,
and the series also bears copper ores and gold.
From the collections made by Lieut. Whipple’s party, in 1853,
in the mountains north, it would appear, that similar rocks
exist in the Cerbat and Aquarius Mountains, the extreme
geological antiquity of which, was commented on by me in the
Pacific R. R. Reports, Vol. III, p. 59. It is possible that
this ferriferous formation is connected with the extensive iron
formation of the coast of Mexico, south of Acapulco, described
by Mr. Manross, (Am. Journ. Sci., XXXIX, 358,) and it may be of
pre-Silurian date.
Descriptions of New Marine Shells from the Coast of California.
PART III.
BY PHILIP P. CARPENTER, B. A., PH. D., OF WARRINGTON, ENG.
Genus CORBULA, Lam. (Auct.)
_Corbula luteola_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 587.
C. t. “_C. biradiatæ_,” formâ simulante, sed multo minore;
haud obesâ, transversâ, luteo-cinereâ, dorsum versum interdum
obscure biradiatâ; angulo plus minusve carinato, postice
definito; antice rotundatâ, expansâ; concentrice crebre sed
obtuse lirulatâ; umbonibus obtusis; intus, dentibus minoribus;
linea pallii angulatâ, haud sinuatâ; cicatricibus adductoribus
callosis; margine t. adultâ postice altero alterum amplectante.
Long. 0·42, lat. 0·28, alt. 0·16.
_Hab._ San Diego, San Pedro, 50, alive, at low water.
Genus PLECTODON.[16] Cpr.
Testa tenuis, scaber, rostrata, haud inflata: margo dorsalis
sub umbones intus nexa, dentem cardinalem formans: dentes
laterales longi, laminati: cartilago fossâ minutâ, sub umbones
celatâ, dente laterali postico contiguâ, sita: sinus pallii
parvus.
_Plectodon scaber_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1062.
Pl. t. _ledæ_-formi, tenui, subdiaphanâ, pallidâ; totâ
superficie minute pustulosâ; marginibus dorsalibus rectis,
ad angulum 150°; antice et ventraliter productâ, marginibus
excurvatis; postice valde rostratâ, truncatâ: intus, margine
sub umbones interrupto; plicâ ex apice oblique usque ad
marginem dorsalem anticum excurrente; dentibus lateralibus
laminatis, extantibus, postico longiore; cicatricibus
adductoribus parvis, subrotundatis, ad extremitates dentium
lateralium sitis; sinu palii lato, haud impresso.
Long. 0·62, lat. 0·34, alt. 0·20.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, two right valves, 40-60 fms, Cp.
This very distinct genus has the aspect of Theora, and
appears allied to Neæra. It is probable that the cartilage
was strengthened by an ossicle. The great peculiarity is the
twisting-in of the dorsal margin, which ascends the umbo in a
very loose spiral.
Genus MACOMA, Leach.
_Macoma indentata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 365.
M. t. “M. sectæ” simili; sed postice valde rostratâ, sinu inter
plicam et regionem ventralem valde expansam indentato.
Long. 2·20, lat. 1·40, alt. 0·56.
_Hab._ San Pedro, (young, living, _Palmer_;) large dead valves,
_Cooper_.
Differs from _M. umbonella_, Lam., in its _secta_-like
post-ligamental wing. This being rubbed off in the large dead
valves, the shell has the aspect of a very distinct species.
GENUS ŒDALINA, CPR.
_Œdalia_, Cpr., Brit. Ass. Rep., 1864. (pre-occup.)
Subgenus COOPERELLA, Cpr.
_Œdalina_; cartilagine fossâ semi-internâ, ligamento externo
contiguâ, sitâ; dentibus cardinalibus laminatis, haud bifidis,
sen uno bifido.
Dedicated to the memory of Judge Cooper, of Hoboken, N.J.,
author of the Report on the Mollusca of the Pacific Railway
Expeditions.
_Cooperella scintillæformis_, Cpr. n. sp. State Collection, No.
533 a.
C. t. tenuissimâ, subdiaphanâ, latiore; forma “_Scintilæ
Cummingii_” simulante; extus argenteo-iridescente, striulis
incrementi exillimis interdum uudatâ; parte posticâ paullum
majore rotundatâ; intus, valvâ dextrâ dent. ii. laminatis,
arcuatim divergentibus, extantibus, quorum anticus major,
ventraliter sulcatus; v. sinistr. iii., quorum ant. et post.
laminati, arcuati, centralis triangularis, bifidus; fossâ
cartilaginali parvâ, semi-internâ, sub umbones angustiores,
satis prominentes, sitâ; laminâ ligamentali nullâ, nymphis
longioribus; sinu pallii oblongo, lato; lineâ pallii anticâ
minus declivi.
Long. 0·60, lat. 0·48, alt. 0·32.
_Hab._ San Diego; San Pedro, 2 dredged in 8-20 fms. _Cooper_.
Genus SEMELE, Schum.
_Semele incungrua_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1061.
S. t. formâ et indole “S. pulchræ” simili, sed sculpturâ
diversâ; transversâ, tenuii, subplanatâ, umbonibus
prominentibus; pallide carneâ, radiis intensioribus ornatâ;
totâ superficie minute et creberrime radiatim striulatâ;
marginibus dorsalibus postico rectiore, antico parum
incurvato; reliquis regulariter excurvatis, parte anticâ
diagonaliter valde productâ; v. sinistr. liris crebris
subacutis concentricis, antice sæpe irregulariter interruptis,
postice circiter quaternis solum conspicuis, extantibus; v.
dextr. liris pancioribus, acutis, antice vix interruptis,
postice alternantibus, extantibus: intus; dent, card. parvis,
fossâ cartilaginali angustâ elongatâ; dent. lat., v. dextrâ,
elongatis, regione cardinali purpureo tinctis; cicatr. adduct.
subrotundatis; sinu pallii maximo, ovali, ascendente, per
quintas inter sex totius interstitii partes porrecto; colore
secundum paginam externam tinctà et radiatà.
Long. 0·58, lat. 0·40, alt. 0·16.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara, 16 fm. 1 valve; Catalina Island, 40-60
fm., not uncommon; _Cooper_.
Genus? VENUS, _Ln._ Subgenus PSEPHIS, Cpr. 1864.
_Psephis salmonea_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1068.
Ps. t. Parvâ, subinflatâ, subæquilaterali, subtrigonâ; colore
salmoneo; extus nitidâ minutissime et creberrime concentrice
striatâ; margine ventrali excurvato; dorsalibus antico et
postico subrectis: intus, dent. card. iii.-iii., quorum utrãque
valvâ anticus porrectus, quasi lateralis, centrales parvi; v.
dextr. dente postico in marginem sulcatum decurrente; cicatr.
adduct. satis conspicuis, subrotundatis; lineâ pallii satis
internâ, vix obsolete sinuatâ.
Long. 0·12, lat. 0·11, alt. 0·06.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 30-40 fm., rare.; _Cooper_.
Placed under Psephis by analogy; whether the animal be
ovoviviparous has not yet been ascertained.
Genus ASTARTE, J. Sby.
_Astarte fluctuata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1060.
A. t. valde planatâ, ovoideâ, costis concentricis valde
distantibus, angustis, undulatis, ornatâ; marg. dors. post.
subrecto, ant. concavo, lunulâ longâ, parum impressâ; ventr.
satis rotundato; ant. valde rotundato; post. subquadrato;
intus, v. dextr., laminâ cardinali planatâ; dent. card. i.
inter fossas ant. parvam, post. triangularem, extante; dent.
lat. ant. acutiore, satis elongato, post. nullo; cicatr.
adduct. ovalibus, posticâ callo definitâ; margine haud crenato;
sulco ligamenti externi elongato.
Long. 0·33, lat. 0·26, 0·10.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 30-40 fm. _Cooper_.
Only dead right valves having been found, it is not known
whether this species be an Astarte (according to Messrs. Adams
and Hanley) or an abnormal Crassatella. It scarcely differs
from the young of _Astarte omalia_, from the Coralline Crag.
Genus CARDIUM, Ln. Subg. FULVIA, Gray, 1847, [or Lævicardium?
Sw., 1840.]
_Cardium (? modestum, var) centifilosum_, Cpr. State Collection
381.
C. t. parvâ, tenuissimâ, inflatâ, subquadratim rotundatâ;
umbonibus angustis, tumidioribus; marginibus, dorsalibus
subalatis, antico et ventrali æqualiter rotundatis, postico
vix truncato; totâ superficie, (nisi umbonibus et dorsum
versus utroque latere lævibus,) tenue liratâ; liris circ.
centum, quoad magnitudinem extantibus, angustis; interstitiis
subæqualibus, subquadratis, interdum punctato-decus satis;
parte posticâ à lineâ definitâ, lirulis minus conspicuis,
laminis concentricis extantibus, crebrioribus eleganter
exasperata; intus, dent. card. validioribus, lat.
subdistantibus; cic. adduct. ovalibus, haud impressis.
Long. 0·51, lat. 0·48, alt. 0·34.
_Hab._ (_modestum._) Quelpart Island, China Seas, and Japan;
_A. Adams_.
(_Centifilosum_.) Monterey, 20 fms. alive; Santa Barbara 1,
Catalina Island, 40 fm. _Cooper_.
Rounder than C. modestum, _Ad. & Rve._, with fewer and sharper
ribs; but the Eastern shells vary, and Mr. Adams considers them
conspecific.
Genus LEPTON, Turton.
_Lepton meroëum_, Cpr. n. s.
L. t. parvâ, subplanatâ, Meroæ-formi; transversâ, marginibus
omnino excurvatis; antice valde productâ; umbonibus acutis,
prominentibus; dent. card. (v. sinistr.) uno, celato; lat. ant.
prominente, post. subobsoleto; fossâ cartilaginali angusta;
cic. adduct. remotis.
Long. 0·11, lat. 0·08, alt. 0·03.
_Hab._ San Diego, 1 broken valve among shell washings. _Cooper_.
Genus PRISTIPHORA, Cpr.[17] n. g.
Syn. _Pristes_, Cpr. Rep. Brit. Ass. 1864, (pre-occupied.)
Testa “_Tellimyæ Adamsiorum_” similis; dentibus cardinalibus
nullis; lateralibus utrâque valvâ conspicuis, postice
elongatis, antice curtioribus, cardinem versus transversim
sulcatis; fossâ cartilaginali inter eos sitâ.
_Pristiphora oblonga_, Cpr. n. s.
P. t. oblongâ, parvâ, subquadratâ, valde inæquilaterali; parte
anticâ fere nullâ; marginibus, dorsalibus subrectis, fere
rectangulatis, ventrali parum excurvato, postico rotundato;
umbonibus antice flectis; lunulâ parvâ, concavâ: intus, v.
sinistr., dent. lat. post. per totam longitudinem dorsalem
decurrente, parte cardinali acutâ, alte transversim sulcatâ;
ant. secundum lunulam incurvato curto, serrato; cicatr. adduct.
sub fines dentium sitis.
Long. 0·14, lat. 0·10, alt. 0·06.
_Hab._ San Diego; 1 worn valve among shell washings. _Cooper_.
Genus LEDA, Schumacher.
_Leda hamata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 984.
L. t. “_L. caudatæ_” simili, sed valde hamatâ; planatâ, valde
inæquilaterali; umbonibus angustioribus, lævibus, ad trientem
sitis; marginibus, dors. post. maxime incurvato, ant. parum,
ventr. valde excurvatis; parte posticâ valde rostratâ, rostro
biangulato, curvato, angustiore, biangulatâ; sulcis et costis
validis, concentricis, supra rostrum continuis, dorsum versus
postice obsoletis.
Long. 0·37, lat. 0·10, alt. 0·10.
Genus ACANTHOCHITES, Risso? (Leach, 1826).
_Acanthochites avicula_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1072.
A. t. “_A. arragonitei_” formâ magnitudine, pallio, et indole
simillimâ; sed sculpturâ et laminis terminalibus diversâ; jugo
longitudinaliter sulculis circ. vi. instructis, interstitiis
quasi planato-squamosis, umbonibus latis; areis diagonalibus
haud definitis; lateribus, squamis (quoad magnitudinem)
maximis, planatis, ovalibus ornatis, seriebus indistinctis
divergentibus instructis; mucrone parvo, antice sito; colore
livido et olivaceo-fusco varie tincto; laminis insertionis
valv. lat. ut in _A. arragonite_; anticâ, fissuris v.
Long. 0·16, lat. 0·10.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 10-20 fm., rare; _Cooper_.
Genus ACANTHOPLEURA, Guilding.
_Acanthopleura fluxa_, _Cpr._? n. s.
A. t. “_A. scabræ_” simili, sed latiore, pallidiore; viridi,
rubro-aurantio conspersâ; valvis rectangulatis; suturis
marginalibus haud conspicuis; areis diagonalibus satis
distinctis; radiis obtusis fluxis ii., alterâ diagonali,
alterâ suturali; totâ superficie conspicue granulosâ, granulis
acutioribus præsertim albidis; jugo obtuso, vix vallato:
laminis insertionis ut in A. scabrâ instructis.
Long. 0·60, lat. 0·40, div. 110°.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara Island, _Cooper_.
Foot, in the only dried specimen seen, extremely thin, flat,
and narrow.
Genus ISCHNOCHITON, Gray.
_Ischnochiton veredentiens_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No.
518 _a_ (bis).
I. t. parvâ, albidâ, rosaceo tinctâ; valvis gothice arcuatis,
jugo subacuto; totâ superficie minute granulosâ; areis
lateralibus conspicue definitis, minoribus, costis diagonali
et suturali validis instructis, bullis valde expressis
munitis; valv. term. costulis subobsoletis radiantibus; areis
centralibus clathris longitudinalibus utroque latere circ.
viii. distantibus, expressis, subgranulosis, supra jugum
obsoletis; interstitiis â costulis subradiantibus decussatis;
umbonibus conspicuis; marginibus umbonalibus à costis
bulliferis valde indentatis, dentibus viii.-x. jugum versus
obsoletis, marginibus haud intortis; mucrone submediano, vix
extante; marginibus lobatis eleganter à clathris pectinatis:
intus, sinu maximo, planato, interdum serrato; laminis
insertionis acutis, late unifissatis, valv. term. circ.
viii-fissatis, subgrundis conspicuis; limbo pallii squamis
majoribus, planatis, tenuibus, vix striatis.
Long. 0·25, lat. 0·10, div. 90°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 20-30 fm., _Cooper_.
Subgenus LEPIDOPLEURUS, Risso.
Isch. squamis magnis, ut in Chitone (_Lophyro_) instructis,
striatis.
_Lepidopleurus pectinatus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No.
1073.
L. t. “_L. Mertensii_” simili, sed omnino olivaceo; areis
diagonalibus radiis plerumque iv. dense tuberculiferis,
radioque altero suturali tuberculis inflexis, margines
valvarum pectinantibus; costis transversis crebris validis;
costulis longitudinalibus acutis distantibus superantibus,
quarum margines suturas anticas pectinant; valv. term. ut in
areis diag. sculptis, seriebus tuberculorum creberrimis; totâ
superficie minutissime tuberculatâ: intus, valvis centralibus
unifissatis, terminalibus xi.-xv.-fissatis: scalis pallii
irregularibus, confertis, minutissime longitudinaliter striatis.
Long. 0·85, lat. 0·50, div. 110°.
Variat: interdum aurantio nebulosâ.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, Santa Barbara Island, beach, _Cooper_.
_Lepidopleurus scabricostatus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection,
No. 1071 c.
L. t. parvâ, aurantiâ, elevatâ; valvis gothice arcuatis, jugo
acuto; totâ superficie conspicue et creberrime granulata:
areis lateralibus majoribus, conspicue definitis; seriebus
granulorum majorum iii. radiantibus, subobsoletis; umbonibus
haud conspicuis; marginibus umbonalibus colore intensiore
pseudodentatis, parum intortis; areis centralibus seriebus
costularum angustarum subobsoletarum longitudinalibus, valde
distantibus, granulis majoribus instructis; valv. term.,
costulis granulosis similibus radiantibus; mucrone vix
mediano, parum conspicuo: intus, lobis suturalibus separatis,
sinu maximo, planato; laminis insertionis lat. unifissatis,
term. x.-xii.-fissatis, subobtusis; subgrundis modicis,
subconspicuis: limbo pallii latiore, squamis imbricatis,
elongatis, transversim striatis, crebris ornatâ.
Long. 0·30; lat. 0·17; div. 100°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island; 10-20 fm., _Cooper_.
Subgenus TRACHYDERMON,[18] Cpr.
Ischnochiton: squamis pallii minimis, confertis.
_Trachydermon Gothicus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, 518_a_.
Tr. t. parvâ valde elevatâ, viridi, rosaceo et olivaceo
eleganter tinctâ; valvis gothice arcuatis, jugo acuto; areis
lateralibus parvis, arcuatim distincte definitis, granulosis;
umbonibus prominentibus; marginibus umbonalibus colore
tessellatis, intortis; areis centralibus longitudinaliter
costatis, costis rotundatis, crebris, haud valde expressis,
interstitiis parvis, vix interdum decussatis; valv. term. ut in
ar. lat. sculptis, posticâ mucrone mediano, subelevato: intus,
lobis suturalibus haud separatis, medio latissime sinuatis;
laminis insertionis, lat. unifissatis, term. viii.-x.-fissatis,
obtusis, subgrundis haud elevatis: limbo pallii minutissime
squamuloso, granulis confertissimis, subrotundatis, lævibus;
circa marginem pilulis suberectis.
Long. 0·20, lat. 0·10; div. 80°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 8-20 fm., _Cooper_.
Genus LEPTOCHITON, Gray.
_Leptochiton nexus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, 1071a.
L. t. parvâ, albocinereâ, valvice gothis arcuatis; areis
lateralibus vix definitis; totâ superficie squamulis
subquadratis seriatim ornata; seriebus ar. centr.
longitudinalibus, ar. lat. et valv. term. radiantibus,
creberrimis, haud interruptis; jugo elevato, sub-acuto;
umbonibus inconspicuis; marginibus umbonalibus vix inflectis,
lateralibus vix à squamulis serrulatis; mucrone conspicuo,
mediano: intus, laminis centralibus valde lobatis, sinu
maximo, planato; lam. insertionis obsoletis: pallio, squamulis
paleatis, striatis, confertis instructo; pilis elatioribus
aciculinis, crystallinis, huc et illuc et circa marginem ornato.
Long. 0·30, lat. 0·18; div. 90°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 10-20 fm., _Cooper_.
The appearance of this northern genus among the Mopaliæ and
Ischnochitons is very remarkable; as is the character of the
mantle-margin.
Genus NACELLA, Schumacher.
_Nacella (? palleacea, var.) triangularis_, Cpr. State Coll.
No. 416_c_.
N. t. “_N. palleacea_” simili, sed multo minus elongatâ; apice
elato, marginibus rectangulatim divergentibus; albidâ, maculis
fuscis perpaucis ornatâ; striulis subobsoletis.
Long. 0·28, lat. 0·12, alt. 0·18, div. 90°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 4 dredged dead, _Cooper_.
Probably a distinct species. The solitary shell sent by Dr.
Cooper is shaped like a right-angled triangle, with five large
brown spots near the base.
_? Nacella subspiralis_, Cpr.? n. s. State Collection, 416b.
? N. t. parvâ, carneâ, lævi, tenuissimâ; vertice “_Emarginulæ_”
simulante, subspirali, sed apice patelloideo, adunco; t.
adultâ valde elevatâ; margine laterali antico subrecto, apice
projiciente, valde remoto; postico maxime fornicato; aperturæ
margine antice et postice prolongato.
Long. 0·26, lat. 0·19, alt. 0·20, div. 80°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 10-20 fm., 4 dead, _Cooper_.
This may be the young of the long-lost _Patella calyptra_,
Mart. It may be a _Scutellina_. Even the genus cannot be
predicated from the shell alone.
Genus ACMÆA, Eschholtz.
_Acmæa (? pileolus, var.) rosacea_, Cpr.
A. t. parvâ, conicâ, tenui, lævi; t. jun. pallide rosaceâ,
elegantissime maculis albis et fuscis subradiatim sparsis; t.
adulta strigis fusco-rosaceis et albidis pictâ; apice elevato,
parum antico; intus rosaceo.
Long. 0·20, lat. 0·16, alt. 0·08, div. 100°.
_Hab._ San Diego, 1 sp. jun. (_Palmer_): Monterey, 1 dead sp.
_Cooper_.
The absence of striæ, very thin texture, and regularly conical
growth, distinguish this shell from _A. patina_, a rare
variety of which has a pinkish tinge. Specimens in Mus. Cuming
are marked “_pileolus_, Midd.,” but do not accord with the
diagnosis. It is almost exactly like Herm[19] specimens of _A.
virginea_. Col. Jewett’s similar shells, marked “Panama,” were
perhaps West Indian.
Genus SCURRIA (?), Gray.
_Scurria (?) funiculata_, Cpr. (?) n. s. State Collection, No.
466_d_.
? Sc. t. parvâ, albidâ, regulariter conicâ, apice acuto,
elevato, parum antrorsum sito; liris validis, rotundatis,
interdum vix nodulosis, irregulariter, huc et illuc duplo
vel tripliciter dispositis; margine à costis extus undato;
cicatrice haud conspicuo.
Long. 0·50, lat. 0·38, alt. 0·26, div. 80°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 6 dredged dead, _Cooper_.
So different from the most strongly marked young specimens of
_Sc. mitra_ that I presume it to be distinct. The genus depends
on the animal, which has not yet been seen.
Genus PUNCTURELLA, Lowe.
_Puncturella Cooperi_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection No. 1029.
P. t. “_P. galeatæ_,” fere exacte simulante; sed laminâ internâ
solidâ, planatâ, haud antice sinuatâ, haud suffultâ.
Long. 0·30, lat. 0·21, alt. 0·24, div. 70°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, not rare, 40 to 20 fms., _Cooper_,
alive.
Outside like _P. noachina_; but with the lamina like _P.
cucullata_, without eye-holes. The latter species is extremely
variable in sculpture, but never so fine as this; and the shape
is less conical.
Genus GIBBULA, Leach.
_Gibbula optabilis_, Cpr. n. s.
G. t. parvâ, pulcherrimâ, subconicâ; lurida, fusco-purpureo
maculatâ; anfr. v. subquadratis, suturis distinctis; carinis
principalibus in spirâ ii., aliâ intercalante; carinâ fortiori
peripheriali, et lirulis circ. vi. basalibus, regulariter
colore punctatis; lirâ posticâ subobsolete suturam attingente;
aliis minoribus intercalantibus; interstitiis ubique tenerrime
et creberrime decussatis; basi subtumente, ad carinam
peripherialem fere rectangulato; aperturâ subquadratâ,
columellâ parum arcuata; umbilico magno, infundibuliformi,
angulato; liris ii. intus spiraliter ascendentibus.
Long. 0·19, long. spir. 0·10, lat. 0·19, div. 80°.
_Hab._ San Pedro, _Palmer_, one specimen.
Genus CALLIOSTOMA, Swainson.
The names _Calliostoma_ and _Ziziphinus_ having been published
in the same year, I have no hesitation in preferring the
generic to the specific.
_Calliostoma supragranosum_, Cpr. n. s.
C. t. parvâ; anfr. v. tumentibus; liris acutis cincta, quarum
mediæ læves, posticæ granosæ, basales ix. minores.
_Hab._ San Diego; _Cooper_.
The single specimen sent differs as above from the young of the
next species.
_Calliostoma gemmulatum_, Cpr. Br. Assoc. Rep. 1863, pp. 612,
653.
Syn. _C. formosum_, Cpr. Proc. Cal. Ac. 1864, 155: non Forbes.
While the sheets of the Report were passing through the
press, it was found that the name had been preoccupied by
Forbes. As it happened the Californian sheet was being printed
simultaneously, and there was no time to make the alteration.
Genus ETHALIA, Adams.
_Ethalia supravallata_, Cpr. n. s.
E. t. parvâ, albidâ, nitente, subdiaphanâ, planatâ; anfr.
nucl. ii. et dimidio, lævis, diaphanis; norm. uno et dimidio,
rotundatis; postice carinâ valde extante, et fossâ concavâ
contiguâ suturam tenus, supra spiram vix planatam ascendente;
in medio basis rotundatæ carinâ alterâ plus minusve extante;
inter eas, circa peripheriam, lirulis radiantibus minimis,
haud expressis, sub lente vix conspicuis; regione umbilicari
parum concavo; aperturâ circulari; labro à carinis angulato;
columellâ, valde callosâ, porrecta; callositate pyriformi
regionem umbilicarem circumambiente.
Long. 0·03, long, spir. 0. (?) lat. 0·45, div. 180°.
_Hab._ San Diego, _Cooper_, shell-washings.
Typical among the Vitrinelloid _Ethaliæ_ described in Maz.
Cat., Nos. 310, 318. Remarkable for the small number of turns
in the mature shell as compared with the nucleus.
_Ethalia var. invallata_, Cpr.
E. t. “_E. supravallatæ_,” aliter exacte simili; sed vallo
spirali omnino carente; basi angulatâ, haud carinatâ.
_Hab._ San Diego, shell-washings, _Cooper_.
These shells would certainly have been regarded as distinct,
but for one specimen which began smoothly, yet after a fracture
suddenly commenced a (not prominent) keel: an instructive
lesson on variations in sculpture.
Genus GALERUS, Humphreys.
_Galerus contortus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 369.
G. t. parvâ, tenui, albidâ; vertice nucleoso planato, extante,
minimo, anfr. uno et dimidio planorbi-formibus, apice
conspicuo; dein conoideâ, elevata, solute spirali, suturis
impressis; superficie rudi, laminis incrementi interdum
conspicuis; laminâ internâ.
Long. 0·26, lat. 0·24, alt. 0·15, div. 80°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 20-40 fm.; Santa Barbara, 16-20 fm.; Catalina
Island, 30-40 fm.; _Cooper_.
The vertex stands out like a tiny Planorbis, and is more minute
than in any species I have examined.
Genus CÆCUM, Fleming.
_Cæcum crebricinctum_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 388.
C. (_Anellum_) t., quoad genus, magnâ, tereti, solidiore,
rufofusca, interdum radiis intensioribus longitudinalibus
ornatâ; annulis gracillimis, creberrimis, rotundatis, haud
elevatis circ. lxxx. cinctâ; interstitiis nullis; sculpturâ
longitudinali nullâ; aperturâ acutâ, vix contractâ, vix
declivi; septo subungulato, submucronato; margine laterali
recto; apice acuto, ad angulum circ. 45°, maxime elevato;
operculo vix concavo, lirâ spirali elevatâ.
Long. 0·14, lat. 0·04.
_Hab._ San Diego, 8-10 fms., 12; Monterey, 20 fms., 20, some
alive; Santa Barbara, 20 fms., 3, _Cooper_.
Has the aspect, but not the sculpture, of an Elephantulum.
_Cœcum Cooperi_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 667a.
C. (_Anellum_) t. parvâ, satis tereti, albâ; annulis crebris
acutioribus, angustis, circ. xxxiv.-xxxviii., interstitiis
subconcavis; septo subungulato; apice obtuso, haud elevato,
margine laterali recto; aperturâ declivi, parum contracto et
postice expanso; operculo?
Long. 0·09, lat. 0·025.
_Hab._ San Diego and Catalina Island, 8-10 fms., 18, _Cooper_.
Known from similar Mazatlan species by the very numerous but
separated and somewhat sharp ribs.
Genus TURRITELLA, Lamarck.
_Turritella Cooperi_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 564.
T. t. valde tereti, tenuiore, cinereâ, rufofusco tinctâ; anf.
plurimis, angustis, subplanatis, suturis distinctis; liris ii.
et striulis crebris spiraliter ornatâ; basi angulatâ; aperturâ
subquadratâ; labro valde sinuato.
Long. 1·80, long. spir. 1·50, lat. 0·45.
_Hab._ San Pedro, 60; San Diego, 16 dead on beach; Santa
Barbara, 4 dead, in 16-20 fms. _Cooper_.
As I have seen no complete list of the very numerous fossil
species of this genus, it appears allowable, rather than risk a
synonym, to name this graceful shell after its discoverer.
Genus? MESALIA, Gray.
_? Mesalia tenuisculpta_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 666
_a_.
? M. t. tenui, regulariter turritâ, fusco-cinereâ; anfr. nucl.
lævibus, normalibus, apice acuto; norm. viii. rotundatis,
suturis impressis; lirulis spiralibus; haud extantibus, plus
minusve distantibus, irregularibus cinctâ quarum anfr. primis
duæ anticæ majores; lirulis circa basim rotundatam obtusis,
subregularibus; rugulis incrementi irregularibus, interdum
decussantibus; aperturâ subrotundatâ, peritremati haud
continuâ; labro acuto, postice flexuoso; labio tenui.
Long. 0·28, long. spir. 0·18, lat. 0·10, div. 15°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; 4-6 fms., 15, alive. _Cooper_.
Intermediate in character between _Mesalia_ and _Fenella_.
Genus ISAPIS, H. & A. Adams.
_Isapis obtusa_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 682.
I. t. “_I. fenestratæ_” indole simili, sed magis elongatâ,
subnitente, pallide rosacea; vertice nucleoso decliviter
immerso, celato; anfr. norm. postice subplanatis, suturis
obtusis; costis tumentibus rotundatis circ. vii., suturas et
umbilicum minorem versus obsoletis, plus minusve extantibus;
interstitiis parvis, irregularibus, haud decussatis;
peritremati continuo, labro tenui, secundum costas variantes
undulato; labio medio calloso.
Long. 0·23, long. spir. 0·09, lat. 0·16, div. 60°.
_Hab._ S. Diego, 10 fm.; Sta. Barbara, 20 fm.; _Cooper_.
The fortunate discovery of some perfect young specimens
displays a nucleus so like _Odostomia_ that, despite the
resemblance of the shell to _Fossarus_, which has a tuberoid
nucleus, it most probably belongs to _Pyramidellidæ_.
Genus RISSOINA, D’Orbigny.
_Rissoina interfossa_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 387,
_b_.
R. t. satis magnâ, crassâ, albâ, satis turritâ, conspicue
sculptâ; marginibus spiræ rectis, vertice mamillato; anfr.
nucl. ?.. [detritis]; norm. vii. tumidis, angulatis, suturis
angulatim impressis; carinis spiralibus validis, in spirâ
ii.; alterâ posticâ interdum intercalante; anfr. ultimo
duabus quoque peripherialibus, quintâ axim circumeunte;
costis radiantibus validis, extantibus, circ. xiv., ad
suturas contiguis, liris regularibus spiram ascendentibus, ad
intersectiones carinarum nodulosis, ad peripheriam continuis;
interstitiis quadratis, alte infossatis; aperturâ ovatâ.
Long. 0·26, long. spir. 0·18, lat. 0·10; div. 28°.
_Hab._ Catalina Is. 8-10 fm. 4; San Diego 1; Monterey, (var.)
_Cooper_.
Genus RISSOA, Freminville.
_Rissoa acutelirata_, Cpr. n. s.
R. t. tenui, satis turritâ, rufocinereâ, marginibus spiræ
parum excurvatis; anfr. nucl. iii. normalibus lævibus, vertice
parum mamillato; norm. iii. subrotundatis, suturis valde
impressis; liris radiantibus circ. xviii. acutis, distantibus,
ad peripheriam evanidis; lirulis acutis spiralibus distantibus
circ. xv., quarum vi. in spirâ monstrantur, liris radiantibus
et interstitiis latis, undatis, eleganter superantibus, haud
nodulosis; basi rotundatâ, haud umbilicatâ; aperturâ ovatâ,
peritremati continuo.
Long. 0·09, long. spir. 0·05, lat. 0·05, div. 35°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; 1 sp. and fragment in shell-washings. _Cooper_.
Genus FENELLA, H. & A. Adams.
_Fenella pupoidea_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 389.
F. t. _Truncatellæformi_, sed apice haud decollato; colore
maxime variante; seu unicolori, albido, cinereo, viridescente,
rufofusco, seu splendide rubro; seu varie fusco maculato;
anfr. nucl. iii. lævibus, globosis, vertice mamillato; norm.
v. rotundatis, fere æqualibus, plus minusve solutis, suturis
subimpressis; totâ superficie tenue spiraliter striatâ;
striis in spirâ majoribus, circ. viii. distantibus, minoribus
creberrimis intercalantibus; circa basim rotundatam circ. x.
majoribus, contiguis, minoribus paucis; aperturâ circulari,
peritremati continuo, solido, ad suturam parum callosam
appresso; umbilico nullo.
Long. 0·23, long. spir. 0·16, lat. 0·09, div. 12°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 20 fm. 45, dead. _Cooper._
Genus AMPHITHALAMUS,[20] Cpr.
Testa _Rissoidea_; nucleo magno; apertura labio producto, labro
subpostice juncto, subito in adultâ contracta.
_Type._ _Amphithalamus inclusus_, Cpr. Br. Assoc. Rep. 1863, p.
656; Ann. Nat. Hist. Jan. 1865.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara, _Jewett_; S. Diego, in shell-washings.
_Cooper._
_? Amphithalamus lacunatus_, Cpr. n. s.
? A. t. adolescente “_A. incluso_” simili; nucleo similiter
minutissime et confertissime spiraliter et radiatim striulato;
sed majore, latiore, anfr. subplanatis; basi late lacunatâ,
haud carinatâ; adultâ ?..
Long. 0·06, long. spir. 0·03, lat. 0·03, div. 50°.
_Hab._ San Pedro. _Cooper._
Two dead specimens in the shell-washings of Dr. Palmer’s
consignment to the Smithsonian Institute might have been
passed over as the young of _Barleeia subtenuis_, but for
the possession of exactly the same remarkable nucleus as _A.
inclusus_. It is presumed, therefore, that they are congeneric;
if so, the adult has not been seen.
Genus DIALA, H. & A. Adams.
_Diala acuta_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 390.
D. t. parvâ, turrito-conicâ, cerinâ, politâ, nitente; anfr.
nucl. ii. naticoideis, vertice mamillato, apice indistincto;
norm. v., omnino planatis, suturis indistinctis; peripheriâ
acute angulatâ, vix carinatâ; basi omnino planatâ; aperturâ
subquadratâ; peritremati continuo; labro postice paullum
contracto; labio appresso; columellâ antice angulatâ, vix
sinuatâ.
Long. 0·15, long. spir. 0·09, lat. 0·07, div. 29°.
_Hab._ Catalina Is. 8-10 fm.; on beach to Monterey. _Cooper._
_Diala marmorea_, Cpr. n. s.
D. t. solidâ, exacte conicâ, læviâ, nitente; subdiaphane
pallidâ, rufo maculatâ; anfr. nucl. rotundatis, planorbeis,
sub-oblique sitis, apice celato; norm. vi. planatis, suturis
indistinctis; basi planatâ, sub-angulatâ; aperturâ ovali,
peritremati continuo, haud varicoso.
Long. 0·17, long. spir. 0·11, lat. 0·08, div. 31°.
_Hab._ Monterey, S. Pedro; _Cooper_. Lower California, off
Haliotis. _Rowell._
The description is written from a single perfect specimen
in Mr. Rowell’s collection, and some fragments from the
shell-washings of Dr. Cooper’s.
Genus STYLIFERINA, A. Adams.
_Styliferina turrita_, Cpr. n. s.
St. t. minimâ, albidâ, solidiore, lævi, turritâ; anfr. nud.
iii. subnaticoideis, apice mamillato; norm. v. planatis,
angustis, suturis parum impressis; basi subito rotundatâ,
haud umbilicatâ; aperturâ subrotundatâ; labro postice parum
contracto.
Long. 0·06, long. spir. 0·04, lat. 0·02, div. 20°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro. _Cooper._
A single specimen of this tiny shell was found in the
shell-washings of Dr. Palmer’s consignment. The mouth is
unfortunately choked up with a grain of coarse sand which I
have not been able to extract.
Genus? JEFFREYSIA, Alder.
_? Jeffreysia translucens_, Cpr. n. s.
? J. t. “_Barleeiæ subtenui_” simili, sed tenuiore, tumidiore;
corneâ, pallide fulvâ, lævi, nitente, satis diaphanâ; anfr.
nucl. normalibus, apice submamillato; norm. iv. subconvexis,
suturis distinctis; basi rotundatâ, haud umbilicatâ; aperturâ
ovatâ, peritremati vix continuo; labro acuto; labio appresso,
regione umbilicari parum calloso.
Long. 0·08, long. spir. 0·045, lat. 0·06, div. 55°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; in shell-washings. _Cooper._
Only one specimen having been seen, without animal or even
operculum, the genus is doubtful. In its slight labial deposit
it resembles _“Litiopa” dubiosa_, C. B. Adams.
Genus CYTHNA, A. Adams.
_Cythna albida_, Cpr. n. s.
C. t. minutâ, albidâ, lævi, diaphanâ, latâ; anfr. nucl.
normalibus, vertice mamillato; norm. iii. tumidis, rotundatis,
rapide augentibus, suturis valde impressis; basi rotundatâ,
valde umbilicatâ; umbilico subangulato; aperturâ subrotundatâ;
peritremati continuo, acuto, t. adultâ nonnunquam à pariete
separato.
Long. 0·03, long. spir. 0·015, lat. 0·025, div. 80°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro; in shell-washings. _Cooper._
Known from _C. tumens_, Maz. Cat. No. 421, by the non-keeling
of the umbilicus.
Genus CHRYSALLIDA, Cpr.
_Chrysallida pumila_, Cpr. n. s.
Chr. t. minutâ, angustâ, albâ; vert. nucl. subito immerso,
dimidium truncationis tegente; marginibus spiræ parum
excurvatis; anfr. norm. iv. planatis, suturis vix distinctis;
clathris radiantibus rectis, validis, planatis, circ.
xx., marginibus spiræ utroque latere parallelis, sæpius
attingentibus, circa basim elongatam, rotundatam continuis;
interstitiis lirulis acutis distantibus, haud extantibus, circ.
x. decussatis, quarum iv. v. in spirâ monstrantur; aperturâ
ovali, peritremati vix continuo; plicâ parietem tenus acutâ,
haud celatâ, declivi.
Long. 0·06, long. spir. 0·03, lat. 0·025, div. 12°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro. _Cooper._
One specimen and a few fragments were found in the
shell-washings of Dr. Palmer’s consignment. Differs from _Chr.
ovulum_, in its slender shape and delicate spiral sculpture.
_Chrysallida cincta_, Cpr. n. s.
Chr. t. satis regulari, albâ, marginibus spiræ vix excurvatis;
vert. nucl. parvo, celato, dimidium truncationis vix superante;
anfr. norm. iv. parum excurvatis, suturis distinctis; costis
spiralibus obtusis circ. x, cinctâ, quarum iv. in spirâ
monstrantur; costis iii. posticis radiatim subgranulosis,
seriebus circ. xv., marginibus spiræ utrinque parallelis, supra
quartam subobsoletis; interstitiis latis, delicatim decussatis;
basi satis prolongatâ; columellâ antice valde effusâ; plicâ
parvâ, medianâ.
Long. 0·11, long. spir. 0·07, lat. 0·05, div. 35°.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara group of islands. _Cooper._
The solitary specimen is probably immature. Intermediate
between _Chrysallida_ proper and _Mumiola_.
Genus CHEMNITZIA, D’Orbigny.
_Chemnitzia chocolata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 428.
Ch. t. “_C. tridentatæ_” magnitudine et indole simili; sed
teretiore, dense castaneâ, fasciis pallidioribus sub epidermide
adhærente ornatâ; anfr. primis gracillimis; vert. nucl. anfr.
iii, helicoideis, valde decliviter sito, marginibus spiræ
rectis, angustis, haud superante; anfr. norm. xii. planatis,
primis tumidioribus, suturis impressis; costis circ. xxviii.
rotundatis, validis, circa basim prolongatam haud subito
evanidis, anfr. ult. sæpe obsoletis; interstitiis haud
æquantibus, haud undatis, haud sulcatis; totâ superficie sub
lente minutissime et creberrime spiraliter striulatâ; aperturâ
ovali, columellâ parum contortâ, labro intus tenui, haud
dentato.
Long. 0·55, long. spir. 0·43, lat. 0·13, div. 17°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro, S. Diego, Monterey; rare. _Cooper._
One specimen, in Dr. Palmer’s consignment, is known from _Ch.
tridentata_ by the very effuse spire, prolonged base, and
crowded ribs without waved sculpture between.
_Chemnitzia subcuspidata_, Cpr. State Collection, No. 670, _a_.
Ch. t. parvâ, minus tereti, cerinâ seu purpureo-fuscâ; anfr.
nud. ii. et dimidio, valde decliviter sitis, marginibus spiræ
parum excurvatis superantibus; norm. viii. planatis, suturis
excavatis; costis radiantibus circ. xviii. acutis, circa
basim prolongatam vix continuis, ad suturas valde elevatis,
subcuspidatis; interstitiis latioribus, undulatis; sulcis
spiralibus creberrimis, altis, in spirâ circ. x., costas vix
secantibus, circa basim impressis; peritremati vix continuo,
labio distincto; columellâ vix tortâ.
Long. 0·23, long. spir. 0·16, lat. 0·06, div. 25°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; 25 dredged in shoal water. _Cooper._
Differs from the figure of _Ch. tenuicula_ (which represents a
shell with more numerous ribs than the diagnosis) in its more
distant ribs with broader interstices; closer and deeper spiral
sculpture; impressed sutures; and especially by the elegant
murication of the tops of the ribs, with projecting, curved
lines between. This is best seen in the young shells, when the
ribs are distinct over the base.
Genus EULIMA, Risso.
_Eulima (? var.) compacta_, Cpr.
Eu. t. “_Eu. micanti_,” jun. simili, sed multo minus tereti;
marginibus spiræ parum excurvatis; anfr. nucl. ?.., [detritis],
norm. vii.; basi et aperturâ elongatis; labro parum sinuato.
Long. 0·25, long. spir. 0·15, lat. 0·09, div. 22°.
_Hab._ San Pedro; _Cooper_.
A single dead shell was found in Dr. Palmer’s consignment.
_Eulima (? var.) rutila_, Cpr.
Eu. t. “_Eu. micanti_” jun. simili, sed magis tereti; valde
nitente, rosaceo et livido tinctâ; anfr. nucl. ut in “_Eu.
micante_;” norm. x. elongatis, gracillimis; basi et aperturâ
valde prolongatis; columellâ magis tortâ; labro valde sinuato,
supra suturam retrorsum calloso; labio angusto.
Long. 0·26, long. spir. 0·19, lat. 0·07, div. 20°.
_Hab._ Monterey; _Cooper_.
Closely allied to _Leiostraca producta_, Cpr. Maz. Cat. No.
551, but displays no varices. The Eulimidæ are very difficult
to distinguish, from a few shells alone.
Genus SCALARIA, _Lam._
_Scalaria bellastriata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 393,
_b_.
S. t. curtâ tenuissimâ, albidâ; anfr. vii. valde tumentibus,
haud nisi per costas attingentibus; costis circ. xvii. acutis
extantibus, reflexis, haud semper in spirâ attingentibus,
postice angulatis, parum spinosis; interstitiis circa spiram
basimque dense spiraliter lirulatis, lirulis rotundatis, super
varicum angulum obsoletis; aperturâ ovatâ, umbilico magno.
Long. 0·78, long. spir. 0·55, lat. 0·38; div. 40°.
_Hab._ Monterey, a fragment; San Diego, 1; San Pedro, 3;
_Cooper_.
So different in sculpture from _S. pretiosa_ and other species
with which it agrees in shape, that there will be no difficulty
in recognizing perfect specimens.
_Scalaria subcoronata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 393,
_a_.
S. t. compactâ, haud elevatâ, albâ; anfr. x. rotundatis, parum
attingentibus; costis circ. xiii. acutissimis, expansis, vix
reflexis, postice attingentibus, lineis margini spiræ dextro
parallelis spiram, ascendentibus, t. adolesc. postice vix
coronatis, adultâ simplicibus; aperturâ subcirculari, umbilico
nullo; sculpturâ spirali nullà.
Long. 0·45, long. spir. 0·29, lat. 0·22, div. 38°.
_Hab._ Monterey; _Cooper_.
Like _S. communis_, jun., but with the upper whorls slightly
coronated.
_Scalaria crebricostata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, 393.
S. t. gracili, tenui, albâ; anfr. x. rotundatis, haud
attingentibus; costis circ. xv., acutis, reflexis, vix
attingentibus, lineis irregulariter spiralibus ascendentibus;
costis juxta suturam eleganter coronatis; sculpturâ spirali,
nisi striulis interdum exillimis, nullâ; aperturâ rotundatâ;
umbilico nullo; operculo normali, dense corneo.
Long. 0·70; long. spir. 0·52, lat. 0·18, div. 26°
_Hab._ Monterey, San Pedro, _Cooper_, common.
= “Scalaria, unique” Mus. Cum. No. 32.
Somewhat resembles _S. tenuis_, Sby., but is not so turrited.
Genus OPALIA, H. & A. Adams.
_Opalia spongiosa_, Cpr. n. s.
O. t. turritâ, parvâ, albidâ, marginibus spiræ rectis; anfr.
ix. subplanatis, suturis impressis; costis undulantibus circ.
xiii., plerumque (nisi ad suturas crenulatas) obsoletis; totà
superficie lineis punctorum creberrimis, spiralibus, punctis
creberrimis, minutis, altissimis; circa basim imperforatam
costa anticâ latissimâ, spirali; aperturâ ovatâ, valde callosâ;
operculo aurantiaco, paucispirali.
Long. 0·36, long. spir. 0·26, lat. 0·12, div. 20°.
_Hab._ Monterey, _Cooper_. From shell washings.
The solitary specimen has the general aspect of _O. granulosa_
on a very small scale.
_Opalia retiporosa_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1014.
O. t. “_O. bullatæ_” formâ simulante, sed sculpturâ
omnino diversâ; anfr. nucl. ?... (decollatis); norm. vii.
subrotundatis, suturis impressis; costis radiantibus
rotundatis, subarcuatis, haud varicosis, circ. xiv., super
suturas tenue continuis; anfr. ult. seriebus nodulorum
spiralibus irregularibus, vice costarum, instructâ, peripheriâ
tuberculosâ; totâ superficie retiporosâ, interstitiis alte
interpunctatis, punctulis minutissimis, confertissimis; basi
vix costatâ, à serie nodulorum angulatâ; aperturâ rotundatâ;
peritremati continuo, varicoso; labro haud sinuato; operculo?
paucispirali.
Long. 0·28, long. spir. 0·20; lat. 0·10; div. 20°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island; 3 dead in 40 fm.; _Cooper_.
The texture has a rotten appearance; yet one of the specimens
was stained with purple, and contained the dried remains of the
animal, with its operculum. In the endeavor to extract this,
the shell gave way.
Genus NASSA, _Lam._
_Nassa insculpta_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1008.
N. t. satis elevatâ, compactâ, tenuiore, elegantissimâ,
marginibus spiræ subrectis; albescente, rufo-carneo varie
maculatâ; anfr. nucl. iv. lævibus, normaliter augentibus, apice
minuto, satis extante; norm. v. subrotundatis, suturis satis
impressis; aperturâ subrotundatâ, canali acute reflexâ; totâ
superficie sulculis æquidistantibus, quarum x. anfr. penult.
apparent, insculptâ; anfr. norm. ii. primis costulis quoque
radiantibus circ. xvi. haud expressis ornatâ; labro rotundato,
extus varicoso, intus sulcidentato; labio valde calloso, supra
basim seu parietem expanso, haud extante, intus ruguloso.
Long. 0·80, long. spir. 0·43, lat. 0·46, div. 45°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 30-40 fm.; 15 mostly alive, but few
mature; animal white; _Cooper_.
This singularly beautiful species probably belongs to the
section _Zeuxis_, H. & A. Adams. The callus is slightly
reflexed in the best specimen.
Genus AMYCLA, H. & A. Adams, 1858. (auctum.)
_? Amycla chrysalloidea_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 613.
? A. t. parvà, eleganter effusâ, marginibus spiræ utrinque
excurvatis; albidâ, rufofusco concinne punctatâ seu tinctâ;
interdum strigâ albida subsuturali, rufofusco tesselatâ; anfr.
nucl. iii. lævibus, haud tumidis, apice declivi; norm. v., t.
adolescente planatis, dein tumidioribus, suturis distinctis;
totâ superficie elegantissime tenuiter sulcatâ, sulcis
æquidistantibus, anfr. penult. circ. xx.; aperturâ flexuosâ
subpyriformi; canali oblique sinistrorsum truncatâ, axi quasi
umbilicatâ; labro intus acuto, postice sinuato, deorsum quasi
tumidiore, intus vii-dentato; columellâ tortâ; labio antice
rugis paucioribus interdum munito.
Long. 0·37, long. spir. 0·22; lat. 0·14; div. 25°.
_Hab._ San Pedro, 1 on beach; San Diego, 30, some alive in 8
fms. on sand, in upper part of bay. _Cooper._
This is one of the most beautiful, but (without a knowledge of
either animal, or operculum) most puzzling of the small shells
of California. It has relations with _Euryta_, _Truncaria_,
_Metula_, and _Daphnella_.
Genus ANACHIS, H. & A. Adams.
_Anachis subturrita_, Cpr. n. s.
A. t. minuta, angusta, Rissoinoideâ, pallide purpureofuscâ,
albido maculosâ; anfr. nucl. ? (decollatis); norm. v.
subplanatis, suturis distinctis; costulis radiantibus circ. xx.
angustis, vix extantibus, parum flexuosis; sculpturâ spirali
nullâ; aperturâ quadratâ; labro acuto deorsum tumente, postice
sinuato; labio conspicuo; columellâ tortâ, truncatâ.
Long. 0·13, long. spir. 0·09, lat. 0·05, div. 30°.
_Hab._ San Diego, _Cooper_. From shell washings.
The only specimen seen of this tiny species is not quite
mature, and has formed no labral teeth.
Genus TROPHON, Montfort.
_Trophon triangulatus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 580,
_a_.
T. t. parvâ, tenui, albâ, postice latâ, antice attenuatâ;
anfr. nucl. ii. minutis, lævibus, attenuatis, vertice declivi,
celato; norm. (t. adolescente) iv. subtriangulatis, postice
tabulatis, axi fere rectangulatis; suturis acute impressis;
antice rapidissime angustatis, canali longâ, arcuatâ; varicibus
circ. vii. laminalis, acutis, ad angulum in spinam apertam
compressis, spinis radiantibus, parum superne arcuatis; lineâ
seu angulo obsoleto peripheriali, suturam continuante; aperturâ
pyriformi; labro antice haud indentato.
Long. 0·35, long. spir. 0·15, lat. 0·15, div. 70°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 60 fm.; 4 alive, of equal size,
_Cooper_.
Resembles the young of _Murex centrifuga_, Hds., and is related
to _Trophon muricatus_, Hds.
Besides the above species, which were entirely new to science,
the fresh and perfect specimens collected by Dr. Cooper, on the
Survey, from authentic localities have enabled me to make out
and complete the diagnoses of many species first found indeed
by other naturalists, but in such poor condition, or with such
uncertainty of habitat, that it would have been unsafe to have
ventured on their description.
[16] From the Greek, for _twisted tooth_.
[17] From the Greek for _a sawyer_; from the serration of the
teeth, which is unique in the family.
[18] From the Greek for _rough skin_.
[19] A small island in the British Channel.
[20] From the Greek for _chamber on both sides_.
REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Seven members present.
Mr. P. M. Randall was elected a resident member.
Donation to the Cabinet: Specimen of _Aplodontia leporina_, shot near
Lake Tahoe, by Mr. J. M. M’Donald.
REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 2D, 1865.
Mr. Fisk in the chair.
Seven members present.
Donations to the Library: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society,
Vol. IV, No. 12—Correspondenzblatt des Naturf. Vereins zu Riga, 14te
Jahrgang. Mittheilungen aus dem Osterlande 1 Sept. 1-4, 1860-1864;
Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar, 1862; Ofversigt of
K. V. Ak. Förhandlingar, 1-10, 1863; Meteorologiska Iaktagelser, 1862;
Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, Tome V,
Nos. 2-9; VI; 1-12. Bulletin de l’Académie de St. Petersbourg, Tome V,
3-8; VI, 1-5; VII, 1-2; Verhandlingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap,
Deel XXIX, 1862. Tijdschrift voor indesche Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde,
Deel XI, 4th Serie, Deel III, Afl. 1-6; Sitzungsberichte der K. bay. Ak.
der Wissenschaften, zu München, 1863, II, Heft 2-4; 1864, I, Heft 1-4,
Supp. 5; 1864, II; Heft 1-2. Annalen der K. Sternwarte bei München, Band
XIII, Supplementband, IV. Botanisk Reise of Axel Blytt, 1864. Beretning
af G. P. Sars, 1864. Meteorologische Beobachtungen auf Christiania’s
Observatorium, Lieferung 1-4. Monatsberichte der k. preuss. Ak. der
Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1864. Journal d’Agriculture, 1862. Mémoires de
l’Académie imp. de Dijon, Ser 2, Tomes 10, 11, 1862, 1863. Société imp.
des Sciences Naturelles de Cherbourg, Tomes IX, X.
The above-named volumes were presented by the different societies named,
through the Smithsonian Institution.
Mr. Stearns announced that _Helix infumata_ had been found as far south
as Cape Mendocino.
REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 16TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Five members present.
The following paper was presented by Mr. Bolander.
Remarks on California Trees.
BY HENRY N. BOLANDER.
NOTE.—Localities given with two !! I have not visited myself. I
would also further remark that I am by no means sure of having
correctly determined the two oaks—_Quercus Douglasii_ and
_Garryana_.
It may not be altogether amiss to offer some observations on
the distribution and value, as specimens, of some of our trees
which I have met with on my various trips over a portion of
this State.
1. _Pinus Sabiniana_, Dougl. (Digger Pine.)
Invariably disposed over south-hillsides of the interior,
occupying the driest expositions—Mount Diablo! Russian River
Valley! Geysers! Auburn and Forest Hill! San José Valley! Near
Mission San Antonio!! Mountains east of San Diego!!
As to its value there are a great many contradictory assertions
made by farmers; some assert it yields an excellent wood for
yokes and similar objects, while others denounce it as entirely
useless.
2. _Pinus Lambertiana_, Dougl. (Sugar Pine.)
Pine Mountains near Geysers! Near Cloverdale! Forest Hill!
Mountains east of San Diego!! Generally with _Pinus ponderosa_
in groves, occupying the damper localities.
3. _Pinus ponderosa_, Dougl. (Yellow Pine.)
Russian River Valley! south of Clear Lake! Geysers! Auburn and
Forest Hill! San José Valley! Blue Mountains!! (Mr. Dunn) Rocky
Mountains!! New Mexico!!
4. _Pinus insignis_. Dougl. (Monterey Pine.)
Monterey! Carmelo Valley!
This species covers many thousand acres of land near and by
Monterey and Carmelo, forming quite an extensive forest along
the coast between these two places. Height, sixty to one
hundred feet, and one to three feet diameter; outline very
irregular, consisting often of only a few rigid spreading
branches; foliage dense and of a vivid green color; cones
persistent, often from ten to nineteen whorls; bark very thick
and rimose. Wood extremely resinous and rather coarse-grained;
excellent for street planks, bridges, and floors. At present it
is no more in the market as lumber; the good timber has been
all cut, and the saw-mill removed.
Considering that there is, besides this species, only _Pinus
muricata_ growing in that forest, which could not be confounded
with the species in question—it is certainly most singular
to meet with so many synonyms for it. _Pinus radiata_, Don.;
_Pinus Sinclairii_ and _Pinus tuberculata_, provided this
last should not prove to be a good species. It is the more
astonishing since trees and cones are of great conformity
throughout the entire forest.
5. _Pinus tuberculata_, Don.
Santa Cruz! Ukiah! Oakland hills! Forest Hill! Eureka!!
In all these localities, it is a small tree, from twenty to
thirty feet high, and from six to fourteen inches in diameter.
It retains its lowest branches, which spread generally very
much, often horizontally. The foliage seems to me less dense
and less vivid-green, than that of the preceding. Young
trees raised here, side by side, show the same differential
characters. The cones from all these different localities are
very uniform, and differ essentially from those of _Pinus
insignis_ at Monterey. The seeds, however, resemble each
other very much. Both species grow near the coast, but on
different soil. _Pinus insignis_, on a soil produced by the
disintegration of a bituminous slate and granite; _Pinus
tuberculata_, in all the above-mentioned localities, on a
soil derived from metamorphosed sandstone. Should these two
species be definitely united, after a thorough investigation,
they would afford a most striking example of the influence
of a different soil. It is certainly singular to find such a
well-characterized form restricted to one locality only. This
fact, however, would not stand isolated with us here; _Abies
bracteata_, we find similarly confined to one locality only in
California. Isolation is more or less a characteristic feature
with all our trees, and there is probably no country where the
influences of soil, climate, and exposition are so well and
abruptly marked and unmistakably defined.
6. _Pinus muricata_, Don.
Monterey! Mendocino City!
In a moist depression at Monterey, I found a small group of
this species, averaging about fifteen feet in height, and five
to six inches in diameter. Bark reddish and nearly smooth;
branches almost at a right angle with the main axis and
generally from five to seven in a whorl; leaves of a darker
vivid green, and more succulent and longer, than those of
_Pinus insignis_, of which there were trees of the same size by
the side of it; cones from three to seven, in a whorl very much
aggregated and clustered. I counted seventeen whorls on a tree
fifteen feet high. The lower portion of the trunk was clad with
dead leaves.
At the same distance (about two miles) from the ocean, and
scarcely a mile from the above-mentioned depression, I found
another group (mixed with _Cupressus macrocarpa_) in a deeper
but drier locality. Here the tree was altogether of a different
aspect, inferior in all its parts. This very transition
suggested strongly, that this pine and the one previously seen
on the plains near Mendocino City, on a similar soil, might be
of the same species.
Near Mendocino City, on the so-called plains, I found in great
abundance a small pine tree, which I refer for the present to
this species.
Height, five to twenty feet, but the greater number averaged
only from five to fifteen feet. Only one tree which I noticed
which was fifty-five inches in circumference, and twenty to
twenty-five feet in height. It had a flattish top with the
branches very much imbricated and so completely covered with
cones, that it was really difficult to discover its foliage.
But this tree was very exceptional, compared with the mass of
little trees covering the plains. These had in general upright
branches with numerous and slender branchlets; leaves shorter,
denser, and of a darker green than _Pinus contorta_? which
grows with it and is a larger tree altogether; bark reddish,
very thin, exhaling a strong resinous odor, and but slightly
rimose; cones two to four inches long (curved when long) and
scarcely an inch thick, mostly in pairs, but sometimes in
threes, reflexed. I counted fifteen sets of cones on a tree
fifteen feet high.
7. _Pinus contorta_, Dougl.?
Head of Tomales Bay! Mendocino City!
Its manner of growth resembles that of _Pinus insignis_ very
much. It attains the same height, has the same irregular
spreading branches, the same thick rimose bark and very
resinous wood. The leaves are invariably in pairs and slightly
silvery on the lower surface. The cones are scarcely two inches
long with mostly reflex pedicles (umbo) on the slightly gibbous
side and persistent for a great number of years.
From the River Albin to Mendocino City, it grows quite near
the coast on a fertile and undulating plain, gently descending
towards the ocean. At Mendocino City I found it to extend all
over the plains about eight miles eastward.
Whether this species is identical with _Pinus contorta_ or
not I am unable to decide. Observations made by Mr. Geo. Wm.
Dunn, on his recent travels through the Blue and Siskiyou
mountains, have rather a tendency to show that _Pinus contorta_
is altogether a different tree. I can state, however, most
positively that this species cannot be confounded with _Pinus
muricata_. Both species are two-leaved, but in every other
respect they differ widely. The object of these remarks is
only to point out the different species, met in my travels,
and not to decide which name should have precedence. Murray’s
discussion on the distribution of our Pines, in his “Notes
on California Trees,” has not “struck” me as being so very
correct. Endlicher, in his Synopsis Coniferarum, makes _Pinus
muricata_ a Taeda, which is also incorrect; it is a true
Pinaster. It remains to decide only, whether the species at
Mendocino City is _P. contorta_, or _P. Murrayana_, Balf.
8. _Libocedrus decurrens_, Torr. (California White Cedar.)
Forest Hill! (forming quite a large woods there). Rancheria
Creek! Mendocino County. East of Salinas River, Monterey
County. Dr. Canfield. East of San Diego!!
On the banks of Rancheria Creek, in the south-western part of
Mendocino County, I found a small colony of this handsome tree.
The largest were about forty to sixty feet high and two to
three feet in diameter. Judging from the young after-growth,
the tree seems likely to spread. I was informed that this
is the only place in the county where it is to be found. In
the latter part of September (1865) the tree had its aments
strongly developed. Cones decidedly pendulous.
9. _Cupressus macrocarpa_, Hartw. (Monterey Cypress.)
Monterey! Tamal Pais (2,700 feet)! Mendocino City! and
south-east of Clear Lake!
This species seems to be extremely variable. At Monterey, about
two miles from the coast, I saw, upon exposed granite rocks,
but slightly disintegrated, specimens only six inches high,
bearing perfect cones. Going westward, at the same distance
from the ocean, I found specimens in a depression associated
with _Pinus muricata_, from ten to fifteen feet high, full with
cones; and extending my walk to Cypress Point, a distance of
three to four miles, I was surprised to find a large grove of
this species, containing mostly large trees of great beauty
and perfection. The average height may be from forty to sixty
feet, and as they were (right at the point) almost all alike in
thickness, I measured but three, finding their circumference
to be one hundred and nineteen, one hundred and four, and one
hundred and twenty inches, about four feet above the ground.
At this point these trees are almost daily enveloped in a
dense fog. Their branches are very densely imbricated and
depressed, retaining the moisture to such an extent that the
thick clusters of cones are quite mouldy. Between the cones and
little dense branchlets settles a great deal of rubbish, which
is almost dripping wet. It is undoubtedly owing to this very
fact that so many seeds of this species, collected there, prove
abortive.
Seeing so great a variation at Monterey, I do not hesitate to
refer all specimens, seen at the other localities mentioned
above, to this species at present.
On the plain near Mendocino City, that species exhibited about
the same gradations, although not so strikingly as at Monterey.
10. _Torreya Californica_, Torr. (California Nutmeg.)
Paper Mill! Marin County. Ukiah! Mendocino City! Forest Hill!
Generally dispersed, only at Ukiah I found quite a group of
this species. Wood valuable.
11. _Taxus brevifolia_, Nutt. (California Yew-Tree.)
Devil’s Cañon, near Forest Hill! A handsome tree, twenty to
thirty feet high, with extremely slender and drooping branches.
Dispersed but plenty.
Wood valuable.
12. _Quercus agrifolia_, Nées. (Live Oak.)
Oakland! Banks of Sacramento River! Clear Lake! Russian River
Valley! Anderson Valley! Monterey!
Foliage extremely variable. On river banks and in expositions
close to the coast, where it is almost daily enveloped in
fogs, this species exhibits quite a uniformity; the figure of
_Quercus oxyadenia_ in Sitgreaves’ Report represents this form
of it very well. In the valleys of the interior the shape of
the leaves of one and the same tree is very different. Some
have entire margins, while others have them pretty deeply
dentated, often one side is entire and the other dentate.
Some trees occur of which the young shoots have the leaves
“coarsely sinuate-toothed, or obliquely sinuate-toothed;
teeth very sharply acute with a broad base, cuspidate-awned,”
and thus agree with Dr. Kellogg’s _Quercus Morehus_—while
the older branches have much smaller and entire leaves. In
Anderson Valley I saw several trees whose entire foliage agrees
admirably with Dr. Kellogg’s. Had I not seen that tree on the
shore of Borax Lake exhibiting both forms, I should be inclined
to call it a good species. The cups of the acorns of these
trees have the scales long and loosely imbricated, and the
acorn is almost entirely immerged; but this is also the case
with those of some trees that have a far different foliage.
Thus far I have not been able to find good, distinctive,
reliable characters. There are transitions in all parts, even
on the same tree. As the tree has the habit of growing in
groups, one might suppose that trees of one group, at least,
should show a uniformity in botanical characters; this is not
so: just the very extremes may be found in one and the same
group. This phenomenon I observed throughout the whole length
of Anderson Valley, a distance of some eighteen miles. On dry
gravelly hillsides in the interior this tree presents still
another form: _Quercus Wislizeni_, Englm.
The acorns ripen annually and differ also essentially in shape
and size. Soil, climate, and exposition, offer in this case
no satisfactory explanation for so great a variation in one
species. Should it not be attributed to intrinsic peculiarities?
13. _Quercus Garryana_, Hook. (White Oak.)
On dry easterly hillsides and in valleys on a poor buff-colored
clay. Santa Rosa Valley! Clear Lake! Searsville! Anderson
Valley! San José Valley!
Exposition and soil agree in all these localities.
The bark of this tree is rather thin, whitish, and less
coarsely rimose than any other of the Californian oaks. It is
always a flat-topped, middle-sized tree, apparently of a very
slow, almost stunted, growth. The whitish bark of trunk and
branches, the glaucous foliage, and the light-green color of
the acorns, which it yields, however, quite sparingly, give
this tree, compared with other oaks especially, quite a pale
and hoary appearance.
Farmers consider the fine-grained wood of this oak very
valuable for many farming implements. It ranks highest among
our oaks.
14. _Quercus Douglasii_, Hook. (Pale Oak.)
Anderson Valley!
The general aspect and habit of this tree resembles very much
that of _Quercus lobata_, with which it grows in the low, flat
portions of Anderson Valley. Its branchlets, however, are
short, rigid, and erect, while those of _Qu. lobata_ are mostly
drooping. In fall, when laden with acorns, it presents a very
striking difference by having its rather pale acorns densely
aggregated and clustered at the extremities of the branchlets,
resting, as it were, on the dark-green leaves. At a distance
it may be mistaken for a full-bearing apple tree. It increases
rapidly in number in Anderson Valley from south to north,
outnumbering almost every other oak at the lower end of the
valley. Its wood ranks next to that of _Quercus Douglasii_.
15. _Quercus lobata_, Nées. (Burr-Oak.)
The most common and largest oak in all the valleys of
the interior of California. Thus far, I never found it
on a hillside. It is this mighty oak, with its peculiar,
gracefully-drooping branchlets, that gives character to the
landscape of the Californian valleys. It is especially noted
for its very long acorns; but they do not always attain that
large size, and are never so conspicuously arranged as those
of _Qu. Garryana_; they are usually in pairs. It may also be
stated that this tree forms, on an average, about the longest
trunk of Californian foliaceous trees. The acorns of this
species form a principal part of the food of the Indians. On
the Coast Range they seem to give, however, preference to those
of _Quercus Sonomensis_. The wood ranks next to that of the
preceding species.
These above-mentioned three species of oaks, belonging to
the section of white oaks, are surely distinct. I met with
no transitions thus far. They may be distinguished at a
distance; every farmer distinguishes them, for there is quite a
difference in the quality of the wood.
16. _Quercus Sonomensis_, Benth. (Black Oak.)
San Diego!! Anderson Valley! Auburn!
Eastern and northern hillsides in the Coast Ranges. It also
occupies the more easterly-situated flats, among the redwoods,
wherever they are too dry for redwood. Very seldom it is found
in the valley; and when found, it occupies that portion of it
which is adjacent to the hillsides, where there is generally
a gravelly soil. It is always a middle-sized tree, having
mostly numerous erect branches arranged like those of _Acer
saccharinum_. In fall it sheds its leaves, which become
buff-colored, before any other of our deciduous oaks. The wood
of this tree is of a poor quality; used for fuel only.
17. _Quercus chrysolepis_, Liebm. (Drooping Live Oak.)
The most rare of all our oaks; it bears acorns but seldom,
and even then very sparingly. I have not been able to satisfy
myself whether they are biannual or not, but I am rather
inclined to believe they are. Northern slopes near Cloverdale!
in Anderson Valley! and near Forest Hill! Tree 30-40 feet high,
with a rather smooth whitish bark, and mostly long, slender,
drooping branches; evergreen. Of the quality of its wood I
could not learn anything from settlers. The tree being rare,
and occupying always moist slopes along gulches, it is not
often cut down.
18. _Quercus densiflora_, Hook. (Chestnut Oak.)
Along the Coast Range, associated with the redwood, increasing
northwards; from Santa Cruz to Mendocino City, at least, it
occurs only in or close by the redwoods. This tree attains
rather a large height in dense woods, and is then but sparingly
branched. Leaves and acorns very considerable. Its wood is
absolutely useless; it is very coarse grained, and like the
redwood wet like a sponge when cut; it is extremely perishable.
At Mendocino City log-men call it Water Oak.
19. _Castanea chrysophylla_, Dougl. (Chestnut.)
On the Oakland hills this species is but 3-6 feet high;
blooms about the fourth of July, like the Eastern _Castanea
vesca_, and bears perfect fruit. On the so-called plains at
Mendocino City, however, it is a large tree, averaging from
50-125 feet in height, and 2-3 feet in diameter. Those trees
were completely covered with blossoms on the twenty-third of
September, 1865; settlers say they never found its fruit. Here,
on the Oakland hills, it grows only on the outcropping of a
white friable slate, destitute of all vegetable remains; at the
Mendocino plains it is found to grow on a cemented gravel, upon
which the water rests for some months after the rainy season.
The supply of an aerial moisture during the dry season is in
favor of the Oakland hills, judging by the lichenose vegetation
of the two localities.
20. _Sequoia sempervirens_, Endl. (Redwood.)
This mighty tree belongs exclusively to the foggy regions of
the Coast Ranges and the underlying metamorphic sandstone,
for wherever either of these conditions is wanting, this tree
does not exist. From the northern boundary line of the State
down to the head of Tomales Bay it forms a continual forest,
increasing in width northward. At Tomales Bay the chain is
interrupted by a small bed of lime-rock. The interruption
extending from the lower foot-hills of Tamalpais down to
Belmont, is undoubtedly owing to the lowness of the hills. A
connecting link is found, however, on the Oakland hills. That
grove of redwoods, now almost entirely destroyed, affords the
strongest evidences of the dependency of that species on the
prevalence of heavy mists. From Belmont to a few miles below
Santa Cruz is another narrow continuous chain, occupying
mainly the leesides of the most western ranges and the deeper
gulches eastward. From near the mouth of Salinas River to the
head of Carmelo Valley, another long interruption is caused
by a bituminous slate. The absence of redwood in this long
interval can hardly be ascribed to any other cause, for it is
known that Monterey and the adjacent regions are subject to
heavier fogs than Santa Cruz. _Pinus insignis_ and _Cupressus
macrocarpa_ occupy here those portions naturally belonging to
the redwood and _Tsuga Douglasii_. Further south, from the head
of Carmelo Valley to San Luis Obispo, the most southern limit,
redwood occurs but sparingly, forming nowhere extensive groves.
Associated with the redwood we find _Tsuga Douglasii_, a tree
of a wide range, _Torreya Californica_, _Arbutus Menziesii_,
_Quercus densiflora_, and in Mendocino County _Abies grandis_
Dougl. There are also some shrubs and herbaceous plants truly
characteristic to them, the shrubs increasing as underwood
northward, belong mostly to the Ericaceous family. It is a
noteworthy fact that the arborescent growth of the leeside
of the first range of hills generally consists, almost
exclusively, of _Tsuga Douglasii_, and that this tree forms the
outskirt east and particularly westward. In Mendocino County
_Abies grandis_ unites with it for the same cause; there both
trees form a dense belt, facing the ocean, and are encroaching
fast on the redwood. In fact, the western portion of those
redwoods show this encroachment most strikingly by a total
absence of young redwood, and a dense, almost impenetrable,
undergrowth of the two-mentioned species. The order of things
is, however, reversed wherever the redwood has been cut.
Its roots are imperishable, and as soon as the tree is cut
they sprout and cover the soil rapidly to the exclusion of
every other species—none being of so rapid a growth. The
indestructibility of the roots prevents the clearing of such
land; even large trunks cut down cover themselves, within
two or three years, so completely with sprouts that they are
hardly seen. The entire after growth now found on the Oakland
hills, is owing solely to the indestructibility of its roots
and stumps. The tenacity of life in this species, which is
rather of rare occurrence in coniferous trees, shows itself
also in the resistance it offers to fire, so frequent in
those woods. Trees that have been bereft completely of their
branches by fire, covered themselves in a few years entirely
with young sprouts, giving the trunks the appearance of a
pillar, or remind one of those old trunks covered with _Rhus
toxicodendron_ in the East. Fire is destructive to the young
trees only; after they have obtained a thickness of two or
three feet they are not liable to perish.
Another great beneficial feature in this species is the great
power it possesses in condensing fogs and mists. A heavy fog
is always turned into a rain, wetting the soil and supplying
springs with water during the dry season. Springs in and near
the redwoods are never in want of a good supply of water, and
crops on the Coast Ranges are not liable to fail. The year
of 1864 has proved my assertion beyond doubt; this fact is
generally known—a great deal of land has been taken up since.
It is my firm conviction that if the redwoods are destroyed—and
they necessarily will be, if not protected by a wise action
of our Government—California will become a desert, in the
true sense of the word. In their safety depends the future
welfare of the State; they are our safeguard. It remains to
be seen whether we shall be benefited or not by the horrible
experience such countries as Asia Minor, Greece, Spain, and
France have made, by having barbarously destroyed their woods
and forests. But with us here it is even of a more serious
nature; wise governments would be able to replace them in those
countries, but no power on earth can restore the woods of
California when once completely destroyed!
REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 6TH, 1865.
Dr. Kellogg in the chair.
Eight members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Specimen of _Pinus ponderosa_, _Abies
Douglasii_, _Taxus brevifolia_, _Larix occidentalis_, _Pteris aquilina_,
and _Abies Menziesii_; presented by Mr. Dunn.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 4TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Seven members present, and Mr. W. H. Dall as a visitor.
Major Edward Preiss and Count Oswald Thun were elected Corresponding
Members.
Mr. Bolander made some remarks on a wild California Grape (_Vitis
Californica_) growing near Oakland.
Professor Whitney gave an account of the explorations of Professor
Pumpelly in Japan and China. An elaborate memoir, by this gentleman,
containing a full account of his very important geological discoveries,
will appear in the second volume of the Memoirs of the National Academy
of Sciences.
Mr. Dall made some observations on the progress of the Russian American
Overland Telegraph Expedition, and gave an interesting description of the
region which had been traversed by the party.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 18TH, 1865.
Dr. Kellogg in the chair.
Six members present.
Dr. Ferdinand Stoliczka, Palæontologist to the Geological Survey of
India, was elected a Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet: One box of shells and two of fishes, collected
at Tahiti, by Mr. Andrew Garrett.
The following papers were presented.
Notice of a peculiar Astringent Gum or Coloring Substance in the Cones of
the Sequoia gigantea.
BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE.
I am not aware that any notice has yet been taken by scientific
chemists of a peculiar substance, apparently a gum, which
accompanies the seeds of the great trees, and may be shaken
out of the dried cones. About twenty cones yielded me an ounce
of the material. It does not adhere to either the seeds or the
cone, but appears to have shrunk from both in drying. It falls
out in loose broken grains with brilliant conchoidal fractured
surfaces, and looks a little like dried blood. The color is
purplish-red, nearly black by reflected light, and a brilliant
carmine-red by transmitted.
The taste is strongly astringent, and suggests tannin; it is
somewhat bitter, and is similar also to that of very strong
black tea. It softens and becomes gummy between the teeth. It
dissolves completely in water and in ordinary alcohol, giving
a brilliant claret-colored solution which gradually darkens by
exposure to the air. The addition of carbonate of soda darkens
the solution and lime-water turns it black, giving a black
scaly precipitate. Dilute sulphuric acid reddens the solution
and causes a red precipitate.
It is in many respects similar to the _kino_ of the shops,
but has a brighter colored powder and streaks. The kino that
I have seen has a brownish-red streak; this substance gives a
purplish-red.
The reactions with alkalies and acids in respect to color are
similar to those of green redwood boards, which may be stained
as dark as rosewood by alkalies and red by acids.
This substance may be found to have some peculiar value in
pharmacy, or as a coloring matter for tinctures or wine. I hope
that this notice will induce a thorough investigation of its
nature and properties. If it proves to be new, I suggest that
it shall be known as _Sequonin_.
Ammonites in the Auriferous Slates of California.
BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE.
Ammonites occur in the gold-bearing slates of Bear Valley,
Mariposa County, in addition to belemnites and other fossils
already noted. The specimen I have seen is a cast, somewhat
distorted by pressure, but apparently similar to the species
from the slates on the American River, which I brought to the
notice of the academy last year.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 8TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Twelve members present.
The Curator of Conchology and the Librarian made verbal reports.
The academy then proceeded to the election of officers for the year, and
the following persons were chosen.
PRESIDENT.
LEANDER RANSOM.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
R. E. C. STEARNS.
W. O. AYRES, M.D.
TREASURER.
SAMUEL HUBBARD.
RECORDING SEC’Y.
T. H. BLOOMER.
CORRESPONDING SEC’Y.
HENRY N. BOLANDER.
LIBRARIAN.
J. D. WHITNEY.
CURATORS.
H. S. HANKS MINERALOGY.
E. F. LORQUIN ZOOLOGY.
H. N. BOLANDER BOTANY.
R. E. C. STEARNS CONCHOLOGY.
W. M. GABB PALÆONTOLOGY.
H. BEHR, M.D. ENTOMOLOGY.
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
MESSRS. HUBBARD, STEARNS, AND FISK.
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION.
MESSRS. WHITNEY, MINNS, AND STEARNS.
Donations to the Library: American Journal of Science, September, 1865,
from the editors. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York,
Vol. VIII, Nos. 2-5. Journal de Conchyliogie, (3) V, 1, 2. Sea-Side
Studies in Natural History, from Alex. Agassiz. Proceedings of the
Boston Society of Natural History, 1864, Sheet 1. Astronomical and
Meteorological Observations made at the U. S. Naval Observatory during
the year 1863. Check List of the Fossils of California and Nevada, by W.
M. Gabb.
The following biographical sketch of Thomas Bridges was read by Mr. Dall.
Memorial Sketch of Thomas Bridges, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.S., and Member of
the Cala. Acad. Sci.
BY W. H. DALL, ACTING DIRECTOR SCI. CORPS, W. U. T. EX.
Mr. Bridges was born at Lilly in Hertfordshire, England, on the
twenty-second of May, 1807.
At an early age he became interested in Natural History, and
when about nineteen or twenty—having previously studied for
some three years under Sir William Hooker, at Kew Gardens—he
sailed for Valparaiso. He remained here or passed the time in
some of the adjoining provinces, from 1827 to 1844, when he
returned to England on a short visit. On again reaching South
America, he undertook the explorations in Bolivia, so well
known to naturalists, through their magnificent results. During
the course of this journey, in June, 1845, he discovered and
obtained seeds of the great South American Water Lily, the
_Victoria Regia_, Lindley. Although the plant had previously
been detected, to Mr. Bridges belonged the honor of first
introducing it into the old world, by transporting seeds which
subsequently germinated at Kew.
In 1846, he returned to England, where for many months he
was prostrated by severe illness contracted in his arduous
explorations.
In 1847, he was married to Miss Mary Benson, of Bristol,
England, a niece of the eminent collector, the late Hugh
Cuming. Soon after he proceeded again to Valparaiso.
In 1851, he visited and explored the island of Juan Fernandez.
In the report of Lieut. Herndon, U. S. N., on his explorations
of the Amazon, he acknowledges his obligations to Mr. Bridges,
for invaluable information furnished, in regard to the
head-waters of that river.
In 1855, he proceeded to Panama, remaining there some six
months; and from thence to England, subsequently to France, and
finally to California, where he arrived in November, 1856.
About 1857, he went to British Columbia, and remained nearly
two years, collecting and exploring. In the winter of 1858,
his family, hitherto in Europe, rejoined him. Since then San
Francisco has been his home, though travelling in many parts of
California.
In April, 1865, he undertook his ill-starred journey to
Nicaragua. His explorations here were limited principally to
the lake country, where he passed some five months exploring
the dense and tangled jungles of the vicinity; ascending the
volcanoes of Mombacho and Ometepec, and visiting Leon and
Granada. In June, he met at San Juan del Sur, our well-known
botanist, Dr. Torry, on his way to San Francisco. These two
kindred spirits passed several pleasant days together.
He left Nicaragua on the steamship Moses Taylor, Capt Blethen,
on the third of September, 1865, apparently in perfect
health. On the fifth, the effects of the insidious malaria
of the country were evident. On the ninth, he died; being
fifty-eight years old. On the seventeenth, the body arrived in
San Francisco, and was afterwards interred at Lone Mountain
Cemetery. He leaves a widow, two daughters, and three sons.
Mr. Bridges was of a singularly retiring and modest
disposition, and very few publications of his own remain to
attest his devotion to Natural Science. But works in every
branch of study, particularly of Professor Lindley, and Sir
William Hooker, in the department of Botany, bear abundant
evidence of his untiring industry and unusual success.
That he died a martyr to his love for Natural History, there is
no room for doubt; and his most appropriate memorials are the
magnificent evergreens now adorning, through his agency, the
groves and avenues of the old world.
With all impartial naturalists, Mr. Bridges and such as he,
“who bear the burden and heat of the day,” are entitled to
honors; if not precisely of the same character as those due to
the students who in their comfortable libraries work up the
results of the collector, still to honors quite as high.
REGULAR MEETING, JANUARY 15TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Eight members present.
Mr. Bolander presented his report, as Curator of Botany, for the year
1865, as follows.
During the past year the Herbarium of the Academy has been
increased—
1st. By a set of Hall’s Rocky Mountain Plants.
2d. By a collection of plants from the Western States, made by
Mr. Elihu Hall.
3d. By a large collection made by Mr. Canby at Wilmington, Del.
4th. By a small collection from M. S. Bebb, Esq., Washington,
D. C.
To the above-mentioned collections, I have added specimens of
each plant collected by myself during the past year.
Dr. Kellogg and myself have presented to the Academy quite
a number of Australian plants, and both Dr. Kellogg and Mr.
Bloomer have assisted me in arranging and classifying our
collections.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 5TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Five members present.
Mr. Dall presented the following paper by Dr. Canfield.
Notes on Antilocapra Americana, Ord.
BY DR. C. A. CANFIELD, OF MONTEREY.
The following notes were taken from 1855 to 1858, in Monterey
County, California, and were communicated to Prof. Baird in
1859.
About the first of January the old bucks all shed their
horns. A few days after, one was shot, with two hairy stumps
or horn-cores, several inches long, just tipped with growing
horn. This was observed to spread upward and downward till
the whole of the process of the frontal bone was covered with
horn. The “prong” commenced the same process at its tip, and
gradually coalesced with the main horn, leaving no suture. As
the horn increases in length it curves forward and inward.
It takes several months to perfect the new horn. The females
possess small curved horns, one to three inches long, sometimes
recurving to the skull, which were not _proved_ to be deciduous.
The horn, when shed, leaves a process of the frontal bone,
covered with hair, soon replaced as above by horn at the tip.
These facts were more minutely observed in two young bucks,
reared by hand to the age respectively of one and two years.
These facts would tend to separate the genus _Antilocapra_ from
the family _Cavicornia_, and it may possibly form a family by
itself.
Prof. W. P. Blake read a portion of a letter from Dr. C. T. Jackson of
Boston, containing a notice of a remarkable spider brought from Georgia
by Dr. Wilder, an account of which has been published in the Proceedings
of the American Academy and of the Boston Natural History Society.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 19TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Nine members present.
Dr. Colbert A. Canfield, of Monterey, was chosen a Corresponding Member,
and Dr. Henry Gibbons and Mr. Henry Janin, Resident Members.
Donations to the Library: U. S. Census, 1860—Agriculture; American
Journal of Science, November, 1865, and January, 1866; Proceedings of
the Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., April to October, 1865; Theory of Parallels,
by Matthew Ryan; Description of New Species of Pupidæ, by E. S. Morse;
Proceedings of Boston Nat. Hist. Soc., Vol. X, Sheet 2.
The following paper was presented.
Earthquakes in California during 1865.
BY DR. JOHN B. TRASK.
As in the preceding year we have had much frequency in shocks
of earthquake, with but trifling damage.
JANUARY 9th, 7 h.—A smart shock at Santa Rosa, Sonoma County.
JANUARY 19th, 8 h. 8 m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
MARCH 5th, 8 h. 45 m.—A light shock at Visalia, consisting of a
tremulous motion, succeeded by a roll or wave after an interval
of about four seconds.
MARCH 7th, 23 h.—A smart shock at San Francisco.
MARCH 8th, 6 h. 22 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco.
MARCH 30th, 7 h. 28 m.—A very smart shock at San Francisco;
this was felt at Oakland.
APRIL 15th, 0 h. 40 m.—A severe shock occurred at San Diego,
consisting of three waves, following each other in quick
succession; the shock was preceded with a loud rushing sound.
APRIL 18th, 13 h. 31 m.—A light shock at San Francisco, and
noticed at Angel Island and Oakland. This shock was severe at
San Juan (south), and felt at precisely the same hour.
APRIL 27th, 15 h. 56 m.—A shock at San Francisco.
MAY 24th, 3 h. 21 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco, consisting
of a single wave. At San Juan (south) the earthquake consisted
of two sharp shocks, and at Santa Cruz of one only. At the
latter localities it was three and four minutes later than at
this city.
SEPTEMBER 22d (no hour).—A smart shock occurred at Yreka.
OCTOBER 1st, 9 h. 15 m.—A very smart shock was felt at Fort
Humboldt, and throughout the district of Humboldt Bay.
OCTOBER 8th, 12 h. 46 m.—A severe shock at San Francisco.
This earthquake was the most violent of any occurring on
this peninsula since the American occupancy, but was not
sufficiently heavy to do serious damage; all the injuries
sustained to property were of a trivial nature, the principal
being the demolition of parts of the parapet walls erected
above the roofs, to shield the latter in cases of fire in
adjoining buildings; the fracture of walls in every instance
occurred in insecure buildings, and heavy buildings erected on
the made lands of the city front.
At San José, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, the earthquake
appears to have been equally severe as in this city. At
Petaluma, on the north, it was also quite severe. At Sacramento
the shock was not marked by the same severity as at the other
localities mentioned. At Stockton the shock was heavy, but no
damage done, nor was there any damage at Sacramento. The shock
was severe at Grass Valley.
The direction of the wave in this earthquake was north fifty
degrees west; the limited area over which it extended has not
furnished sufficient data to calculate its velocity.
This earthquake differs from all others that have occurred
in this locality in this particular: the earth continued to
vibrate with increasing and again decreasing degrees of force
for ten hours, at no time entirely ceasing during this period.
22 h. 1 m., another light shock, consisting of a single
vibration.
23 h. 50 m., another shock. After this shock the vibrations of
the earth ceased to be noticeable.
October 9th, 10 h. 34 m.—Another light shock.
11 h. 32 m., another shock. After this shock the earth
continued to vibrate at intervals till noon of the tenth.
OCTOBER 13th, 2 h. 5 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco; felt at
Oakland and Santa Clara; also at Angel Island.
OCTOBER 14th, 23 h. 45 m.—Another shock at San Francisco.
OCTOBER 15th, 3 h. 40 m.—Another shock at San Francisco.
NOVEMBER 24th, 3 h. 45 m.—A smart shock at Watsonville, Santa
Cruz Co.
DECEMBER 7th, 1 h. 15 m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
Professor Whitney presented the plate published by Mr. Haidinger, the
distinguished Chief of the Austrian Geological Survey, to exhibit the
structure of the Carleton meteoric iron. This plate, together with
an elaborate article describing the appearance and structure of this
meteorite, is published in the proceedings of the Vienna Academy of
Science, Vol. XLVIII, page 301.
Professor Whitney also made some remarks on the nature and distribution
of the meteorites which have, up to the present time, been discovered on
the Pacific Coast and in Mexico; of these remarks the following is an
abstract.
It is remarkable that no meteoric stones have ever been
discovered, either near the Pacific coast or, indeed, so far as
we know, anywhere on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Masses
of meteoric iron, on the other hand, are known to exist in
quite a number of localities, and many of these masses are of
very large size.
On page eleven, of the third volume of the Academy’s
Proceedings, I have given a list of the localities of meteoric
iron known in Arizona and Northern Mexico. This was done in
order to attract the attention of explorers and prospectors
to these remarkable masses, and in the hope of getting more
definite information in regard to some of them. Indeed, some
additional items have already been obtained in reference to the
masses there noticed.
It is stated by several persons who have visited Southern
Arizona, among whom Dr. Horn may especially be mentioned, that
it is universally believed, and vouched for by apparently
trustworthy explorers, that there are many large masses of
iron near the summit of the range next east of Tucson. This is
called on the latest map of Arizona, (that published by Mr.
Gird) the “Sierra de la Santa Caterina.” Whether this is the
same as the “Sierra de la Madera,” mentioned by Velasco, as the
locality of “enormous masses of pure iron, between Tucson and
Tubac,” I have been unable to ascertain.
Dr. J. B. Trask saw, in August, 1849, a large mass of meteoric
iron, at the village of Rio Florida, partly buried in the
ground at the corner of the plaza. This may, perhaps, be the
same mass mentioned by Mr. Bartlett, as existing “at the
Hacienda de Concepcion, on the road from Chihuahua to Rio
Florida.” Dr. Trask, however, has a distinct recollection that
the mass he saw was at the village of Rio Florida, and not at
the Hacienda.
Dr. Veatch saw, in 1849, a large mass of iron at Santa Rosa,
Coahuila, which was then in use as an anvil, at a blacksmith’s
shop, and was informed that many pieces of native iron had been
used there for various purposes. The mass which Dr. Veatch saw,
was of about the size of an ordinary anvil. It was said to have
been brought from the mountains northwest of the town. This
statement corroborates that of Schott, in the Mexican Boundary
Report. (Vol. I, Part 2, page 34.)
It is a remarkable fact, considering the abundance of meteoric
iron near our borders, that no meteorite, either stony or
metallic, has yet been found within the limits of California.
The piece of iron from Honcut Creek, found by Dr. Trask,
and supposed to be of celestial origin, proved, on careful
examination, to be ordinary cast iron. A fragment of the mass
was referred to Professor Brush, and pronounced by him not to
be meteoric. The existence of a piece of cast iron, in the
locality where this was discovered, is not easily explained.
In connection with what has just been said of the existence of
meteoric iron in California, it should be added, that Dr. J. G.
Cooper thinks that he observed some small pieces of native iron
on the Mohave River, a little above its sink. By accident no
specimen of this supposed meteorite were saved, so that it is
not possible to say that Dr. Cooper may not have been mistaken.
The attention of explorers in that region is invited to this
supposed locality.
An additional reason for believing Dr. Cooper’s observations to
be correct is, that the locality lies in the prolongation of
the path or belt in which a considerable number of masses of
meteoric iron have already been found. It is certainly either a
very interesting fact, or else a remarkable coincidence, that
the localities of meteoric iron in Arizona and northern Mexico,
lie nearly in a straight line with each other, which line
extends from northwest to southeast, for a distance of twelve
hundred and fifty miles, or from the Colorado River, at La
Paz, to the province of San Luis Potosi, in Mexico. Along this
line, at points from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles
apart, in some places one mass of iron, and in others quite a
number of them, have fallen, indicating very strongly a common
origin for the whole, or that they may all be fragments of one
immense meteor which passed diagonally across the continent,
throwing off masses in its progress. The large mass of iron
discovered by Dr. Evans, on Bald Mountain, near Port Orford, in
Oregon, is in a locality not far distant from the path of the
supposed meteor.
The belt of meteoric iron masses may also be prolonged much
farther to the south, through Mexico, and in the same general
southeasterly direction, as far as the province of Oaxaca. The
localities in the provinces of Durango, Zacatecas, Mexico,
and Oaxaca lie very nearly in the same northwest-southeast
direction from each other; but are in a line a little to
the west of the main belt which has been traced down from
the Colorado River. It is certain that the central part of
Mexico has been highly favored in respect to the distribution
of meteoric iron masses, which are not only of frequent
occurrence, but often of large size. Perhaps it may be not too
wild a speculation to suggest, that the grand disruption of
the meteor may have taken place in this part of its course,
and that the fragments were scattered far and wide in all
directions. It certainly seems difficult to account for the
peculiar position of the masses of iron found on the Pacific
side of the continent, and their great abundance in central
Mexico, on any other theory than the one which has here been
suggested.
Authorities are not at hand for comparing the chemical
composition of all the masses belonging to this series, or
belt, which have been analyzed; but it is my impression that
those meteoric irons which have been examined do resemble
each other sufficiently, in the nature and proportion of the
ingredients they contain, to add to the probability of their
having had a common origin. The specimens thus far analyzed do
not represent more than half the localities known to exist.
A farther and more complete investigation of the physical
and chemical character of all the meteoric masses of Arizona
and Mexico, with reference to the possibility of their being
originally parts of one body, is suggested as an interesting
subject for those specially devoted to this class of researches.
The following resolution, introduced by Professor Whitney, at a previous
meeting, in accordance with the Constitution, was adopted.
_Resolved_, That any Corresponding Member who may take up
his residence in this city, may become a Resident Member, on
notifying the Recording Secretary that such is his wish.
Mr. W. H. Dall was elected a Resident Member, December 4th, 1865.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 5TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Eleven members present.
Donations to the Library: Société de Géographie de Genève; Mémoires et
Bulletin, Tomes I-III; From F. Berton.
The following papers were presented.
Note on Octopus punctatus, Gabb.
BY W. H. DALL, ACTING DIRECTOR SCI. CORPS W. U. T. EX.
A half-decayed specimen of this species, (described by Mr.
Gabb, in Proc. Cal. Acad., Ap. 7th, 1862) discovered in some
alcoholic miscellanea, recently, afforded the following
observations.
The buccal plates or mandibles, resemble those of _O.
tuberculatus_, Blainv. [Woodw. Man. Pl. I. _Fig. 2_] but are
more produced longitudinally. They are black and very brittle.
[Illustration: (_Fig. 27._)]
Dental formula, 3·3·3 (_Fig. 27_, A), or 1/(1×1)·2·1·
_Rhachis_ armed with one central quinquedentate tooth, and two
lateral, simple, denticles; the insertion of all is broadly
arcuate. The _pleuræ_ are provided each with two simple
recurved uncini and one rhomboidal plate with a small recurved
hook. The central rhachidian tooth is occasionally irregular.
(_Fig. 27_, L, X). When immature, the dental laminæ are without
color, more slender, compressed, and the dentations are less
distinct. (_Fig. 27_, ‛L.) Immature rows, about 15, perfect 60,
worn and broken 25, total 100. Mag. 100 diameters. Length of
specimen 3 feet. Locality, near San Francisco. From the market.
Professor Whitney communicated the following abstract of the results
obtained by M. Rémond in his geological explorations of Northern Mexico,
made in 1863 to 1865, and drawn up from his notes and specimens, after
reference of the fossils obtained to Mr. Gabb and Dr. Newberry. M. Rémond
has gone to Chili to continue his geological investigations, if his
health permits; and he expects to write out a more detailed account of
his Mexican work, whenever he has an opportunity of doing so. In the mean
time, however, it is his desire that this abstract should be drawn up
and published, that at least the more important results may be placed as
soon as possible in the hands of those interested in the development of
the geological structure of those countries which border on the Pacific
coast. In presenting this paper, Professor Whitney desired to express
his admiration of the courage and endurance with which M. Rémond had
prosecuted his investigations in Mexico, where he had to contend with
every kind of difficulty and danger, but where, however, he had obtained
results of great value, throwing the first rays of light on the age of
the formations of a very interesting and economically important mining
region—a region which has been often visited, but where, previous to M.
Rémond’s examinations, no positive evidence of the geological position of
any of the stratified rocks had been obtained, and no clue given to the
relations of the metalliferous veins to each other, or to the rocks in
which they are inclosed.
Notice of Geological Explorations in Northern Mexico.
BY A. RÉMOND.
[Compiled from his notes, and prepared for publication, by J.
D. Whitney.]
1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
The mountainous region comprising the central and western
portion of Northern Mexico, belongs to the four States of
Durango, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora. Considering how
celebrated this portion of Mexico has become for its mines and
metalliferous veins, and how much has been written about it,
it is surprising how little exact information has hitherto
been obtained with regard to either its geography or geology.
On comparing the principal published maps[21] of the region in
question, it will be seen at once how much they differ from
each other in their delineations of even its main topographical
features, while the details are entirely wanting.
The name of the “Sierra Madre” is usually applied to the main
range of mountains of this country, or the western border of
the plateau which stretches north through the territories
of the United States, forming what may be called the great
orographical feature of the continent. In Northwestern
Mexico this crumpled border of the great plateau comprises
an extensive mountainous region, by no means forming a
continuous single chain, but rather several central ranges,
with associated groups of parallel ridges, all having the
same general course, which is approximately north-northwest,
and south-southeast. As the breadth of the chain widens as we
go towards the north, so, too, that of the valleys increases
in that direction, the whole system of mountains and valleys
spreading out in something like a fan shape.
Going north, the chain appears to sink gradually, although
determinations of altitude in Northern Mexico are extremely
few in number. It is certain that there is, in about latitude
32°, a depression of the mountain ranges which extends entirely
across the continent, and which would enable the traveler to
cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific, without necessarily
surmounting any elevation greater than four thousand feet.[22]
The southeastern range is the highest, and the culminating
point is said to be the Cerro de Cuiteco, sixty leagues
northeast of Jesus Maria, on the western border of Chihuahua.
The approximate altitude of the Cumbre de Basascachic is
seven thousand four hundred and twenty-nine feet, and that of
Guadalupe y Calvo, seven thousand eight hundred and twenty-five
feet. To the north, the ranges east of Sahuaripa are also very
high; but they have never been measured. No peaks or ridges,
however, in this portion of Mexico attain anything like the
elevation of the higher portion of the Sierra Nevada, few if
any points exceeding ten thousand feet in altitude.
The direction of the sierra is nearly that of a line connecting
some of the best mining districts in Mexico, which are situated
on or very near the summit of the mountains. These districts
are the following, enumerating them in their geographical order
from the south towards the north: In Durango, San Antonio de
las Ventanas, Guarisamey, and San Dimas, remarkable for their
auriferous silver ores, and sixty-two Mexican leagues northeast
of Mazatlan; in Chihuahua, Guadalupe y Calvo, and San Pedro
de Batopilas, yielding fine specimens of native silver; also,
Jesus Maria, in the same State, and the Real del la Cieneguita,
Sonora, with silver and gold mines.
2. GENERAL GEOLOGY.
The geological structure of the occidental slope of the Sierra
Madre, as well as that of the other parts of this great chain,
is exceedingly interesting, and, as yet but very little known,
notwithstanding the valuable investigations of Humboldt and
other eminent men; for, up to the present time, the age
of the different formations has never been fixed with any
degree of accuracy, from want of materials and of sufficient
observations. In 1863, 1864, and 1865, however, I explored
quite a number of localities in northwestern Mexico, and was
thus enabled to obtain a pretty good general idea of the
geology of that region; and, in Sonora, to which my attention
was especially devoted, I succeeded in finding fossils in
sufficient quantity to allow of the determination of the age
of the principal formations of the northern Sierra Madre. By
tracing the connection of these rocks with those of Central
Mexico, additional light will be thrown on those districts of
which, at present, but little is definitely known.
The igneous rocks, which occur more abundantly on the Pacific
slope, are granites, either fine or very coarse-grained;
porphyries, more or less feldspathic; and greenstones, all of
which are cut by numerous dykes of extremely varied character.
The granites, however, are very poor in veins of the precious
metals, while the porphyries are highly metalliferous. In
Sinaloa (Candelero) and Durango (San Dimas) we see that the
granites underlie the metalliferous porphyries, and that the
greenstones, in Sonora, (near Hermosillo and in the vicinity of
La Haciendita) penetrate through them.
The oldest sedimentary rocks, which I have observed, belong to
the Carboniferous series; this is represented in the eastern
part of Sonora, by heavy masses of limestone, forming very
high and rugged ridges, running a little west of north. The
upturned strata are seen, in many places, to rest on granite.
Argentiferous veins occur throughout this formation.
The next group of sedimentary rocks, in order, is the Triassic;
this forms isolated mountain groups in Sonora, and offers an
interesting field for investigation. Instead of limestones,
it is made up of heavy beds of quartzites and conglomerates,
with coal-bearing clay shales; all of these are disturbed and
elevated, and rest on greenstones, feldspathic porphyries,
or granite. Wherever metamorphosed, the Triassic rocks are
auriferous and contain veins of silver ores. The metamorphic
slates and limestones of the Altar and Magdalena districts,
which include the richest gold placers of Sonora, may possibly
be of Triassic age; but the fossils collected are too imperfect
to admit of this being determined. There are some reasons for
believing those rocks to be rather of Jurassic than of Triassic
age, as they differ in lithological characters from both the
Triassic and Carboniferous of Northern Mexico, resembling,
rather, the Jurassic gold-bearing slates of the Sierra Nevada,
in California; besides, they lie outside and to the west of
the Sierra Madre. It may also be noticed that the gold which
they furnish does not resemble that obtained from the Triassic
strata.
The Cretaceous period is also represented at the foot of the
Sierra Madre, at Arivechi, in Sonora. The strata belonging to
this series are chiefly argillaceous shales, and they rest
upon porphyries and Carboniferous limestone. They have been
disturbed and elevated since their deposition. The fossils,
which they contain in great number and in a fine state of
preservation, will be noticed farther on.
All the above mentioned formations were already in existence
before the first eruption of the volcanic rocks took place.
These latter are found scattered along the whole Pacific coast,
and extend from the Gulf of California up to the very summit
of the sierra. It is very interesting to see the volcanic
formations spread over so extensive a region, especially as
there are no active volcanoes known in Northern Mexico, and not
even any indications of ancient craters or vents.
The lithological character of the eruptive materials is
extremely varied, and there seem to have been several periods
of igneous action preceded by as many disturbances of the
strata, all of which took place after the close of the
Cretaceous epoch. Three different series of volcanic rocks may
be observed in Sinaloa and Sonora, unconformable with each
other; and these may again be subdivided into groups, after
a thorough examination has been made of the extensive suite
of specimens which has been collected. The lower, or oldest
series, affords several hundred varieties of porphyries,
characterized by crystals of feldspar or augite. There are
also very peculiar trachytic rocks, resembling granite in
appearance. These volcanic materials occur in beds or in
masses, and are frequently cut by dykes; but they are quite
destitute of veins containing gold or silver, the only
metalliferous ores they contain being those of copper (?) and
iron, and these in small quantity. Various volcanic ridges in
Sonora belong to this class. The second series consists of
extensive beds of micaceous, trachytic tufas, and breccias,
all more or less uplifted since their deposition, and covering
the different igneous and sedimentary formations as well as
the older volcanic porphyries. These attain a great thickness,
between San Dimas and San Ignacio, in Durango and Sinaloa.
Above these formations occur ancient alluvial deposits, with
bones of extinct animals (elephants) at two localities; near La
Noria, northeast of Mazatlan, and in the Arroya de la Palma,
two leagues east of La Casita, in Sonora.
Sheets of basaltic lavas, somewhat similar to those of
California, and probably of the same age, forming with tufas
the upper volcanic series, overlie the other formations,
occupying a nearly horizontal position.
The most recent formation is that of the terrace deposits of
sand and gravel, which occur in Sonora.
Having thus given a general sketch of the principal groups of
rocks developed in the region in question, I pass to a more
detailed description of the different formations.
GRANITES.
Underlying all the rocks in Durango and Sinaloa, and probably
posterior to the Carboniferous limestones, which they have
in places extensively metamorphosed, are masses of granite.
These may be seen in many places between the coast and San
Dimas, either occupying the bottoms of the valleys, or forming
independent hills. There are two well-marked varieties: Of
these the first are syenites, more or less fine-grained,
and consisting of a mixture of feldspar, variously colored,
quartz, black or green hornblende, and black or brown mica,
the latter usually in hexagonal plates. Localities of this
variety are: Haval, Las Higueras, San Ignacio, Santa Apolonia,
Candelero, La Noria, Zaragoza, etc., in Sinaloa; San Marcial
and Tecoripa valleys, Hermosillo, in Sonora. The other variety
is either very coarse-grained, consisting of white feldspar,
gray quartz, and plates of silvery mica, or else finer
grained, and chiefly made up of feldspar; these occur, forming
mountains and ridges in Sonora, in the Sierra del Amolé, near
La Magdalena, Sierra del Espinaso Prieto, near Hermosillo,
and the Sierra de Mazatan, south of Ures. The fine-grained
granites contain argentiferous veins at Zaragoza, in Sinaloa,
and east of Topisco, in Sonora. These are traversed by numerous
intersecting dykes of diorite, feldspar, and quartziferous and
feldspathic porphyries, especially well seen near Hermosillo,
and the Cajon de los Carrisos, east of San Antonio de la
Huerta. There are no metalliferous veins where the granite is
thus intersected by dykes.
METALLIFEROUS PORPHYRIES.
These may be divided into two groups. The first consists of a
rock occurring in large irregular masses or beds, and having a
dark colored argillaceous base, through which are disseminated
small crystals of whitish feldspar. This variety, which is
probably older than the granites, includes some of the richest
mines of the Sierra Madre; as those of Candelaria, Bolaños,
Cinco Señores, etc., near San Dimas, in Durango; and which
have yielded over $20,000,000. There are also rich veins in
this kind of rock at Candelero, fifty-two leagues northeast
of Mazatlan, in Sinaloa. All these veins run northeast and
southwest, and are cut at right angles by dykes. The second
variety of porphyry is a gray feldspathic rock, apparently made
up of labradorite and magnetic iron ore; this overlies the
greenstones, and is covered by the Triassic beds at Los Bronces
and San Javier, where there are three systems of argentiferous
veins. The Nahuila mine, one of the best in Sonora, is in this
rock.
METAMORPHIC ROCKS.
Heavy masses of metamorphic rocks may be seen at various
localities in Sinaloa and Durango (Tecomate, Tenchoquelite,
Arroyo del Ciruelo, Arroyo de San Vincente) resting either
on the granites or the metalliferous porphyries. These rocks
occur in masses or beds, sometimes distinctly stratified, and
sometimes without any traces of the original bedding. They
are always much altered and broken up. Their lithological
characters are not well marked, although the series is easily
recognized. The rocks referred to in this division, are usually
fine-grained, of a greenish or bluish color, when not too much
decomposed, and somewhat argillaceous in composition. At the
base they pass into porphyries. The argentiferous veins cut
both the metamorphic and the porphyritic rocks at Tecomate,
on the Rio de San Ignacio, where the dip of the formation is
to the northeast, at an angle of 70°. Between La Puerta and
El Pilar, Arroyo de San Dimas, they occur in jaspery layers,
ribboned with green and brown hues, and resemble some of the
metamorphic Triassic rocks of Sonora. Near Candelero, the
metamorphic rocks are associated with whitish, semi-crystalline
limestone. The formation in question may be observed in many
other localities in Sinaloa, always resting on granite and
passing into porphyry; it is also sometimes associated with
metamorphic slates.
GREENSTONES.
These rocks occur in heavy masses or in beds, and are made
up of a fine-grained, compact mixture of hornblende and
feldspar, often containing mica, and having a greenish color.
The greenstone underlies the Triassic rocks, and in many
places it protrudes through the granite. This rock is highly
metalliferous at Copála, Sinaloa, and also at Los Bronces and
San Javier, in Sonora. The greenstones or diorites which occur
in the granite, appear to be anterior to the metalliferous
greenstones, and the latter are posterior to the Triassic.
CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES.
The Carboniferous limestones form high ridges parallel with the
general course of the Sierra Madre, from Hermosillo, north of
Guaymas, east of Sahuaripa. These ridges become more elevated
as we approach the crest of the Sierra. The rocks of this
formation are fine-grained and bluish in color, and form heavy
beds with intercalated schistose layers; they contain nodules
and beds of flint. There are some clay slates at the base of
the formation. The thickness of the whole series is probably
over five thousand feet. The principal localities where these
Carboniferous rocks may be observed are as follows, naming them
in order from west to east:
1st. Hermosillo, where they rest on syenitic granite and are
highly metamorphosed, the limestones being converted into
white saccharoidal marble, and the slates into garnet and
epidote rock. Dykes of green porphyry cut through the beds of
sedimentary rock, which beds have a strike of about N. 65° W.,
and stand nearly vertical.
2d. Five leagues from Hermosillo, at La Cruz; in the Cerro de
Santa Teresa on the south, and the Sierra de Las Animas on the
north. Here the limestones contain crinoids.
3d. Four leagues farther on, between La Noria and El Aguajito;
here are high granite ridges with a granite axis.
4th. Twenty leagues from Hermosillo, south of Ures;
Carboniferous rocks upheaved on the southwest side of the
granitic Sierra de Mazatan. The direction of this range is from
northwest to southeast, and its height sixteen hundred varas,
according to M. De Fleury; here are a few silver mines.
5th. Haciendita, nine leagues farther northeast. The beds here
are metamorphosed and much disturbed, dipping northeast; these
outcrops form low hills.
6th. Between Mátape and Batuco; a very high ridge of granite,
running in a northerly direction, with limestone resting upon
it. To the north and east of Topisco the limestones attain a
great thickness and afford fine fossils. At the Cerro de la
Bonacina, one of the highest points of the range, a variety of
corals, crinoids, and brachiopods may be seen weathered out
from the surface of several beds of hard, compact limestone,
of various colors; these beds are near the summit of the
mountain. This locality was first discovered by Don Antonio
Moreno, Engineer of the Bronces mine. The strata here are much
disturbed, and appear to have been folded into a mass with a
synclinal structure.[23]
TRIASSIC ROCKS.
This formation is usually highly metamorphosed, and passes
into porphyries at its base. The strata are more or less
inclined, and the lower beds are very much contorted and
disturbed. The rocks referred to the Trias extend from Soyopa
to San Javier; but they are developed on a more extensive scale
between San Antonio de la Huerta and Los Bronces, forty-two
leagues northeast of Guaymas. The Triassic rocks form a chain
of high and rugged mountains extending from south-southeast to
north-northwest. The isolated mining districts of Tecoripa and
San Marcial (between Los Bronces and Guaymas) are in the same
formation; it also crops out from under the stratified volcanic
rocks at the Punta de Agua, between San Marcial and Guaymas.
The metalliferous greenstones and porphyries, previously
noticed, form the nucleus around which the Triassic beds have
been upheaved. These beds are seen near San Javier and Los
Bronces, two mining towns which are situated on greenstone, but
which skirt the foot of a small ridge of feldspathic porphyry,
much less elevated than the metamorphic rocks themselves. They
are also seen overlying granite, near the Cerro Colorado,
between Soyopa and Los Bronces, and south of Tecoripa.
The Cerro de la Nahuila, the highest point but one in the
district, lies southeast of the Sierra de Mazatan. There are
three principal divisions of the Triassic, which occur in the
following order, the first mentioned being the lowest:
{ { Quartzites and clay slates;
{ { Black, jaspery schistose layers;
{
1.{ or, where the rocks are less altered:
{
{ { Black clay shales with beds of coal;
{ { Argillaceous sandstones.
2. Quartzites, in great thickness.
3. Heavy beds of conglomerate.
The interstratified clay shales and grits of the lower member,
crop out in several places along the Cañada de Santa Maria, at
the bottom of the ravines below Los Bronces. Here, there are
three or four beds of good anthracite coal, with a considerable
number of well-preserved plants occurring in the associated
clay shales, both above and below the coal.
[A portion of these plants were referred by me to Dr. Newberry
for examination, and he has given the following list of them.
1. _Strangerites magnifolia_, Rogers; Trans. Assoc. Am.
Geologists, p. 306, Pl. xiv. A species occurring in the Trias
(?) of Virginia and North Carolina. 2. _Pecopteris falcatus_,
Emmons; Geol. of N. Car., Pl. iv, fig. 9. The specimens are
too imperfect to decide on the identity of this plant with
_Saccopteris germinans_. ?3. _Pecopteris bullatus_, Bunbury;
only in fruit; nervation obscure; identity not certain, but
very probable. 4. _Otozamites Macombii_, Newb. At top of “red
beds” or “gypsum formation,” at the base of the Cretaceous
rocks, copper mines near Abiquiu, New Mexico. There is no
doubt about this species, and it forms an important connecting
link. ?5. _Pterozamites decussatus_, Emmons; specimens very
imperfect. 6. _Pecopteris_, n. sp.; a very neat and peculiar
species as yet undescribed. It may be the same as one badly
figured by Emmons (Pl. II, fig. 1.) 7. _Alethopteris_, n.
sp.; small fragments of the frond of a splendid new species.
From this enumeration it will be seen that there can be but
little doubt of the Triassic age of the formation in which
these plants occur. A large lot of these plants, collected
by M. Rémond, has been recently received, and among them are
much better specimens of some of the species noticed by Dr.
Newberry, and several quite new ones. These will also be
examined, described, and figured within a short time. J. D. W.]
The strike and dip of the clay shales in the different ravines
vary considerably, but the dip is usually to the southeast.
The superincumbent quartzites are more regular in their
inclination. There are dykes of feldspathic rock cutting
through both the coal and the shales.
The following section represents, in an ascending order, the
position of the coal-bearing strata in the Cañon del Retiro,
near Los Bronces.
1. Coarse quartzites with conglomerates.
2. Conglomerate, 8 feet.
3. Argillaceous and schistose grits, 3 feet.
4. Clay shales, with impressions of plants, 8 feet.
5. Gray grits, 4 feet.
6. Bluish clay shales with ferns, 12 feet.
7. Coal, 2 feet.
8. Compact black clay shales, 5 inches.
9. Coal, 2 feet 6 inches.
10. Clay shales with leaves, several feet.
11. Coarse grits.
Another section, measured at the foot of the Cerro de la Aguja,
was as follows.
1. Compact gray grits.
2. Gray clay shales with seams of coal and plants, 4 feet 6
inches.
3. Bluish argillaceous grits, 2 feet 6 inches.
4. Contorted black clay shales, with seams of coal, 5 feet
6 inches.
5. Coal, 2 feet 6 inches.
6. Black, compact clay shales, 3 feet.
7. Coal, 7 inches.
8. Carbonaceous clay shales, 8 inches.
9. Coal, 3 inches.
10. Clay shales and argillaceous grits.
[Specimens of the coal brought to San Francisco by M. Rémond,
are anthracite, evidently of superior quality. J. D. W.]
The middle member of the Triassic series consists of
quartzites, or metamorphic sandstones; these are both coarse
and fine grained, and sometimes brecciated. They vary in color,
from white to red, and are often much altered in the vicinity
of the metalliferous veins. The upper member of the series,
as seen in the Cañada de la Tinta, is made up of rounded
pebbles of black jasper and gray quartzite; in the Cañada
de los Mimbres, below Los Bronces pebbles of specular iron
are included in the mass. The dip of the formation is very
irregular, both in direction and amount.
At San Antonio de la Huerta, Tecoripa, and San Marcial,
argentiferous veins of various ages occur in the lower and
middle members of the Trias. At San Marcial, marine (?)
shells are found in the clay slates, near the silver mines;
[but those which have been obtained, are too imperfect for
recognition; they were referred to Mr. Meek for examination. J.
D. W.]
At San Marcos, between San Antonio de la Huerta and the Real
Viejo, metamorphic jaspery slates occur in connection with the
carboniferous limestones; they are probably of Triassic age.
Gold is found in the gulches between the quartzite ridges, as
in the Cañada de la Higuera, near Los Bronces in the Cañada
de la Iglesia, between the latter place and San Antonio de la
Huerta, and generally where the quartzites occur.
JURASSIC (?) ROCKS.
In the eastern part of the Magdalena and Altar districts, are
valleys with low hills and ridges of auriferous clay slates,
with interstratified beds of porphyry and diorite. Localities
of these rocks are Cerros de la Barajita, between Querobabi and
Santa Ana; Cerritos de la Tierra Colorada, where the formation
contains beds of variously colored limestones, entirely made
up of fossils, South of La Magdalena this formation rests on
metamorphic sandstones and shales. [The reasons for referring
these rocks, with doubt, to the Jurassic formation, have been
already given; see page 246.]
CRETACEOUS ROCKS.
In the Sahuaripa Valley, four miles east of Arivechi, and
seventy-two leagues northeast of Guaymas, is a locality of
Cretaceous Fossils of great interest. The hill in which they
occur is called “Cerro de las Conchas,” or “Shell Mountain.”
The rocks exposed are unfossiliferous strata of coarse-grained
sandstone at the base, overlain by clay shales and argillaceous
limestone filled with fossils. The exposure is very limited in
extent: the shales are a few hundred feet thick, and they dip
to the east, as do also the beds of carboniferous limestone on
which the Cretaceous deposits rest. Masses of porphyry crop
out from under the shales, without there being any peculiar
indication of metamorphism or disturbance in their vicinity.
Other patches of shelly rock are said to occur in the valley
on the eastern side, at the foot of the sierra. [A small
lot of fossils collected here by M. Rémond were referred to
Mr. Gabb for examination; and since that, a considerable
number of additional specimens have been received, but have
not yet been investigated. Several species were identified
as already described from Texas, and figured by Roemer in
“Die Kreidebildungen von Texas;” these are, _Ammonites
pedernalis_, von Buch; _Natica pedernalis_, Roem.; _Turritella
seriatim-granulata_, Roem.; _Gryphæa navis_, Hall; _Cyphosoma
Texanum_, Roem.; _Eulima Texana_, Roem. Besides these, two
other species are identified, namely; _Cardium multistriatum_,
Shum., and _Turbinolia Texana_, Con.
There is a considerable number of new species among the
specimens from this locality, among which the following genera
are represented: _Turritella_, _Chemnitzia_, _Avellana_,
_Cardium_, _Trigonia_, _Panopæa_, _Pinna_, _Cucullæa_, etc.
These will be described and figured by Mr. Gabb, who also
remarks that the character of the fossils indicates a closer
relationship of the formation to the eastern Cretaceous than to
that of California.—J. D. W.]
VOLCANIC ROCKS.
Stratified volcanic deposits cover a broad area of the surface
between San Ignacio and San Dimas (Sinaloa and Durango); they
dip to the west. On the other side of Durango they dip in the
opposite direction. The serrated edges of the strata may be
seen from a great distance, and are extremely picturesque,
towering up like old ruins, their peculiar forms being due to
erosion. They are well seen in the Cerro de los Frayles, near
Guarisamey, in Durango; visible from Mazatlan. These belong to
the second series of volcanic rocks. In Sonora there are three
different series of volcanic deposits which form serrated,
picturesque, parallel ridges, running north from Guaymas as far
as La Magdalena, or over eighty leagues in a straight line.
The three main ridges, enumerated from west to east, are, 1,
Las Tetas de Cabra; 2, Guaymas de Zaragosa; 3, Range north of
the mouth of the Yaqui River. The description of the various
volcanic deposits of Northern Mexico may be reserved for a
separate memoir, as the number of them is very great.
MINES.
The richest and widest veins are those northeast of Mazatlan,
near San Dimas, Guarisamey, etc., in Durango. These veins cut
all the rocks older than the Cretaceous, whether igneous or
sedimentary. The mines of Sinaloa are richer than those of
Sonora. In the former State the ore-bearing portion of the
veins is from a few feet to several yards in width: in the
latter, generally from one to two feet. In Durango and Sinaloa
gold, native silver, and sulphuret of silver occur associated
with galena, yellow blende, and iron pyrites. In Sonora the
principal ores are argentiferous gray copper, with galena,
black blende, copper pyrites, arsenical pyrites, carbonate of
lead, ruby silver, arsenical silver, and gold. Each mining
district is characterized by a peculiar system of veins; in
all as many as twenty different systems have been observed.
The most abundant vein stones are quartz, either chalcedonic,
crystalline, or massive; brown spar; heavy spar; oxide of
iron. The veins occurring in the metamorphic Triassic rocks,
are usually parallel with the stratification, so that they
lie nearly horizontal where the formation has been but little
disturbed. As to the yield of the silver ores, it varies
extremely, and it would be necessary to enter into a full
description of all the different districts to give an idea of
it. It may be noticed, however, that the arsenical pyrites,
which is auriferous in the Sierra Nevada, becomes argentiferous
in the Sierra Madre. The veins vary in their direction from
a little east to a little west of north; the richest ores
near San Dimas run northeast and southwest. There are but few
rich mines in Sonora, a state of which the mineral wealth has
been much exaggerated. There are, however, some deposits of
variegated copper, and veins of magnetic and specular iron.
The annexed tabular statement will give the principal facts
obtained with regard to the mines examined in Northern Mexico.
TABULAR STATEMENT, SHOWING THE POSITION AND CHARACTER OF THE
PRINCIPAL MINES OF NORTHERN MEXICO.
BY A. RÉMOND.—1863-1865.
================+===================+=====================+=========+
Mines. | Location. | Country. | Strike. |
----------------+-------------------+---------------------+---------+
NAGHUILA |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N. 35° W.|
EUREKA |Bet. S. Miguelito |Greenstone |N. 45° W.|
| & Los Bronces | | |
PLEITEADA |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N. 30° W.|
SAN JUAN |Near San Javier |Quartzite (triassic) |N. 65° E.|
CEBALLOS |Near Los Bronces |Labrador porphyry |N. 25° E.|
HIGUERA |Near Los Bronces |Greenstone |N. 5° E.|
LA BLANCA |Near San Antonio |Q’tzite and conglom’e|N. and S.|
| de la Huerta | (triassic) | |
SAN LUIS |Near San Antonio |Quartzite (triassic) |N. 40° W.|
| de la Huerta | | |
SANTA BARBARA |Near Corral Viejo |Quartzite |N.E.-S.W.|
LA SIERRA |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N. 60° E.|
SAN JOSÉ |Near Los Bronces |Labrador porphyry |N. 27° E.|
EL SECORRO |Near Los Bronces |Labrador porphyry |N. 25° E.|
ZARAGOZA |Near Los Bronces |Labrador porphyry |N. 23° E.|
SAN LUIS GONZAGA|Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N. 30° W.|
LA COLORADA |Near Los Bronces |Altered sandst. & |N. 50° E.|
| | slate (triassic) | |
AGUAJITO |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N. 24° E.|
SANTA EDUBIGEN |La Barranca |Quartzite (triassic) |N.E.-S.W.|
LA CUADRA |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N. 10° W.|
EL ROSARIO |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N. 10° W.|
EL ESCRITORIO |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry |N.W.-S.E.|
SANTA ROSA |Bet. Los Bronces |Quartzite (triassic) |N. 10° E.|
| and San Javier | | |
SOLEDAD |Candelero |Porphyry (metam.) |N. 55° E.|
CARMEN |Candelero |Porphyry (metam.) |N. 85° E.|
ATOCHA |Candelero |Porphyry (metam.) |N. 45° E.|
ROSARIO |Candelero |Porphyry (metam.) |N. 50° E.|
CONTRESTACA |Near La Puerta |Metamorphic rocks |N. 63° E.|
DESCUBRIDORA |Near La Puerta |Metamorphic rocks |N. 35° E.|
SOLEDAD |Bet. La Puerta and |Metamorphic rocks |N. 65° E.|
| San Dimas | | |
CANDELARIA |Near San Dimas |Porphyry (metam.) |N. 63° E.|
BOLANOS |Near San Dimas |Porphyry (metam.) |N. 45° E.|
CINCO DE MAYO |Near Zaragoza |Syenitic granite |N. 52° E.|
CINCO SEÑORES |Near Copála |Greenstone |N. 20° W.|
NAPOLEON |Near Copála |Greenstone |N. 10° W.|
ROSARIO |Near Copála |Greenstone |N. 50° W.|
PATINO |Near Copála |Greenstone |N. 22° W.|
HAVAL |A few leagues from |Syenitic granite |N. 80° E.|
| Mazatlan | | |
MINA GRANDE |Near San Marcial |Metamorphic slates |N. and S.|
| | (triassic) | |
LAS CRUZECITAS |Near San Marcial |Metamorphic slates |N. 15° E.|
| | (triassic) | |
GUIJOSITA VIEJA |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry | |
LA ANTIMONIA |Near San Javier |Labrador porphyry | |
DIOS PADRE |Trinidad |Labrador porphyry | |
AGUA GRANDE |9 miles from San |Porphyry (volcanic) |N. 38°- |
| Marcial | | 40° E. |
LA COLORADA |Near Copála |Greenstone |N. and S.|
ALGODONA |Near San Marcial |Metamorphic slates |N. and S.|
| | (triassic) | |
LOS BRONCES |Los Bronces |Greenstone |E. of N. |
LA PRIETA |Los Bronces |Greenstone |N. 40° E.|
ALTA GRACIA |Near San Antonio |Quartzite (triassic) |N. and S.|
| de la Huerta | | |
ROSARIO DE |San Javier |Greenstone |N. 70° E.|
GUADALUPE | | | |
AURORA |Near Los Bronces |Greenstone |N. 10° E.|
EL TASTE |Near San Javier |Greenstone |N. 15° E.|
PROVIDENCIA |Near Tecoripa |Quartzite (triassic) |N. 10° E.|
LA BOJORQUEÑA |Near Tecoripa |Quartzite (triassic) |N. 20° E.|
LA CHIPIOÑENA |Near Topisco |Granite | |
MINA PRIETA |Near San Antonio |Quartzite (triassic) | |
| de la Huerta | | |
EL TESORO |Cacachilas |Granite |N.W.-S.E.|
ROSARIO |Cañada de la |Quartzite (triassic) |N.E.-S.W.|
| Iglesia, near | | |
| San Antonio | | |
BABICANORA | |Limestone |N.E.-S.W.|
| | (carboniferous) | |
================+===================+=====================+=========+
================+============+===========+==========================+
Mines. | Dip. | Width. | Matrix. |
----------------+------------+-----------+--------------------------+
NAGHUILA |50° N.E. |1½ ft. |Crystalline quartz |
EUREKA |35°-40° N.E.| |Quartz |
PLEITEADA |45° N.E. |1½ ft. |Quartz |
SAN JUAN |50° S.S.E. |4 ft. |Quartz and iron ore |
CEBALLOS |85° S.S.E. |2 ft. |Magnetic iron |
HIGUERA |80° E. |2½ ft. |Magnetic iron |
LA BLANCA |15° E. | |Vesicular quartz |
SAN LUIS |35° N.E. |1½ ft. |Decomp. quartz and |
| | | sulfate of baryta |
SANTA BARBARA |30° S.E. |1½ ft. |Quartz |
LA SIERRA |80° N.N.W. |3 ft. |Magnetic iron |
SAN JOSÉ | |1½ ft. |Sulphate of baryta |
EL SECORRO | | | |
ZARAGOZA | | |Magnetic iron |
SAN LUIS GONZAGA|30°-40° N.E.|8 inches |White quartz |
LA COLORADA |80° S. |5 ft. |Iron ore and quartz |
AGUAJITO | | |Magnetic iron |
SANTA EDUBIGEN |30° N.W. |2½ ft. |Quartz |
LA CUADRA |20°-25° E. |1 ft. |Quartz |
EL ROSARIO |20°-25° E. | |Crystalline quartz |
EL ESCRITORIO |N.E. |1½ ft. |White quartz |
SANTA ROSA |55° S. |3 ft. |Quartz and iron ore |
SOLEDAD |85° S.E. |30 ft. |Quartz |
CARMEN |85° N. |28 ft. |Quartz |
ATOCHA |85° N. |14 ft. |Quartz |
ROSARIO |70°-80° N.W.|17 ft. | |
CONTRESTACA |76° N.W. | |White quartz |
DESCUBRIDORA |69° N.W. | |White quartz |
SOLEDAD |Perp. | |White quartz |
CANDELARIA |63° N.N.W. | |White quartz |
BOLANOS |75° S.E. |20 ft. |White quartz |
CINCO DE MAYO |75° N.W. |4 ft. |White quartz |
CINCO SEÑORES |45° E.N.E. |1 to 4 ft. |Quartz |
NAPOLEON |80° E. |2 to 8 ft. |Chalcedonic quartz |
ROSARIO |85° E. | |Chalcedonic quartz |
PATINO |Perp. |4 ft. |Chalcedonic quartz |
HAVAL |80° N. | |Quartz |
MINA GRANDE |30° W. |2 ft. |Quartz |
LAS CRUZECITAS |65° E. |4½ ft. |Heavy spar |
GUIJOSITA VIEJA | | |Quartz |
LA ANTIMONIA | | |Crystalline quartz |
DIOS PADRE | |9 to 12 ft.| |
| | of ore | |
AGUA GRANDE |80° N.W. |1½ ft. |White quartz |
LA COLORADA |20° W. |40 ft. |Chalcedonic quartz |
ALGODONA |30° W. |8 inches |Rotten quartz and iron ore|
LOS BRONCES |85° E. | |Heavy spar |
LA PRIETA |80° N.W. | |Heavy spar |
ALTA GRACIA |30° E. |4 ft. |Brown spar |
ROSARIO DE |60° S.S.E. |2 ft. |Quartz |
GUADALUPE | | | |
AURORA |45-50° E. |2 ft. |Magnetic iron |
EL TASTE |50-55° E. |5 ft. |Quartz |
PROVIDENCIA |65° E. |1 ft. 2 in.|Quartz |
LA BOJORQUEÑA |65° E. | |Quartz (ferruginous) |
LA CHIPIOÑENA | | | |
MINA PRIETA | | |Brown spar |
EL TESORO |75° S.W. |4 ft. | |
ROSARIO |85° N.W. |2 ft. | |
BABICANORA |75° N.W. |5 ft. |Quartz |
================+============+===========+==========================+
================+======================================+===============
Mines. | Ores. | Yield.
| | (Per Ton.)
----------------+--------------------------------------+---------------
NAGHUILA |Sulph’ts of zinc, lead, iron |1st class $1200
| arsenical & copper pyrites; ruby |2nd class $125
| silver & native silver |
EUREKA |Mispickel, blende, galena |
PLEITEADA | |
SAN JUAN |Galena, zinc, carbonate of lead, iron |
| pyrites |
CEBALLOS | |
HIGUERA |Copper pyrites and gray copper ore |
LA BLANCA |Gold and chloro-bromide of silver |$43
SAN LUIS |Blende, galena, mispickel, sulphuret |1st class $787
| of iron, native silver |2nd class $125
SANTA BARBARA |Galena, carbonate of lead, iron |$67.75
| pyrites, gold |
LA SIERRA |Gray copper, iron pyrites |
SAN JOSÉ |Magnetic iron & iron pyrites |
EL SECORRO | |
ZARAGOZA | |
SAN LUIS GONZAGA|Galena, blende, mispickel, iron |
| pyrites |
LA COLORADA | |
AGUAJITO | |
SANTA EDUBIGEN | |
LA CUADRA |Arsenical pyrites, blende, and galena |
EL ROSARIO | |
EL ESCRITORIO | |
SANTA ROSA |Carbonate of lead, iron ore, galena, |
| blende, iron pyrites |
SOLEDAD | |$266.65
CARMEN |Silver and gold, sulph. of silver |$186.65
ATOCHA |Silver and gold, sulph. of silver |$213.35
ROSARIO |Silver and gold, sulph. of silver |$160
CONTRESTACA |Blende, galena, sulph. of silver |
DESCUBRIDORA |Blende, galena, sulph. of silver |
SOLEDAD |Blende, galena, sulph. of silver |
CANDELARIA | |1st class $3210
| |2d class $133
BOLANOS |Galena |
CINCO DE MAYO |Galena, blende, iron pyrites, brittle |1st class $800
| silver glance, native silver |2d class $180
CINCO SEÑORES |Galena, blende, iron pyrites |
NAPOLEON |Galena, blende, copper pyrites, etc. |
ROSARIO | |
PATINO |Galena, blende, copper pyrites |
HAVAL |Oxide of lead, native silver |
MINA GRANDE |Sulphuret of antimony, mispickel, |
| copper pyrites, blende, iron pyrites|
LAS CRUZECITAS |Tepustete with copper and iron |1st cl. $90-100
| pyrites, and gray copper ore |2d cl. $35-40
GUIJOSITA VIEJA |Galena, arsenical pyrites, blende, |
| copper pyrites |
LA ANTIMONIA |Sulphuret of antimony and lead |
DIOS PADRE |Gray copper ore, galena, iron pyrites,|
| native silver |
AGUA GRANDE |Indigo copper, chrysocolla, |
| chalkosine, chalcopyrite |
LA COLORADA | |
ALGODONA |Chlorobromide of silver |
LOS BRONCES |Magnetic iron, gray copper, copper |1st class $350
| and iron pyrites |2d class $40-60
LA PRIETA |Magnetic iron, gray copper, copper |
| and iron pyrites |
ALTA GRACIA |Copper pyrites and gray copper |
ROSARIO DE |Black blende, iron pyrites and galena |
GUADALUPE | |
AURORA |Gray copper ore and copper pyrites |
EL TASTE |Galena, blende, copper and iron |$100
| pyrites (petanque) |
PROVIDENCIA | |1st class $200
| |2d cl. $35-40
LA BOJORQUEÑA |Black blende, iron pyrites, galena, |
| copper pyrites |
LA CHIPIOÑENA | |
MINA PRIETA |Copper pyrites, gray copper |
EL TESORO | |1st class $220
| |2d class $90
ROSARIO |Galena and blende |$60
BABICANORA |Galena, iron pyrites, fahlerz, ruby |$34.65
| silver ore; gold and silver |
================+======================================+===============
[21] The best map of Northern Mexico is that of M. de Fleury,
published in San Francisco, in 1864; but this makes little
pretense to a delineation of the topography; the courses of
the principal streams and the position of the larger mining
towns are often very far from being correct, as must be
expected on a map constructed without a basis of instrumental
surveys. J. D. W.
[22] See Emory, in Mexican Boundary Report, vol. 1, page 41.
[23] Only a few specimens of the Carboniferous fossils
collected by M. Rémond have ever been received, owing to
circumstances connected with the present political condition
of Mexico. It is hoped, however, that they are not lost, and
that they may yet be recovered. Among the few specimens
received is a coral, not to be distinguished from the
_Lithostrotion_ (_L. mamillare_) found near Bass’s Ranch,
in Shasta County, California. J. D. W.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 19TH, 1866.
President in the Chair.
Twelve members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Sections of the _Sequoia gigantea_ and a roll
showing the annual growth of the “Old Maid,” one of the trees in the
Calaveras grove of Big Trees; from Mr. Henry Hentsch.
Mr. Dall stated that Dr. Cooper had discovered, in the vicinity of
Santa Cruz, _Helix redemita_, _H. Vancouverensis_, _H. Columbiana_, and
_H. arrosa_; also, in the small rivulets near the town, _Margaritana
falcata_, besides several univalves, and also an undetermined _Helix_,
which may prove to be new. Mr. Dall also remarked that Rev. J. Rowell had
obtained at Hayward’s, Alameda County, a number of specimens of _Helix
Cronkhitei_, which is a new locality for that species.
Mr. Dall remarked that in dissecting a specimen of _Trochiscus
Norrissii_, the position of which has for some time been doubtful,
sufficient evidence was obtained to decide that it did not belong with
the Proboscidians, to which group it had been doubtfully referred by
several naturalists.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 2D, 1866.
Mr. Stearns in the Chair.
Five members present.
Mr. Bloomer presented some Diatoms, from the coast of California,
supposed to belong to the genera _Melissa_ and _Meridion_; they were both
found growing upon calcareous sea weeds. The genus _Meridion_ has not
heretofore been recorded as occurring in California.
Mr. Dall presented, in the name of Dr. Cooper, the following paper:
Description of a new California Helix, with notes on others already
described.
BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.
HELIX (Arianta) SEQUOICOLA, Cooper.
Sp. ch. _H. testa_ rotundata, umbilicata, spira depressa, anfr.
ult. nonnunquam subangulata; anfr. vi ad vii et dimidium,
perist. obliqua superne parum deflecta; labio tenui, reflexo,
infra crassiore, acuta. Colore atrobrunnea, vel olivacea, zona
nigra, lata, inter duabus ochraceis sita, in spira semicelata,
labio albo; intus læte purpureo, zonis duabus albis. Epidermide
nitente, infra polita, striis incrementis læve perspicuis,
interdum tenuissime malleata, rugis spiralibus; supra punctis
piliferis creberrime induta; pilis brevissimis junioris
deciduis.
_Animal_ schisto-colore; corpore cylindraceo rugosa, tentaculis
longis, pede postice elongata, cuneata.
_Testæ_ lat., major, 0.93 ad 1.20; minor 0.76 ad 0.96; alt.
0.42 ad 0.54 poll. Angl.
_Hab._ Santa Cruz, California, in ligno carioso, locis
humidissimis.
_Specific characters._ Shell rounded, umbilicate, spire
depressed, last whorl sometimes subangulate, whorls 6 to
6½, peristome oblique, little deflected above; labium
thin, reflexed, thickest below; acute. Color dark brown or
olivaceous, with a broad black band between two yellow ones,
half hidden on the spire, lips white; within a fine purple with
two white bands. Epidermis shining, polished below, the lines
of growth faintly visible, sometimes very lightly malleated,
and with spiral ridges; above with crowded scars bearing very
short bristles in the young shell which fall off in the adult.
_Animal_ slate colored, body cylindrical, rugose, tentacles
moderate; foot elongated, behind wedge-shaped.
_Shell_—large diameter 0.96 to 1.20; smaller diameter 0.76 to
0.96; height 0.42 to 0.54 hundredths of an inch.
_Hab._ Santa Cruz, Cal., among decayed trees in the dampest
places.
This beautiful species is quite rare, only three adult and
twelve young specimens having been found after long searching.
It will probably occur more commonly in some part of the
redwood forests which I have been unable to explore. It
approaches nearest to _H. Dupetithouarsi_ and _H. fidelis_,
being between them in form and size as well as colors, but
the pilosity at once distinguishes it. Its distinct bands
and rounded whorls separate it from _H. infumata_ and
_Hillebrandii_, the latter when perfect having also much
longer hairs. The animal is lighter colored than those of _H.
arrosa_, _Nickliniana_, _redimita_, _ramentosa_, _tudiculata_,
(which are all very similar) but much darker than that
of _Dupetithouarsi_, and I believe also of _fidelis_ and
_infumata_. The form of the shell is a link connecting these
with _Mormonum_.
In the tabular arrangement adopted in my State Survey Report,
it would come in as the pilose analogue of _H. Dupetithouarsi_,
and _H. exarata_, which are also its nearest geographical
neighbors, as follows:
=====================+====================+====================
§ =A.= Shining; | § =B.= Dark; | § =C.= Brown;
band triple, | hirsute in | band single,
not rugose, | the young, | rugose, sculptured,
l. whorls 6 to 8. | l. whorls 6 to 6½. | l. whorls 6 to 7.
---------------------+--------------------+--------------------
H. fidelis. | H. infumata.[24] | H. arrosa.
H. Traskii.[25] | H. sequoicola. | H. exarata.
H. Dupetithouarsi. | H. Hillebrandii. | H. Ayresiana.
---------------------+--------------------+--------------------
Judging from the form of _H. Mormonum_, it is possible that the
young will be found to be hirsute.
The table referred to includes twelve other banded species of
California, arranged under the same headings. It is interesting
to observe that the § A 1 and B 1 groups inhabit coniferous
forests, and probably feed chiefly on fungi found in decaying
wood while § C, including also H. _Nickliniana_, _Bridgesii_,
_redimita_, _ramentosa_, _tudiculata_, _Californiensis_ (and
_Carpenteri_?) are found in woods of oak, etc. Another group
which I place in § A (as not being rugose) are found in dry,
treeless localities where they seem to represent those last
mentioned, the size, form, and number of whorls furnishing
parallels, but being usually less in size, as might be expected
of species from arid regions, and often with the band single
or obscured; these are H. _Tryoni_[25], _rufocincta_,
_Kellettii_, _crebristriata_, _Gabbii_, _facta_.[25]
The bandless species, of which there are few on this coast,
present analogous sections as to surface characters, and
exhibit much greater varieties in the form of their apertures,
by which they can be arranged in groups, having a greater
development of species in the Atlantic States and more
distinguishable by form than by surface.
_H. Townsendiana_ alone approaches § C in its rugose sculpture,
but otherwise differs greatly from the usual types of
California.
From the shells alone, five subgenera may be established out of
the banded group, which I will describe in a future article.
NOTE.—There is a single specimen of Helix in the State
Collection, supposed to have been obtained in the Mount Diablo
range by Prof. Brewer, which closely resembles the small form
of _H. Sequoicola_ in shape, but being nearly bleached is
too imperfect to describe minutely, though very likely a new
species.
It is remarkable for having seven whorls, while the former
and _H. Mormonum_ of the same size have but six; it is also
less compressed than the latter, and the umbilicus is less
covered. The color where remaining is shining gamboge yellow
(faded?) with a _single_ very narrow band _above_ the middle,
not showing the pale band on each side of it that is so marked
in others of the group. The sculpture seems to have been very
_slightly_ malleated, and with the faint lines of growth
cut by smooth depressed waved grooves transversely, and thus
obliquely to the sutures (while those of _H. Traskii_ are
parallel).
Diam. maj. 0.95; alt. 0.40 inch.
A region so near San Francisco ought to furnish more and better
specimens.
There is a form referred to _H. fidelis_, from Humboldt Bay,
which may also prove a new species. It is entirely purplish
black, _without bands_, the lips white inside, and differs from
_infumata_ chiefly in great elevation and thicker lips, having
even the subcarinate body whorl of the latter, and the same
number of whorls (6½). There is, however, no trace of bristle
marks, and some specimens appear to connect it with _fidelis_,
suggesting a possibility of its being a hybrid.
The State Collection contains one specimen, obtained from the
late Dr. Frick.
Diam. maj. 1.24; min. 1.09; alt. 0.70 inch.
[24] In this the band seems obscured in the general blackness
of the shell; occasional varieties of several others are found
without the band, as if from disease, as in _H. anachoreta_.
[25] These species have parallel spiral grooves, not _rugæ_.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 16TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Five members present.
Mr. Horace F. Cutter was elected a Resident Member.
The Committee on rooms reported that two rooms had been hired for the
Academy on the southeast corner of Montgomery and Sacramento streets.
REGULAR MEETING, MAY 7TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Eight members present.
Mr. Harford presented some ivory nuts from Panama.
Dr. Gibbons made some remarks explanatory of a series of tables which
he exhibited, showing the variations of rain fall at San Francisco, and
their relation to the phases of the moon. He showed that the greatest
amount of rain fell immediately before the time of full moon, and that,
following the day of the full, the diminution in quantity was very rapid.
The series of observations from which the tables were prepared extended
over a period of fifteen years.
Dr. Gibbons remarked that he proposed continuing the investigation of the
subject of the connection of the moon’s phases with the fall of rain, and
that he would prepare a paper on the subject.
Considerable discussion followed on the subject of the weather of this
coast, in which nearly all the members present took part.
REGULAR MEETING, MAY 21ST, 1866.
Mr. Stearns in the chair.
The Academy met for the first time in its new rooms on the corner of
Montgomery and Sacramento streets; twelve members were present.
Donations to the cabinet: Two boxes of shells, from the Smithsonian
Institution.
Donations to the Library: Bulletins de l’Académie Royale des Sciences
de Belgique (2) XVIII, XIX, 1864-5. Annuaire de l’Académie Royale
de Belgique, 1865; 31me Année. Sitzungsberichte der königl. bayer.
Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München, 1864, II, 3, 4; 1865, I, 1-4;
II, 1-4. Annalen der königlichen Sternwarte bei München, Band XIV.
Entstehung und Begriff der naturhistorischen Art, von Dr. Carl Nägeli,
2te auflage; München, 1865, 8vo. pamphlet. Induction and Deduction,
von Justus von Liebig; München, 1865, 8vo. pamphlet. Vorträge über
die Florenreiche, von Dr. C. F. Ph. von Martius; München, 1865, 8vo
pamphlet. Elfter Bericht der Oberhessischen Gesellschaft für Natur-und
Heilkunde; Giessen, 1865. Verslagen en Mededeelingen der koninklijke
Akademie van Wetenschappen; Afdeeling Naturkunde, 17de Deel; Amsterdam,
1865: same; Afdeeling Letterkunde, 8ste Deel, 1865: same; Iarboek, 1863,
1864. Musee Vrolik, Catalogue de la Collection d’ Anatomie, etc. de
M. M. Ger. et W. Vrolik; 1 vol. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1865. Meteorologische
Waarnemingen, 1864; 1 vol. long 4to Utrecht, 1865. Kongliga Svenska
Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar; Ny Följd, 5te Bandet, 1sta Häftet,
1863. Ofversigt of Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar, 21sta
Argangen; 1 vol. 8vo. Stockholm, 1865. Meteorologiska Jaktagelser i
Sverige, utgifna af Kongl. Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens: 5te Bandet,
1863. Meteorologiske Jagttagelser paa Christiania Observatorium,
1864; Christiania, 1865. Meteorologische Beobachtungen, aufgezeichnet
auf Christiania Observatorium; 1, Band, Letzte Lieferung, 1837-63,
Christiania, 1865. Oversigt af Norges Echinodermer ved Dr. Michel Sars;
1 vol. 8vo Christiania, 1861. Zologisk-Botaniske Observationer fra
Gudbrandsdalen og Dovre, af R. Collett; 8vo. pamphlet, Christiania, 1865.
Beretning om en botanisk Reise i Valders, foretagen i Sommeren 1864, af
H. C. Printz; 8vo. pamphlet, Christiana, 1865. Oversigt af Christiania
Omegns ornithologiske Fauna, af R. Collett; 8vo. pamphlet, Christiania,
1864. Norges Ferskvandskrebsdyr: Förste afsnit, Branchiopoda, 1,
Cladocera ctenopoda, af G. O. Sars; 4to pamphlet, Christiania, 1865.
Hestiæ Planetæ Minoris XLVI, Elementa Nova, deduxit F. M. Karlinski,
Cracoviæ, 1865. Jahrbücher des Vereins für Naturkunde im Herzogthum
Nassau, 17tes and 18tes Heft, 1 vol. 8vo. Wiesbaden, 1862-3. Jahrbuch
der k. k. geologischen Gesellschaft, 1865, Band XV 1, 2, 3. Der
Zoologische Garten; VI Jahrgang, Nos. 1-12, 8vo. Frankfort a. m., 1865.
Flora, oder allgemeine botanische Zeitung; Neue Reihe, XXIII Jahrgang,
8vo. Regensburg, 1865. Sitzungs-Berichte der naturw. Gesellschaft Isis
zu Dresden; Jahrgang, 1864, 8vo. Dresden, 1865. Verhandlungen des
naturhistorischen Vereins der preuss. Rheinlande und Westphalens; 21ter
Jahrgang, 1 volume in two parts, 8vo. Bonn, 1864. Verhandlungen der k. k.
zool-bot. Gesellschaft in Wien; XIV Band, 8vo. Wien, 1864. Mémoires de
l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg; Tome V, 1, VII 1-7
(complete), VIII, 1-16 (complete), 4to, St. Petersburg, 1864-5. Bulletin
de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg; Tome VII,
Feuilles 12-36, VIII 1-36. Royal Horticultural Society’s Proceedings;
vol. IV, No. 10, vol. V, Nos. 4-9, 8vo. London, 1865. Journal of the
Royal Horticultural Society; new series, vol. 1, part 1., 8vo. London,
1866. Defense des Colonies, III, par Joachim Barrande; 8vo. Prague, 1865.
Fragmenta Phytographiæ Australiæ, F. Müller; vol. IV. 8vo, Melbourne,
1863-4. Vegetation of Chatham Islands, F. Müller, 8vo. Melbourne,
1864. Analytical drawings of Australian Mosses, edited by F. Müller,
1 Fascicle, 8vo. Melbourne, 1864. Plants indigenous to the Colony of
Victoria, Lithograms, by F. Müller, 4to, 1864-5. Review of American Birds
in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, by S. F. Baird; Part 1,
Middle and North America, 8vo. Washington. Illustrated Catalogue of the
Museum of Comparative Zoology, No. II, North American Acalephæ, by A.
Agassiz; 4to, Cambridge, 1865.
All of the above publications were presented by the authors or the
Societies publishing the same; those published in Europe were forwarded
and received through the medium of the Smithsonian Institution.
Mr. Dall presented the following paper:
On a New Subfamily of Fluviatile Mollusca.
BY W. H. DALL, ACTING DIRECTOR SCI. CORPS, W. U. T. EX.
A paper was read by Dr. Isaac Lea, before the Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences, April 1st, 1856, in which he
described a new genus (_Pompholyx_) and species (_P. effusa_,
Lea) of fluviatile mollusca, from California. He placed it in
the _Family_ LYMNÆANA without remark.
In the “_Genera of Recent mollusca_,” by H. & A. Adams, it
is referred to (Vol. II, p. 645, Pl. CXXXVIII, fig. 11) as
the only species of the genus and is placed in the _Family_
LIMNÆIDÆ.
It is not mentioned by Chenu, in the “_Manuel de
Conchyliologie_.”
In the “_Supplementary Report to the British Association_,” by
Dr. P. P. Carpenter (page 674), are given the views of Mr. W.
G. Binney, one of the most eminent of American conchologists
and particularly devoted to the Pulmonates. He places the
mollusk in question, between the genera _Limnæa_ and _Physa_,
in the _Subfamily_ LIMNÆINÆ, of the _Family_ LIMNÆIDÆ.
Investigations as to the animal, however, suggest the propriety
of separating it, if not (as a _Family Pompholidæ_) entirely
from the _Family_ LIMNÆIDÆ, at least in a subfamily by itself.
In the few specimens which I have been able to examine with
regard to the dentition, the dried animal has not yielded very
satisfactory results, and I do not, therefore, feel justified
in entirely separating it until more is known.
In the following table, a West Coast species is given as a type
of each genus:
CLASS PULMONATA.
_Family_ LIMNÆIDÆ, H. & A. Ads.
_Subfamily_ LIMNÆINÆ, H. & A. Ads.
West Coast Genera:
=Limnæa=, Lam.
Subgenera:
_Limnæa_, Type _L. stagnalis_, Lin.
_Limnophysa_, Fitz., Type _L. palustris_, Müll.
=Physa=, Drap.
Subgenera:
_Physa_, Type _P. heterostropha_, Say.
_Bulinus_, H. & A. Ads., Type _B. hypnorum_, Lin.
_Subfamily_ PLANORBINÆ.
W. C. Genera:
=Planorbis=, Guett.
Subgenera:
_Planorbis_, Type _P. subcrenatus_, Cpr.
_Helisoma_, Sw., Type _H. ammon_, Gld.
_Menetus_, H. & A. Ads., Type _M. opercularis_, Gld.
=Carinifex=, W. G. Binney.
Type _C. Newberryi_, Lea.
_Subfamily_ ANCYLINÆ.
W. C. Genera:
=Ancylus=, Geoffr.
Type _A. Newberryi_, Lea.
=Acroloxus=, Beck.
Type _A. Nuttallii_, Lea.
=Gundlachia=, Pfr.
Type G. _Californica_, Rowell.
_Subfamily_ POMPHOLINÆ, Dall.
_Testa depressa, paucis spiralis, anf. ult. maxima. Columella
recta, sine plica._
_Animalis tentaculis longis, oculiferis, et alius par oculorum,
in bases interiores tentaculorum._
Characters, _Shell_; depressed, few whorled, last whorl the
largest, without fold on the columella. Inoperculate.
_Soft parts_; foot rounded, tentacles long, bearing eyes;
another pair of eyes situated on the inner bases of the
tentacles. Fluviatile, phytophagous.
Genus =Pompholyx=, Lea.
Proc. Phil. Acad., Ap. 1st, 1856.
Type P. effusa Lea, sp. unica. [FIG. 28.]
[Illustration: FIG. 28.]
_Shell_; small, swollen, with three whorls, the last much
the largest. Above, rounded planulate, suture deep but not
channelled. Below, not umbilicated, rounded convex. Aperture
large, effuse, internally shining. Columella flattened, not
folded; externally, in fresh specimens, greenish horn color;
dead ones nearly white or waxy brown. Alt. 0.14 in., major
diam. 0.2, min. diam. 0.16 in.
_Soft parts._ Foot rounded truncate; short, bluish-ash color,
darker on the margin. Lips broad, semilunar. Tentacles long,
eyebearing; tips pale yellow, eyes black; a second pair sessile
on the inner bases of the tentacles. Body delicate brownish
olive green; a light streak just behind and outside of base of
each tentacle.
Localities: Sacramento River (Trask), Lea; Eagle Lake, Horn;
Klamath Valley and Frazer Spring, Gabb.
I am indebted to Mr. Wm. M. Gabb, of the State Geological
Survey, for notes and drawings, confirmatory of previous doubts
in regard to this rare and interesting mollusk. They were
taken from the living animal, and coming from a distinguished
Palæontologist may be relied on as correct.
[N.B.—Through inadvertence in drawing, the shell is represented
as reversed in the figure.]
Professor Whitney made some remarks on the geology of the State of
Nevada, of which the following is an abstract.
Having recently received a small but very interesting
collection of fossils, made in Nevada by Mr. J. E. Clayton, the
examination of which has added considerably to our scanty stock
of information in regard to the geology of an extensive region
comprised between the meridians of 115° and 120°, and the
parallels of 38° and 41°, I take this occasion to set forth, in
a very concise manner, the information which I have collected,
up to the present time, in regard to the age of the sedimentary
formations of the regions in question.
The State of Nevada occupies a portion of the continent which,
during the last few years, has received a large share of
attention from the public and excited the greatest interest
among scientific men; but where, up to the present time,
detailed geological work has been impossible, owing to the
absence of any geographical map of the State approaching even
to accuracy.
The U. S. Pacific Railroad Surveys furnished no geological
information whatever in regard to the territory embraced
within the present area of the State of Nevada. The route
from Salt Lake to Humboldt River, at Lassen’s Meadows, was
hastily explored by Captain Beckwith, in May, 1854, and he was
accompanied by Mr. Schiel as Geologist; but no information
of any value is given in regard to the geological structure
of the region traversed by the party, nor were any fossils
discovered, although portions of the rocks along their route
have since been proved to be prolific in organic remains.
On all the geological maps of the whole territory of the United
States which have been published up to the present time, the
region west of the Rocky Mountains has been so misrepresented
that it is quite impossible to trace any approximation,
or first hinting, at either the age or the outline of the
principal formations. On these maps the region lying between
the Salt Lake and the Sierra Nevada is usually left uncolored,
or vaguely designated as “metamorphic” with patches of
“volcanic” and “desert quaternary” scattered through it at
random.[26]
The first paper or publication issued, in which any
definite information in regard to the geology of Nevada was
given, was that of Messrs. Meek and Engelmann, published
in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural
Sciences, for April, 1860. This paper gives the results of
the examination by Mr. Meek, of the fossils obtained by
Mr. H. Engelmann, who accompanied Capt. J. H. Simpson on
his explorations of 1858-59, or what is generally known as
“Simpson’s Wagon Road Expedition.” As the full report of
this expedition has never been published, we have no other
information in regard to the geology of the region traversed
by Capt. Simpson’s party than that given in the paper above
alluded to. The route followed on this survey was one near
the present Overland Stage Road, passing through a region
then entirely uninhabited by white men, but now dotted with
mining camps and even towns of considerable size—a region which
has been proved to contain a large number of argentiferous
veins, and where mining operations have been carried on most
energetically and extensively during the last two or three
years.
The localities of fossils mentioned by Messrs. Meek and
Engelmann, and included within the limits of Nevada, are
as follows: Long. 114° 45´, Lat 39° 45´, near what is now
called Egan Cañon, fragments of Trilobites, either of Upper
Silurian or Devonian Age, and “closely resembling Hamilton
Group Forms:”—Long. 115° 58´, Lat. 39° 33´, and Long. 115°
36´, Lat. 39° 30´; at these two localities, situated in what
are now the Eureka and White Pine Mining Districts, a “group
of fossils of decided Devonian type” was found. This group
consisted of _Atrypa reticularis_, _A. aspera_, or a closely
allied species, a small _Productus_, and three new species of
_Spirifer_. This is the most westerly point, on our territory,
at which any fossils belonging to formations older than the
Carboniferous have, up to the present time, been discovered,
so far at least as any published record shows. Between Lon.
115° and 115° 30´ and Lat. 40° 10´ and 39° 20´, is a group or
series of hills, trending nearly north and south, and made
up “of light yellowish gray, more or less argillaceous and
arenaceous subcrystalline limestones and slates.” From these
hills fossils were collected which are referred by Mr. Meek
to the Upper Carboniferous series. Most of the species were
new; among them were three species of _Productus_, two new
species of _Spirifer_, and another apparently identical with
_S. cameratus_; also, _Athyris subtilita_ and a new species
of _Chonetes_ closely allied to _C. Verneuiliana_; these
localities are near what is now known as Ruby Valley and Fort
Ruby.
The above are all the localities of fossils, in Nevada, known
to have been published up to this time, excepting those
which have been described or noticed in the publications
of the Geological Survey of California. Messrs. Meek and
Engelmann state, at the end of their paper, that igneous rocks
predominate west of the 116th degree of longitude as far as
the Sierra Nevada, and that only a few traces of stratified
rock were found in that district in none of which any organic
remains were observed. The exploration of this region, supposed
to be destitute of fossiliferous rocks, has proved, however,
that it contains immense ranges of stratified beds which, in a
considerable number of localities at least, are highly prolific
in well preserved fossils.
As soon as the Humboldt mining region began to be resorted to
by miners, which was in 1861 and 1862, fossils were discovered
by several persons, who about the same time furnished us
with collections of value and interest. The most important
of these collections were those of Mr. Gorham Blake and of
Mr. R. Homfray. The specimens obtained by these gentlemen, as
well as others of the same age obtained by the Survey, near
Dayton, Nevada, and also in Genesee Valley, California, were
figured and described by Mr. Gabb in the first volume of the
Palæontology of California, forming a part of the series of
publications of the Geological Survey. The geological age
of the formation is that of the Hallstadt Limestone of the
Austrian Alps, or the Upper Trias, there being several species
at the above cited localities which are identical with European
species from this geological position, as determined by Mr.
Gabb, and confirmed by Von Hauer, the eminent palæontologist of
the Austrian Geological Survey.[27]
Since the publication of the Palæontology of California, Vol.
I, our stock of information with regard to the range and extent
of the Upper Trias, in Nevada, has been considerably increased
by the explorations of members of the Survey, and other persons
who have furnished us with specimens from their collections, or
given us information as to the character of the rocks noticed
by them on their lines of travel. We now know that the Triassic
rocks occupy a broad belt of country extending from the 117th
meridian west to the line dividing the States of Nevada and
California, and lying between the parallels of 38° and 40°.
Within the area thus designated, Triassic fossils have been
found at several localities, some of which are remarkable
for the number and good state of preservation of the various
species. Among these localities that of the Volcano District
is remarkable for the size and beauty of the Ammonites found
there. This is about thirty miles east of the south end of
Walker’s Lake. New Pass District, twenty miles west of Austin,
is also a rich locality of Triassic fossils At two or three
points within this Triassic area there are indications of the
existence of fossiliferous rocks occupying a higher position
than the Trias, and perhaps of Liassic Age; but the collections
have not yet been sufficiently studied to justify a positive
opinion on this point.
The sedimentary strata in this region are much broken up and
metamorphosed by intrusive rocks, of which there is a great
variety, granite being one of the most abundant. In the
southern portion of the area designated above as including
stratified rocks of Triassic age, a very large part of the
surface is occupied by volcanic materials, apparently a
continuation of the very recent volcanic masses near Mono Lake.
Lava is said to be the predominating rock over the region to
the southeast of Walker’s Lake, and as far in that direction
as the State line between Nevada and Arizona. The same is true
of the region to the north and northwest of Humboldt River,
where granitic and volcanic rocks are reported as occurring,
and where, so far as known, no fossils have yet been obtained.
This, however, is a region as yet but little explored, on
account of the number and warlike disposition of the Indians.
Between the 116th and 117th meridians is a region of granitic
and volcanic rocks, including two principal north and south
ranges, and many spurs and side ranges. The Toiyabe range,
in which are the mines of Austin, or the Reese River mines,
and which is a little east of the 117th meridian, is mostly
granitic. Stratified but highly metamorphosed rocks are said
by Mr. Blatchley to occur on its east flank, a few miles south
of Austin; these rocks contain fossils, which, however, are
nearly obliterated by metamorphism. A box of these, forwarded
some time since, has never been received, so that no positive
statement can be made as to the age of the formation. From Mr.
Blatchley’s description of the forms observed by him, it would
appear that we may have here rocks older than the Carboniferous.
East of the 116th meridian, our collections indicate the
existence of a broad area covered chiefly by rocks of
Carboniferous age, which seem to occupy most of the space
between the 115th and 116th meridians. The most western
locality of Carboniferous fossils known to us is that on the
west side of Diamond Valley, about 70 miles east of Austin, and
in lon. 116°. Here, in a dark, crystalline limestone, a variety
of species have been obtained by Mr. Clayton, all in a poor
state of preservation, but of which the Carboniferous age may
be without difficulty made out. Among the genera represented
at this locality are _Productus_—two species, one of which
is _P. semireticulatus_—_Spirifer_, and _Fusulina_, probably
_F. gracilis_, besides some indistinctly marked corals. The
indications are that these beds are of Lower Carboniferous age.
On the east side of Diamond Valley some imperfectly preserved
corals have been found, probably Devonian, or possibly
belonging to a still older group. The collections from the
region included between the 115th and 116th meridians indicate
the association of rocks of both Devonian and Carboniferous
age in the outcrops. Here our collections do not enable us to
do anything more than to corroborate the previously published
statements of Messrs. Meek and Engelmann in regard to the age
of the formations.
From the Silver Peak District, near lon. 117° 20´, and lat.
38°, an interesting collection of fossils has been brought
by Mr. Clayton. The specimens are unfortunately in a very
imperfect and fragmentary condition, but they contain the first
trilobites which have been brought to our office from any of
the Pacific States or Territories. The rock in which they occur
is a dark yellowish brown limestone, with intercalated layers
of light grey argillaceous shales. Some of them appear to
belong to the genus _Dalmania_, and, if so, the formation is
probably of Upper Silurian age, although possibly Devonian. The
careful examination of the corals which have been obtained in
this district by Mr. Clayton, and also by Mr. Blatchley, will
probably throw some additional light on the geological position
of these rocks.
[26] On Professor Hall’s Map “illustrating the general
geological features of the country west of the Mississippi
River,” which accompanied Emory’s Mexican Boundary Report,
and was published in 1857, all of a broad central strip
running along the parallel of 40° through the center of
Nevada, is colored as “lava and other igneous rocks,” while
the western portion of the State has several broad belts of
“Upper Carboniferous Limestone,” running north and south
across it from Walker’s Lake to Goose Lake. So far as I know,
no Carboniferous fossils have yet been found in that part of
Nevada.
[27] See Jahrbuch der K. K. Geologischen Reichsanstalt, 1865,
page 233 of the Proceedings.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 4TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Eleven members were present.
The following named persons were elected Resident Members: C. R. King,
Frederick Gutzkow, Theodore Blake, W. A. Goodyear, Charles Bonner, C. W.
Lightner, Hugo Hochholzer, James T. Gardner.
Donations to the Cabinet: Copper Ore, from Yarrow mine, near Lexington,
Santa Clara county, and Molybdenite, from Coloma, El Dorado county, from
Mr. Hanks. Land, river, and marine shells collected in Central and South
America by the late Thomas Bridges; presented by Mrs. Bridges. Two birds
from Mr. Lorquin. A collection of Australian plants, from Dr. Ferdinand
Müller. Lichens from Plover Bay, collected and presented by Mr. Dall.
Donations to the Library: Verhandlungen der kaiserlich en
Leopoldino-Carolinischen deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher, Band
XXXII, 1ste Abtheilung; 4to Dresden, 1865. Amtlicher Bericht über die
39te Versammlung Deutscher Naturforscher und Aerzte in Giessen im
September, 1864; 4to, Giessen, 1865. Jahrbuch der k. k. geolgischen
Reichsanstalt; 1865, Band XV. No. 4, roy. 8vo. Wien. Nachrichten von der
k. Gesellschaft und der Georg-Augusts-Universität, aus dem Jahre 1865;
12mo. Göttingen.
The above were presented by the different Societies named, and forwarded
through the Smithsonian Institution.
Mr. Dall made some remarks on the shells which have been collected by
various naturalists at and near Monterey.
He remarked that he himself had collected in two weeks no less
than two hundred and nineteen species, which number, added to
forty-four which have been previously reported as occurring
there, but which he did not obtain, gives two hundred and
sixty-three as the whole number of species of shells now known
to have been found at Monterey.
Of these were previously obtained only to the south of
Monterey, twenty-four; previously obtained only to the north
of Monterey, forty-two; previously obtained to north and
south, but not at Monterey, twenty-nine; previously obtained
at Monterey, one hundred and one; not obtained by Mr. Dall,
forty-four; new, or not reported, twenty-three.
Collections of shells are greatly needed from points between
San Francisco and the mouth of the Columbia river, and also
from points between San Diego and Cape St. Lucas, in order to
determine questions of geographical distribution.
A curious fact was noticed in _Chiton scabra_, of Reeve, which,
although belonging to a class of strictly marine animals,
was observed clinging to the rocks beyond the reach, except
in storms, of the highest spray. That it does not migrate is
proved by the fact that, living in nooks and crevices of the
rocks, it grows into the very form of the hole in which it
lives.
Mr. Dall also mentioned that, having visited and thoroughly
searched the original locality for _Helix Californiensis_, a
small island off Point Cypress, accessible only at low tide,
this species was found to be nearly exterminated. A letter
received from Dr. Canfield of Monterey since the visit of Mr.
Dall, confirms the fact of the extinction. This has been caused
apparently by a large millipede, which exists in great numbers,
and is extremely voracious.
Several of the shells found commonly at Monterey, are identical
with others collected during the past season on the coast of
Russian North America.
Professor Whitney made some remarks on the absence of the Northern Drift
formation from the western coast of North America and from the interior
of the continent, throughout the region to the southwest of the Missouri
River.
The term “Northern Drift” is understood to include the masses
of unstratified detrital materials and boulders which have been
transported and distributed by some general cause independent,
in a great degree, of the present conformation of the surface
and of the direction of the existing river courses. The
investigations of geologists have shown that the surface of
Canada, New England, and the States north of the Ohio and
north of the parallel of 39°, as far west as the Mississippi,
and even for some distance beyond it in that direction, are
covered by detrital materials which have been carried from the
North towards the South, and often for a great distance and in
immense masses.
The explorations of the Geological Survey of California have
demonstrated however, that there is no true Northern Drift
within the limits of this State. Our detrital materials,
which often form deposits of great extent and thickness, are
invariably found to have been dependent for their origin and
present position on causes similar to those now in action, and
to have been deposited on the flanks and at the bases of the
nearest mountain ranges by currents of water rushing down their
slopes. While we have abundant evidence of the former existence
of extensive glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, there is no reason
to suppose that this ice was to any extent an effective agent
in the transportation of the superficial detritus now resting
on the flanks of the mountains. The glaciers were confined
to the most elevated portions of the mountains, and although
the moraines which they have left as evidences of their
former extension are often large and conspicuous, they are
insignificant in comparison with the detrital masses formed
by aqueous erosion. There is nothing anywhere in California
which indicates a general glacial epoch during which ice
covered the whole country and moved bodies of detritus over the
surface, independently of its present configuration, as is seen
throughout the Northeastern States.
The same condition of things prevails in Nevada and through
Oregon, as far as explored by the members of the Survey. The
detritus seems always to be accumulated at the base of the
mountains—gravel, boulders, and sand lying below and not far
distant from the beds of rock of which these materials once
formed a part, and from which they appear to have been detached
by weathering and aqueous erosion.
From the observations of Messrs. Ashburner and Dall, it would
appear that no evidences of Northern Drift have yet been
detected on this Coast, even as far north as British Columbia
or Russian America. Neither of these gentlemen has observed
any indication of a transportation of drift materials from the
north towards the south, or of any condition of things similar
to that which must have existed in the Eastern States during
the diluvial epoch.
On examining the published records of explorers in the central
portion of the Continent, it will be noticed that there is
strong reason to believe that the absence of the Northern drift
formation is not peculiar to the States along the Pacific
Coast; but that the whole region west of the Rocky Mountains is
also destitute of any indications of a detrital formation moved
over the surface in one direction by any great general cause.
Judging from our present stock of evidence, I am inclined to
draw the line which limits the Northern Drift formation on the
south and west approximately from the mouth of the Ohio to the
headwaters of the Saskatchewan River.
It is evident that these facts should be taken into account
in theorizing on the origin and cause of the drift. If, as
stated above, the transporting agent has been limited in its
field of action to the eastern and northeastern portion of our
Continent, the phenomenon is seen at once to have become, in a
measure, a local one—at least much more local than has hitherto
been usually assumed by those geologists who have adopted the
glacier theory of the drift.
Professor Whitney remarked that he was particularly desirous of
introducing the subject on this occasion, in order that he might have
an opportunity of impressing on Mr. Dall, who is about to leave for the
Northern Coast, on the Telegraph Expedition, the importance of making a
thorough examination of the detrital formations and surface geology of
the country he may traverse.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 18TH, 1866.
Mr. Stearns in the Chair.
Thirteen members present.
The following named gentlemen were elected Resident Members: Baron F. von
Richthofen, E. B. Dorsey, W. W. Palmer, W. S. Keyes, M. L. Stangroom, J.
T. Watkins, Jr., W. G. W. Harford, Louis Falkenau.
Mr. H. G. Bloomer stated that he had identified the plant commonly known
as the Pepper Tree, as _Schinus mollis_.
Mr. W. H. Dall called attention to several errors in geography made in a
short chapter on geographical distribution of marine forms, forming the
conclusion of Agassiz’ “Sea Side Studies in Natural History,” recently
published. The errors were in regard to the Coast of California.
Mr. Stearns mentioned that in an hour and a half at Baulines Bay he had
collected about fifty species of mollusca.
Dr. Gibbons spoke of the progress of his observations on the connection
of the phases of the moon and the weather. His remarks were followed by
an animated discussion.
REGULAR MEETING, JULY 2D, 1866.
President in the Chair.
Ten members present, and Dr. Hillebrand, of Honolulu, a visitor.
The following gentlemen were elected Resident Members: Vitus
Wackenreuder, Sherman Day, Thomas Price, E. Wertheman.
Donations to the Cabinet:
Ores from the Eureka Mine, Grass Valley, and from the Othello Mine,
Pahranagat District, by Mr. Hanks; Steatite from Baulines, by Capt.
Morgan; Fungi from timber in the mines of Nevada, by Mr. Ewer.
Donations to the Library:
Congressional Documents, from Hon. John Conness. Transactions of the
Royal Society of Victoria, 1861-1864, vol. vi, 8vo., Melbourne, 1865;
Fragmenta Phytographiæ Australiæ, Nos. xxxi-xxxiv, 8vo.; Third and
Fourth Annual Reports of the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria, 2 8vo.
pamphlets, Melbourne, 1864: from F. Müller, M.D.
Dr. Gibbons called attention to the experiments and deductions of Dr.
Salisbury, of Ohio, in regard to malarial diseases and their supposed
vegetable origin. A discussion followed, in which Drs. Behr and Blake
took part.
Dr. Hillebrand gave an account of the Botanical Garden of Batavia. It
contains, among other plants, two hundred and sixty-two species of Palms.
He also gave an account of the introduction of the Cinchona, of various
species, into India and Java.
REGULAR MEETING, July 16th, 1866.
Mr. Stearns in the Chair.
Twelve members present, and Mr. J. S. Hittell and Dr. Macgowan as
visitors.
Dr. P. Comrie was elected a Corresponding Member, and Dr. S. Pawlicki a
Resident Member.
Donations to the Cabinet:
Land and Marine Shells from the East Indies and the Pacific Islands, by
Dr. Eckel.
Mr. Stearns presented the following paper:
List of Shells collected at Baulines Bay, California, June, 1866.
BY ROBT. E. C. STEARNS, CURATOR OF CONCHOLOGY, CAB. ACAD. NAT. SCIENCES.
The comparative scantiness of molluscan life in the immediate
vicinity of San Francisco, and of the coast for many miles in
a southerly direction, led me to believe that an exploration
of the small bays to the north of the Golden Gate would reveal
a very considerable increase both of species and individuals;
accordingly, upon the 14th, 23d, and 24th of last June, I
visited the small inlet known as Baulines Bay, and made an
examination of the sandspit which makes out from its southerly
shore, also the beach inside of and as far north as Duxbury
reef, which latter connects with the coast at a point about a
mile above the entrance to the bay. The unfavorable condition
of the tides prevented an exploration of the reef; as most of
the specimens were obtained from the drift, without doubt the
following list can be largely increased by a more thorough
examination of the locality, especially the reef, at extreme
low water and at different seasons of the year.
All of the specimens were in a condition sufficiently perfect
to make identification easy; a few forms, of which I had some
doubt, were submitted to Dr. J. G. Cooper.
Species marked with a * one specimen; thus † two specimens; of
the remainder from three specimens upwards were collected.
1. Zirphea crispata, Linn.*
2. Pholadidea ovoidea, Gould.
3. Parapholas Californica, Conr.*
4. Saxicava pholadis, Linn.
5. Platyodon cancellatus, Conr.
6. Cryptomya Californica, Conr.
7. Schizothærus Nuttalli, Conr.
8. Clidiophora punctata, Conr.†
9. Solen sicarius, Gould.*
10. Machæra patula, Dixon.
11. Macoma secta, Conr.
12. Macoma var. edulis, Nutt.
13. Macoma nasuta, Conr.
14. Tellina Bodegensis, Hds.
15. Semele rubro-lineata, auct. non Conr.*
16. Tapes staminea, Conr.
17. Tapes var. diversa, Sby.
18. Tapes var. ruderata, Desh.
19. Saxidomus aratus, Gould.
20. Petricola carditoides, Conr.
21. Rupellaria lamellifera, Conr.*
22. Chama exogyra, Conr.*
23. Cardium corbis, Mart.
24. Lazaria sub-quadrata, Carp.
25. Mytilus Californianus, Conr.
26. Mytilus edulis, Linn.
27. Adula stylina, Carp.†
28. Pecten hastatus, Sby.*
29. Hinnites giganteus, Gray.
30. Placunanomia macroschisma,—Desh.†
31. Cryptochiton Stelleri, Midd.
32. Tonicia lineata, Wood.*
33. Mopalia muscosa, Gould.
34. Mopalia vespertina, Gould.*
35. Trachydermon Nuttallii, Carp.
36. Nacella insessa, Hds.
37. Nacella instabilis, Gould.*
38. Nacella ? var. triangularis, Carp.†
39. Acmæa persona, Esch.
40. Acmæa spectrum, Rve.
41. Acmæa pelta, Esch.
42. Acmæa var. asmi, Midd.
43. Acmæa patina, Esch.
44. Acmæa scabra, Rve. (var.)
45. Scurria mitra, Esch.
46. Clypidella (bimaculata, Dall, ms.)*
47. Glyphis aspera, Esch.
48. Glyphis densiclathrata, Rve.
49. Haliotis rufescens, Swains.*
50. Chlorostoma funebrale, A. Ad.
51. Chlorostoma brunneum, Phil.
52. Chlorostoma Pfeifferi, Phil.
53. Calliostoma costatum, Mart.†
54. Phorcus pulligo, Mart.
55. Margarita acuticostata, Carp.*
56. Crepidula adunca, Sby.
57. Hipponyx cranioides, Carp.
58. Cerithidea sacrata, Gould.
59. Bittium filosum, Gould.
60. Bittium armillatum, Carp.*
61. Littorina scutulata, Gould.
62. Lacuna unifasciata, Carp.
63. Lacuna solidula, Lov.
64. Scalaria indianorum, Carp.
65. Opalia borealis, Gould.†
66. Lunatia Lewisii, Gould.*
67. Olivella biplicata, Sby.
68. Olivella intorta, Carp.
69. Nassa fossata, Gould.
70. Nassa mendica, Gould.
71. Nassa Cooperi, Fbs.*
72. Amycla carinata, Hds.
73. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.
74. Purpura crispata, Chem, (smooth var.)
75. Purpura var. ostrina, Gould.
76. Monoceras engonatum, Conr.
77. Ocinebra lurida, Midd.
78. Ocinebra var. aspera, Baird.
79. Ocinebra var. munda, Carp.
80. Ocinebra interfossa, Carp.
81. Cerastoma foliatum, Gmel.
82. Cerastoma Nuttallii. Conr.*
83. (?) Muricidea Californica, Hinds.*
84. Chrysodomus dirus, Rve.
Of No. 8, two odd valves, and of No. 9, a single perfect
specimen on sandspit; 15, an odd valve, one perfect specimen
found by Col. Jewett, who accompanied me; 49, one specimen;
(I am informed by the residents of the town that this species
is abundant at a point about ten miles up the coast); 50 and
51, very common (young specimens frequently and mature shells
sometimes umbilicated); 68, frequent; a well-marked species;
(often confounded with the young shells of 67; the young shells
of 67 are sometimes adorned with zigzag brown markings upon a
light ground, otherwise, no resemblance between them; 68 is in
shape between 67 and O. _bœtica_, of Carpenter); 71 is but an
extreme form of 70, as I am convinced by an examination of not
less than one thousand specimens, received by me from Monterey;
72—if “_gausapata_” and “_Californiana_” belong to “_Amycla_,”
this certainly should be placed with them; 76, particularly
abundant (some 2000 living specimens collected; June 23d, this
species had just commenced depositing their pink-tinted eggs,
a few of which were obtained); 83, the immature shells of this
species closely resemble some specimens of 78.
Professor Whitney exhibited a portion of a human skull recently deposited
at the office of the State Geological Survey, by Dr. Thomas Jones, of
Murphy’s Camp, Calaveras County. He read the following:
Notice of a Human Skull, recently taken from a Shaft near Angel’s,
Calaveras County.
BY J. D. WHITNEY.
This skull was taken from a shaft sunk on a mining claim at
Altaville, near Angel’s, in Calaveras County, by Mr. James
Matson. By him it was given to Mr. Scribner, of Angel’s, and
by Mr. Scribner to Dr. Jones. Mr. Matson states that the skull
was found at a depth of about one hundred and thirty feet, in
a bed of gravel five feet in thickness, above which are four
beds of consolidated volcanic ash, locally known as “lava”;
these volcanic beds are separated from each other by layers of
gravel, and Mr. Matson gives the following as the section of
the various deposits passed through in sinking the shaft, which
is one hundred and fifty-three feet deep, to the bed rock:
1. Black lava 40 feet.
2. Gravel 3 ”
3. Light lava 30 ”
4. Gravel 5 ”
5. Light lava 15 ”
6. Gravel 25 ”
7. Dark brown lava 9 ”
8. Gravel 5 ”
9. Red lava 4 ”
10. Red Gravel 17 ”
---
153 feet.
The skull was found, according to Mr. Matson, in bed number
8, just above the lowest stratum of lava. With the skull were
found fragments of silicified wood, the whole being covered and
partly incrusted with stony matter, so that the fact of its
being a skull was not recognized until after it had passed into
Mr. Scribner’s hands, by whom it was cleaned and presented to
Dr. Jones.
The skull is said by Mr. Matson to have been taken from the
shaft February 25th, 1866, and it came into my hands in the
July following, when I immediately proceeded to the locality;
but found the shaft temporarily abandoned and partly filled
with water, so that it was impossible at that time to make any
farther search in the bed from which the skull was procured.
A careful inquiry into all the circumstances of the alleged
discovery, and an interview with all the persons who had been
in any way connected with it, impressed upon my mind the
conviction that the facts were as stated above, and that there
was every reason to believe that the skull really came from
the position assigned to it by Mr. Matson. Still, as it is
evidently highly desirable that as large an amount of evidence
as possible should be accumulated in regard to a discovery
of so much importance, I made arrangements that I should be
notified whenever the shaft was reopened and the water taken
out, and hope at a future meeting to be able to lay before
the Academy the results of a personal examination of this
interesting locality, and of further excavations in the bed
from which the skull was taken.
Assuming the correctness of Mr. Matson’s statements, this relic
of human antiquity is easily seen to be an object of the
greatest interest to the ethnologist as well as the geologist.
The previous investigations of the Geological Survey have
clearly demonstrated the fact that man was contemporaneous
with the mastodon and elephant, since the works of his hands
have been repeatedly found in such connection with the bones
of these animals that it would be impossible to account for
the facts observed on any other theory. (See Geology of
California, Vol. I, p. 252.) But in the case of the skull now
laid before the Academy, the geological position to which it
must be assigned is, apparently, still lower than that of the
mastodon, since the remains of this animal, as well as the
elephant, which are so abundantly scattered over this State,
are always (so far as our observations yet extend) limited in
their position to the superficial deposits, and have never been
found at any considerable depth below the surface. There is
every reason to believe that these great proboscidians lived at
a very recent date, (geologically speaking) and posterior to
the epoch of the existence of glaciers in the Sierra Nevada,
and also after the close of the period of activity of the now
extinct volcanoes of that great chain. In fact, they belong to
the present epoch. The bed, on the other hand, in which this
skull was found, must have been deposited at a time when the
volcanoes of the Sierra were still in vigorous action, and, as
seems to us highly probable from a careful consideration of the
geological structure of the region, previous to the glacial
epoch of the Sierra, and also previous to the erosion of the
cañons of the present rivers. No pains will be spared, however,
to investigate all the conditions of the occurrence of this
skull, and they will be fully reported on at a future time.
The portions of the skull which are preserved are, the frontal
bone, the nasal bone, the superior maxillary bone of the right
side, the malar bones, a part of the temporal bone of the left
side, with the mastoid process and the zygomatic process,
and the whole of the orbits of both eyes. The base of the
skull is embedded in a mass of bone breccia and small pebbles
of volcanic rock, incrusted with a thin layer of carbonate
of lime, which appears once to have extended over the whole
surface of the skull and of which a considerable portion still
remains, the rest having been removed apparently in the process
of cleaning. Under the malar bone of the left side, a snail
shell is lodged, and partly concealed by the breccia of bone
wedged in the cavity. This shell is the _Helix Mormonum_,
according to Dr. Cooper, a species now living in the region
where the skull was obtained. Although not competent to express
a decided opinion on the subject of the ethnological relations
of this skull, I should suppose that it belonged to the type
of the Indians now inhabiting the foot-hills of the Sierra. It
is certain that the facial angle is not one indicating a low
order of intellect. The skull, however, seems to have been very
thick and solid. It will be placed in the hands of competent
craniologists for examination and description, as soon as
reliable information has been obtained with regard to its
occurrence, or whenever all has been ascertained that can be.
Dr. Macgowan made some remarks on the occurrence of earthquakes on the
coast of China. He stated that, since the historic period, no great
damage has been done by them.
Dr. Kellogg stated, that on a trip from San Rafael to Baulines Bay he had
discovered a species of oak said to be equal to the live-oak for ship
building.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 6TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Twenty members present.
Dr. D. J. Macgowan was elected a Corresponding Member.
Dr. Behr presented the following paper:
Enumeration of the Californian species of Lycæna.
BY H. BEHR, M.D.
The genus _Lycæna_ is much more extensively represented in
California than in the Atlantic States, where, with the
exception of a few Arctic species, only the most cosmopolitan
types are represented, such as that of _Argiolus_ and that of
_Amyntas_.
California has about the same number of species as a
corresponding area in the Mediterranean basin. The species are
never identical with gerontogeic forms; but there is scarcely
a single European type that does not find its analogue on
the Pacific coast: a circumstance of which the celebrated
lepidopterologist, Dr. Boisduval, has made good use in naming
many Californian species with reference to the best known
European species of the same type, thus:
_Europe._ _California._
Pheretes, Pheres,
Acis, Antiacis,
Aegon, Antægon,
Icarius, Icarioides.
1. _Lycæna Pardalis_, Behr.
Alæ ♂ ris superne omnes cæruleæ, marginem versus fuscescentes,
limbo albido cinctæ.
Alæ ♀ næ superne omnino fuscæ, marginem versus magis obscuræ,
anticæ linea discoidali instructae.
Alæ subtus cinereæ, linea discoidali serieque punctorum
atrorum, halone parum distincto cinctorum signatæ. Posticæ
marginem versus lunulas exhibent pallidiores quam puncta seriei
et lineæ discoidalis.
This species is the only Californian yet known that approaches
the type of the European species _L. Arion_, _L. Euphemus_, _L.
Iolas_, _L. Alcon_, _L. Erebus_. It approaches most nearly to
_L. Alcon_ of Europe, and is intermediate between that and the
European _L. Acis_.
The only habitat of this species yet known to me, is in the
Contra Costa Coast Range, in the vicinity of San Antonio, where
it frequents steep, grassy hill-sides. It is found at the end
of May and beginning of June, and is rather rare.
2. _L. Antiacis_, Boisd.
May. Different localities.
3. _L. Xerxes_, Boisd.
May. Lone Mountain, near San Francisco; rather rare.
There exists no European analogue to this very peculiar type.
4. _L. Piasus_, Boisd.
Very common throughout middle California. It replaces the
Atlantic _L. Pseudargiolus_, and _L. neglecta_, Edw., as well
as the European _L. Argiolus_; and belongs to one of the most
cosmopolitan types of the genus. The caterpillar feeds on the
flowers of the _Pavia_, unlike its European representative,
which feeds on the leaves of _Rhamnus frangula_.
5. _L. Pheres_, Boisd.
May and June. Lone Mountain, near San Francisco. I do not know
of any other locality.
6. _L. Heteronea_, Boisd.
Several localities. May and June. Likes to repose on
_Eriogonum_, and is only to be found where some species of this
genus is abundant. Probably the caterpillar feeds on the flower
of this plant. This species is a very fine analogue of the _L.
Daphnis_ of Europe.
7. _L. Lorquini_, Behr.
Alæ ♂ ris et ♀ næ superne fuscæ, a radice ultra medium pruina
cærulea obtectæ, limbo tessellato. Alæ ♀ næ vitta marginali
pallide fulvescenti instructæ.
Alæ subtus cinereæ, anticæ puncto duplici radicali, linea
discoidali serieque punctorum necnon lunulis marginalibus
instructæ; posticæ macula alba pro linea discoidali signatæ
vittaque alba quæ occupat spatium inter seriem punctorum et
lunulas marginales.
I possess a pair of this _Lycæna_, through the kindness of our
celebrated entomologist, Mr. Lorquin, who caught the species in
the higher Sierra Nevada.
8. _L. Icarioides_, Boisd.
May and June, Marin County.
9. _L. Dædalus_, Behr.
Icarioidi similis sed subtus, quæ puncta in Icarioide sunt
rotundissima, in Dædalo sunt transverse producta, lineaque
discoidalis alarum posticarum, quæ in Icarioide deest et pro
qua macula alba subtriquetra militat, hac in specie linea
transversa distinctissime nigra vindicatur.
The three specimens in my collection, I received through the
kindness of Mr. Chas. Hoffman, of the Geological Survey, who
collected them in the Alpine regions around the head waters of
the Tuolumne River.
10. _L. Sæpiolus_, Boisd.
11. _L. Aehaja_, Behr.
Alæ utriusque sexus supra fuscæ, margine lineaque discoidali
nigriscente, vittaque fulva marginali signatæ ♀ næ magis
obscuræ.
Alæ subtus cinereæ, linea discoidali serieque punctorum
nigrorum dilutius cinctorum refracta signatæ. Posticæ punctis
tribus nigris dilutius cinctis radicalibus insuper instructæ.
Lunularum series duplex, interior nigra exterior dilutior,
apicem versus analem puncta nonnulla aurantiaca amplectens.
This species I received also from Mr. Hoffmann, who found it
associated with _L. Dædalus_. It is the Californian analogue
of the European _Agestis_, and produces on one somewhat the
impression of a Polyommatus.
12. _L. Cilia_, Behr.
Alæ ♂ supra argenteo glaucæ, anticæ margine fusca lata, posticæ
angusta instructæ; anticæ linea discoidali posticæ serie
punctorum marginali, cui intus lunulæ submarginales præcedunt
signatæ. Limbus subtessellatus.
Alæ ♀ næ fuscæ æque ac ♂ ris signatæ. Limbus distincte
tessellatus.
Alæ ♂ ris anticæ subtus albidæ linea discoidali, serie
punctorum necnon puncto radicali duplici ornatæ; lunulæ
marginales duplices; posticæ a radice ad seriem punctorum
cinereæ, punctis tribus radicalibus, serieque punctorum
nigrorum lactea cinctorum, maculaque discoidali lactea ornatæ;
a serie punctorum usque ad marginem alæ posticæ lacteæ, serie
lunularum duplici versus angulum analem luteo tincta instructæ.
♀ næ alæ subtus æque signatæ ac ♂ ris sed anticæ æque ad
posticæ dimidiatæ et quæ pars est cinerea in ♂ colore fusco
obtegitur.
This species I also received from the Geological Survey. It was
found at an elevation of 11,000 feet and over, on the snowy
heights surrounding the headwaters of the Tuolumne River. It
belongs to the type of the European _Orbitulus_, which is found
in similar regions of the Alps.
13. _L. Argyrotoxus_, Behr.
Alæ ♂ cinctæ supra lilacinæ fusco marginatæ albo limbatæ, ♂ næ
supra fuscæ, in anticis fascia in posticis lunulis marginalibus
fulvis signatæ.
Alæ ♀ ris subtus albidæ, ♀ næ lacteæ. Linea discoidalis parum
distincta. Series punctorum vix halone cinctorum in anticis
stricta, in posticis refracta. Pars radicalis anticarum
concolor, posticarum nonnullis punctis minimis sed distincte
halone cinctis signata; lunularum series marginalium duplex
sed parum distincta, spatia fulva amplectens, quæ tamen non
semper distingui possunt, in posticis lunulæ exteriores seriei
splendore metallico micantes.
Alæ ♀ næ subtus magis distincte signatæ; spatia fulva
submarginalia nec non splendor metallicus lunularum distinctius
videtur.
This species is found in the Sierra Nevada. It is very similar
to _L. Scudderi_ of the Atlantic coast, and may prove to be
only a local variety of that species, from which it differs
chiefly in the shape and arrangement of the submarginal
markings, which, however, in the Atlantic coast specimens, are
much more distinct than in those from California.
14. _L. Calchas._
♂? Alæ ♀ næ supra fuscæ radicem versus pruina cærulea abductæ,
anticæ linea discoidali, posticæ punctis marginalibus
nigrescentibus, lunulisque submarginalibus fulvis signatæ.
Alæ subtus cinereæ, linea discoidali, serieque punctorum
quadrangularium albo marginatorum signatæ. Lunularum series
submarginalis duplex, lunulas fulvas includens, in posticis
intus triangulis albis suffulta. Lunulas marginales in posticis
metallice micant.
Of this species I possess only one specimen; but this differs
so much from the other California Lycænæ, that I consider
myself justified in giving a diagnosis of it, although, as a
rule, descriptions of Lepidoptera belonging to complicated and
difficult groups should not be given without ample material on
which to base them.
This specimen is from Mono Lake, and was collected by the
Geological Survey.
15. _L. Battoides._
Alæ ♂ ris supra azureæ, late nigro marginatæ tessellato
limbatæ, ♀ næ fuscæ, posticæ lunulis nonnullis fulvis
submarginalibus instructæ, omnium limbus tessellatus.
Alæ utriusque sexus subtus albidæ, punctis radicalibus duobus,
in anticis in fasciam transversam valde refractam nigram
confluentibus, linea discoidali, serie punctorum ordinariorum
quadrangularium nigrorum, duplici serie submarginali, necnon
margine nigro instructæ. Alæ posticæ tribus punctis radicalibus
nigris et ad seriem punctorum submarginalium internam fascia
fulva ornatæ, quæ nec seriem punctorum externam neque apicem
anteriorem attingit.
This species was collected at an elevation of eleven thousand
feet, on the head-waters of the San Joaquin River, by the
Geological Survey. It represents the European _L. Battus_.
16. _L. Enoptes_, Boisd.
Hills near the Mission Dolores, and in the San Bruno Hills.
This species is rather rare. It represents the European _L.
Aegon_.
17. _L. Antægon_, Boisd.
The most common species near San Francisco, and found nearly
everywhere through Central California. There are several
generations succeeding each other through the year. A specimen
I received from the head-waters of the San Joaquin River
differs somewhat from this; but as I have only one of this
variety, I will not venture to express a decided opinion
in regard to it. It is, perhaps, an Alpine variety, and
corresponding with a similar one of _L. Sæpiolus_, of which I
received several specimens forming a series of transitions from
the common type.
18.
There is a species approaching the European _L. Agestis_,
and which I received from the head-waters of the San Joaquin
River; but the specimens in my possession are too imperfect to
allow of an accurate description being given.
19. _L. Amyntula_, Boisd.
From the Contra Costa hills, where, in May and June, it
frequents the flowers of the Pavia, on which the caterpillar
probably feeds, as does that of _L. Piasus_.
20. _L. exilis_, Boisd.
This species is rare, and so small that it might easily be
overlooked. It frequents low meadows and salt marshes, where it
loves to repose on the succulent stems of Salicornia, and on
the flowers of Frankenia. At present it seems to be the only
Californian representative of _L. Telicanus_ and _Boeticus_
of Europe; but I think that several species of this type will
be found in Southern California, when that part of the State
has been better examined. I have a specimen of _L. exilis_,
collected by Baron de Terloo, in the Sierra Madre, between
Mazatlan and Durango; and I received, from the same gentleman,
several species of the same type from that locality.
It is this type which is so numerously represented in the
tropical regions of the old world, and also in extra-tropical
Australia. Our depauperated species, _L. exilis_, with its two
European congeners, are, so far as I know, the only ones of
this type which are found in the northern hemisphere beyond the
tropics.
All the other Californian species belong to types of the
temperate zone, and are such as are rarely met with in tropical
countries, or in the southern hemisphere even out of the
tropics. The type of _Amyntula_ is the only one which has a
series of species in tropical Asia; but, as far as I know,
none in tropical America. The type of _Piasus_, also, has some
representatives in the tropics of both continents, one of them
being even identified with a species of Southern Europe.
As to the other types, these species are essentially endemic;
and even among the Arctic species there seems not to be any
amphigeic one. As the males vary very little, and the females
only on their upper side, there is little difficulty in
transcribing and recognizing them. If among our species there
is any one which is identical with an Atlantic one, it is
probably Argyrotoxus, which may be a local modification of _L.
Scudderi_, Edw.
Mr. Stearns read the following paper:
List of Shells collected at Santa Barbara and San Diego by Mr. J.
Hepburn, in February-March, 1866.
WITH REMARKS UPON SOME OF THE SPECIES,
BY ROBT. E. C. STEARNS, CURATOR OF CONCHOLOGY, CAL. ACAD. NAT. SCIENCES.
Through the kindness of Mr. Hepburn, well known as an
enthusiastic and intelligent collector, I have been permitted
to examine the collections made by him at the localities
referred to, from which I have compiled the following list.
The remarks in connection with a few of the species are not
wholly based upon the specimens obtained by Mr. Hepburn, but
rather upon specimens received by me from various sources, and
forming a portion of my private collection.
The figures in the left hand column refer to the numbers in Mr.
P. P. Carpenter’s Supplementary Report (1863) to the British
Association.
12. Pholadidea penita; San Diego.
13. Pholadidea ovoidea, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
17. Saxicava pholadis, Linn.; Santa Barbara.
20. Platyodon cancellatus. Conr.; Santa Barbara.
21. Cryptomya Californica, Conr.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
22. Schizothærus Nuttallii, Conr.; Santa Barbara.
35. Mytilimeria Nuttallii, Cour.; Santa Barbara.
43. Macoma secta, Conr.; San Diego.
54. Tellina Bodegensis, Hinds.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
59. Semele decisa, Conr.; San Diego.
64. Cumingia Californica, Conr.; Santa Barbara.
65. Donax Californicus, Conr.; San Diego.
74. Amiantis callosa, Conr.; San Diego.
75. Pachydesma crassatelloides, Conr.; San Diego.
77. Psephis Lordi, Baird; San Diego.
81. Chione succincta, Val.; San Diego.
82. Chione excavata, Carp.; San Diego.
84. Chione fluctifragra, Sby.; San Diego.
85. Tapes tenerrima, Carp.; Santa Barbara.
88. Saxidomus aratus, Gld.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
93. Petricola carditoides, Conr.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
97. Cardium corbis, Mart.; Santa Barbara.
103. Liocardium elatum, Sby.; San Diego.
110. Lazaria subquadrata, Carp.; Santa Barbara.
112. Lucina Californica, Conr.; Santa Barbara.
118. Diplodonta orbella, Gld.; San Diego.
119. Kellia Laperouseii, Desh.; Santa Barbara.
134. Adula falcata, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
?160. Pecten ventricosus, Sby.; San Diego.
162_b_. Pecten latiauratus, Conr.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
162. Pecten monotimeris, Conr.; Santa Barbara.
165. Hinnites giganteus, Gray; Santa Barbara.
166_c_. Ostrea var rufoides, Gld.
171. Bulla nebulosa, Gld.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
175. Haminea virescens, Sby.; San Diego.
199. Melampus olivaceus, Carp.; San Diego.
243. Acmæa patina, Esch.; Santa Barbara.
247. Acmæa spectrum, Rve.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
245. Acmæa persona, Esch.; Santa Barbara.
Nacella vernalis, (Dall Ms.); Santa Barbara.
249. Lottia gigantea, Gray; Santa Barbara.
250. Scurria mitra, Esch.; Santa Barbara.
252. Rowellia radiata, Cooper; Santa Barbara.
253. Fissurella volcano, Rve.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
261. Haliotis splendens, Rve.; San Diego.
265. Phasianella compta, Gld.; San Diego.
266. Pomaulax undosus, Wood; Santa Barbara.
269. Leptothyra sanguinea, Carp.; Santa Barbara.
275. Trochiscus Norrissii, Sby.; Santa Barbara.
277. Chlorostoma funebrale, A. Ad.; Santa Barbara.
279. Chlorostoma brunneum, Phil.; Santa Barbara.
281. Chlorostoma aureotinctum, Fbs.; Santa Barbara.
282. Omphalius fuscescens, Phil.; San Diego.
283. Calliostoma canaliculatum, Mart.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
305. Crucibulum spinosum, Sby.; San Diego.
[28]306. Crepidula aculcata, Gmel.; Santa Barbara.
[28]307. —— ?dorsata, Brod.; Santa Barbara.
[28]308. —— excavata, Brod.; Santa Barbara.
[28]311. —— navicelloides, Nutt.; Santa Barbara.
[28]311. —— var. nummaria, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
[28]311. —— var. explanata, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
[28]314. Hipponyx cranioides, Carp.; Santa Barbara.
328. Cerithidea sacrata, Gld.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
329. Bittium filosum, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
329_b_. —— var. esuriens, Carp.; Santa Barbara.
333. —— armillatum, Carp.; Santa Barbara.
337. Littorina scutulata, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
366. Trivia Californica, Gray; Santa Barbara.
367. —— Solandri, Gray; Santa Barbara.
368. Erato vitellina, Hinds; Santa Barbara.
371. Drillia inermis, Hds.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
374. Drillia torosa, Carp.; Santa Barbara.
388. Conus Californicus, Hds.; Santa Barbara.
409. Scalaria Indianorum, Carp.; San Diego.
424. Cerithiopsis assimilata, C. B. Ad.; Santa Barbara.
436. Ranella Californica, Hds.; Santa Barbara.
=A= Surcula Carpenteriana, Gabb.; Santa Barbara.
437. Mitra maura, Swains; Santa Barbara.
442. Volvarina varia, Sby.; Santa Barbara.
443. Olivella biplicata, Sby.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
444. —— bœtica, Carp.; San Diego.
445. Nassa fossata, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
446. —— perpinguis, Hds.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
448. —— mendica, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
449. —— Cooperi, Fbs.; Santa Barbara.
450. —— tegula, Rve.; San Diego.
457. Amycla carinata, Hds.; Santa Barbara.
456. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.; Santa Barbara.
460_d_. Purpura saxicola, Val., var. ostrina, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
Purpura triserialis, Blainv.; Santa Barbara.
461. Monoceras engonatum, Conr.; Santa Barbara.
466. Cerastoma foliatum, Gmel; Santa Barbara.
467. —— Nuttalli, Conr.; San Diego and Santa Barbara.
473. Muricidea Californica, Hds.; San Diego.
483. Fusus ambustus, Gld.; Santa Barbara.
REMARKS.
269. _Leptothyra sanguinea_, Carp. Common at Monterey; all
shades of color from light red to very dark purple; sometimes
broadly banded with white; another variety is marked with
irregular whitish streaks, causing a resemblance to the young
shells of 282, _Omphalius fuscescens_.
275. _Trochiscus Norrisii_, Sby. The apex whorls of the young
shells have a spiral band tesselated with white and red.
388. _Conus Californicus_, Hds. When young, the shells of this
species are ornamented with yellowish brown markings upon a
light bluish ground.
=A= _Surcula Carpenteriana_, Gabb. The most perfect recent
specimen of this rare species that I have seen (described by
Mr. Gabb in Vol. III, Cal. Acad. Pro. p. 183) was obtained by
Mr. Hepburn; when perfect, one of the finest shells of the
upper Californian province; the specimen referred to is of a
clear light salmon color, traversed spirally by narrow bands
or broad lines of reddish brown, and resembling in its general
coloring that equally fine shell _Narona Cooperi_, Gabb,
described as above, p. 186.
460_d_. _Purpura_ var. _ostrina_, Gld. Deposits its yellowish
eggs on the rocks at Black Point and the Cliff House near San
Francisco, in the latter part of June (1865) and the middle of
July (1866).
75. _Pachydesma crassatelloides_, Conr. Valves frequently
marked with broad radiating bands of light brown.
266. _Pomaulax undosus_, Wood. Young shells approach closely to
the immature form of Pachypoma gibberosum, Chemn.
281. Mr. Carpenter remarks in his supplementary Report to the
B. A., in connection with _Chlorostoma aureotinctum_, Fbs.:
“mouth orange spotted.” I should amend this so as to read
_umbilicus_ stained with orange.
456. _Amphissa corrugata_, Rve. This species assumes nearly
every shade of color and an innumerable variety of markings;
the latter being generally some shade of brown upon a lighter
colored ground.
74. _Amiantis callosa_, Conr. An aberrant form of this species
in my collection suggests, in outline, Dosinia.
88. _Saxidomus aratus_, Gld. A single specimen of a young shell
of this species (Coll. Stearns) is prettily marked with brown
upon the posterior dorsal portion of the valves.
[28] Compared and agree with Smithsonian Inst. types in Cal.
Acad. Collection.
Professor Whitney read the following:
Notice of the Occurrence of a Tungstate of Lime and Copper in Lower
California.
BY J. D. WHITNEY.
Among some specimens brought from the vicinity of La Paz,
Lower California, by Mr. Rémond, about three years since, was
one which attracted my attention, as it seemed to contain an
undescribed mineral. I therefore made an analysis of it and
found it to consist of tungstic acid, oxide of copper, and
lime, with a small quantity of water, probably not essential to
its composition. The results of the analysis were as follows:
Tungstic Acid 79.69
Oxide of Copper 6.77
Lime 10.95
Protoxide of Iron .31
Water 1.40
-----
99.12
On examining to ascertain if there was any known mineral having
a composition similar to this, I found that a tungstate of lime
containing copper had been described by Domeyko as occurring
in the copper mines of Llamuco, near Chuapa, in the province
of Coquimbo, in Chili, where it was discovered by M. Gay
(Annales des Mines (4) iii, 15). That mineral, however, only
contained 3.3 per cent. of oxide of copper, while the one of
which the analysis is given above contains 6.77 per cent. of
that substance. M. Domeyko calls the mineral analyzed by him
“Scheelin calcaire cuivreux,” but does not attempt to give a
formula for it, or to decide whether it is entitled to rank as
a distinct species.
The Lower California mineral, of which the analysis is given
above, occurs in a red metamorphic rock, associated with black
tourmaline. It is crystalline-granular in structure, with a
distinct cleavage in one direction, and seems to be homogeneous
throughout. Its hardness is about that of Scheelite; luster,
highly vitreous; streak, very light greenish-gray; color,
pistachio green, passing to olive and leek green. Before the
blowpipe in the glass tube it blackens, and gives off a little
water. On charcoal it blackens instantly, becomes rounded on
the edges, with a little intumescence, and gradually acquires
the appearance of a slag, in which numerous fine points
of metallic copper are seen. With the fluxes it gives the
reactions of tungstic acid and copper. It is easily dissolved
by chlorohydric acid, with separation of tungstic acid.
From the appearance of the mineral, I am inclined to regard it
as having a definite composition, represented by the formula
CuO WO₃+2 (CaO WO₃); this formula would require the following
composition:
Tungstic Acid 78.43
Oxide of Copper 8.95
Lime 12.62
------
100.00
This agrees pretty well with the results of the analysis,
although it is desirable that more specimens should be
examined, and if possible from other localities. I am informed
by Mr. Ashburner that he has noticed this mineral at more than
one mine in Lower California.
At all events, I would suggest for the mineral in question the
name of _Cuproscheelite_, as convenient for designating it, and
as expressing its chemical and mineralogical relations, whether
it be considered as a mineral substance having a distinct
and fixed composition, or only as a variety of Scheelite,
containing a large but uncertain amount of oxide of copper.
Dr. Ayres called attention to the fact that a carcase of a Black fish
could be procured at the Potrero, at a small expense, and a subscription
was raised for its purchase.
Professor Whitney exhibited a branch of _Sequoia sempervirens_, taken
from a small tree growing near San Rafael, of which the leaves are
entirely white. The tree presents a very singular appearance, surrounded
as it is by other redwoods of the usual color. The fact was elicited that
similar blanched redwoods exist in other localities in the Coast Ranges;
but no explanation or theory was offered to account for this curious,
abnormal blanching of the foliage of a single species—a similar condition
of things not having been noticed, so far as known, in any other species
than the redwood.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 20TH, 1866.
Dr. Kellogg in the chair.
Ten members present.
Messrs. W. H. Knight and A. Godefroy were elected Resident Members.
Donations to the Library: Bibliography of North American Conchology
previous to the year 1860; by W. G. Binney, Parts 1 and 2, 8vo.,
Washington, 1864. Cretaceous Reptiles of the United States, by J.
Leidy, 4to., Washington, 1866. Palæontology of the Upper Missouri;
Invertebrates, by F. B. Meek and F. V. Hayden, Part 1, 4to., Washington,
1865. List of the Coleoptera of North America, by J. L. Leconte, M.D.
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.
[Illustration: 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,
Part 1, 8vo., New Haven, 1866. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural
History, 4to., Vol. 1, Part 1, Boston, 1866. Proceedings of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Nos. 2 and 3, 1866, 8vo., Phil.,
1866. Proceedings of the Essex Institute, vol. 5, No. 1, 8vo., Salem,
1866. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. 10,
Sheets 4-23, 8vo., Boston, 1866. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History
of New York, vol. 8, Nos. 6-12, 8vo., New York, 1865-6. Proceedings of
the Chicago Academy of Sciences, vol. 1, Sheets 1-3, 8vo., Chicago, 1866.
Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 7, 8vo.,
Boston, 1865-6. All the above were presented by the societies or authors
named; and the foreign publications were received through the Smithsonian
Institution.
Mr. Stearns exhibited specimens of _Petricola carditoides_ and
_Pholadidea ovoidea_, in unusually hard serpentine, collected by himself
at Fort Point, San Francisco.
Professor Whitney read some extracts from letters just received from
Mr. Rémond, giving an account of his geological explorations in Peru and
Chile. Mr. Rémond has obtained a suite of plants from the coal-bearing
formation of Northern Chile, sufficient in number to fix its age as
Triassic. Two species, one a _Pecopteris_, the other a _Pterophyllum_,
are apparently identical with those found with the coal near Los Bronces,
in Sonora, Mexico, by Mr. Rémond. Above the coal-bearing conglomerates
and sandstones, there are stratified porphyries, and above these,
fossiliferous limestones of Liassic age. The fossils in this last
mentioned formation are, in general, similar to those found by Domeyko
and Darwin, at Las Juntas and Tres Cruces; but Mr. Rémond obtained
several new species. He also collected a large number of species in the
Tertiaries of Coquimbo and Caldera. Farther, he obtained fossils in
sufficient numbers from the rocks in which are the famous silver mines of
Chañarcillo and Tres Puntas, to fix their age as belonging to the Lower
Cretaceous.
Professor Whitney commented on the importance of these investigations,
especially that concerning the age of the Chile coal. It is very
interesting to know that the same formation carries coal in Chile which
has been found to bear that indispensable material in Northern Mexico.
The vast extent over which Triassic rocks occur in Arizona, New Mexico,
and Nevada, gives a peculiar interest to every discovery of this kind.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 17TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Twelve members present.
Dr. F. Hansen was elected a Resident Member.
Donation to the Cabinet: Skeleton of a Beaver, presented by Mr. S.
Hubbard.
Donation to the Library: Ninety-six volumes and pamphlets chiefly on
various branches of natural history, from the library of the late William
Cooper, of New York, presented by J. G. Cooper, M.D.
ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 7TH, 1867.
Mr. Stearns in the chair.
Twenty-nine members present.
Dr. J. B. Trask was elected Life Member, and Dr. George D. Cleveland and
Mr. George O. Whitney, Resident Members.
The Treasurer made a verbal Report. The Librarian and the Chairman of
the Publication Committee made written reports, which were accepted
and placed on file. The Curators of the various departments reported
verbally. The Academy having moved twice during the past year, and the
last time within a few days, the collections are of course in great
disorder. The rooms now taken are those formerly occupied by the Academy,
at 622 Clay street, and from which they were obliged to remove on account
of the damage done to the building, by the earthquake of October 8th,
1865.
The following officers were elected for the year 1867:
PRESIDENT.
J. D. WHITNEY.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
LEANDER RANSOM.
R. E. C. STEARNS.
TREASURER.
SAMUEL HUBBARD.
CORRESPONDING SEC’Y.
W. B. EWER.
RECORDING SEC’Y.
THEODORE BRADLEY.
LIBRARIAN.
H. KELLOGG, M.D.
CURATORS.
W. S. KEYES MINERALOGY.
H. N. BOLANDER BOTANY.
W. M. GABB PALÆONTOLOGY.
E. F. LORQUIN ZOOLOGY.
W. G. W. HARFORD CONCHOLOGY.
H. BEHR, M.D. ENTOMOLOGY.
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
MESSRS. WHITNEY, HUBBARD, ASHBURNER, AND STEARNS.
COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION.
MESSRS. WHITNEY, AYRES, AND STEARNS.
COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY.
MESSRS. JANIN, GIBBONS, AND KELLOGG.
COMMITTEE ON PROCEEDINGS.
MESSRS. KEYES, BOLANDER, AND BOSQUI.
Dr. Behr submitted specimens of microscopic crustaceans, of a brilliant
red color, found upon the surface of a lake in Marin County; he remarked
that they might be of some use in the arts, if they could be obtained in
sufficient quantity.
REGULAR MEETING, JANUARY 21ST, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Twenty-three members present.
Governor R. C. McCormick, of Arizona, and R. C. Jacobs, of Chihuahua,
were elected Corresponding Members, and Messrs. J. W. Kidwell, A. Sutro,
A. T. Mason, H. C. Bidwell and H. P. Carlton were elected Resident
Members.
Donations to the Library: Oversigt over det Kongelige danske
Videnskabernes Selskabs Förhandlingar i Aaret 1864, 1 Vol., 8vo.,
Copenhagen. The same, 1866, Nos. 2-4. 32er Jahresbericht des Mannheimer
Vereins für Naturkunde, 1 Vol. 12mo., 1866, (2 copies.) Mittheilungen aus
dem Osterlande, 17er Band, 3 und 4 Heft, Altenburg, 1866. Jahreshefte
des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins für das Fürstenthum Lüneburg, I.,
1865, 8vo. Der Zoologische Garten, vii Jahrgang, Nos. 7, 9, 11, 12,
8vo., Frankfurt, 1866. Bericht über die XIV Versammlung der Deutschen
Ornithologen-Gesells., 8vo., 1862. Sitzungs-Berichte der Naturw.
Gesells. Isis in Dresden, Jahrg. 1866, 8vo., Dresden. Jahrbuch der k.
k. Geolog. Reichsanstalt, Jahrg. 1866, No. 3, 8vo., Wien. Abhandlungen
herausgegeben vom Naturw. Vereine zu Bremen, I Bd. 1 Heft, 8vo., Bremen,
1866. Journal de Conchyliologie, 3me Série, Tome vi., Nos. 3, 4, 8vo.,
Paris, 1866. On the Osteology and Myology of Colymbus Torquatus, by
R. Elliot Coues, (Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 1, Part ii.) 4to.,
Cambridge, 1866. Journal of the Royal Hortic. Society of London, Vol.
1, Part 4, 12mo., 1867. Same, Proceedings, Vol. 1, N. S., No. 6, Aug.,
1866, Jan., 1867, 12mo., London. Zeitschrift der Oesterreichischen
Gesells. der Meteorologie, 1 Band, 1866. Sitzungsberichte der Königl.
bayer. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München, 1865, II, 3-4; 1866,
I, 1-4; II, 1, 8vo., Munich. Die Bedeutung moderner Gradmessungen, von
Bauernfeind, 4to., pamphlet, München, 1866. Verzeichniss von 9412,
Æquatorial-Sternen, ein Sup. Band zu der Ann. der Münch. Sternwarte,
8vo., Munich, 1866. Resultate Magnetischer, etc., Beobachtungen auf
einer Reise nach dem östlichen Sibirien 1828-30, von Prof. C. Hansteen
and Lieut. Due, 4to., Christiania, 1863. Hansteen, Magnetismus der Erde,
1 Theil, 4to., Christiania, 1819, with plates separate. Meteorologiske
Iagttagelser paa Christiania Observatorium, 1865, long 4to., Christiania,
1866. Mœrker efter en Jistid i Omegn af Hardangerfjorden, af S. A. Sexe,
4to., pamphlet, Christiania, 1866. Bidrag til Bygningskikkens Udvikling
paa Landet i Norge, 1ste Hefte, 4to., pamphlet, Christiania, 1865.
Dr. Kellogg exhibited specimens of _Thaspium cordatum_, (Heart-leaf
Meadow Parsnip) a plant which has become somewhat known in cases of
chronic rheumatism, and which is common on this coast. He remarked that
it might be mistaken for _Sanicula_, (Sanicle) or possibly for _Conium
maculatum_ (Poison Hemlock).
Dr. Kellogg also presented specimens of a beautiful Alpine willow-herb
collected by Mr. Blanchard, of Brooklyn, Alameda County; it was found
in the mountains west of Owen’s Lake, near the Kearsarge mines, at
an altitude of 8,000 feet. He considered it a variety of _Epilobium
obcordatum_, Gray. This plant is described in the Proc. Am. Acad. of Arts
and Sciences for May, 1865.
Dr. James Blake read the following communication:
On the Nourishment of the Fœtus in the Embiotocoid Fishes.
BY JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F.R.C.S.
I am not aware that the process by which the embryo of the
Embiotocoid fishes receive the nourishment necessary for its
growth, has ever been pointed out. It certainly differs from
the three most common forms in which the embryo of other
animals is nourished, as there is nothing like a placenta by
which they can receive nourishment from the mother; there is
no supply of nutriment surrounding the embryo, as in the case
of most oviparous animals, nor is the embryo brought into
direct contact with the water, so as to derive nourishment
by absorption from the surrounding medium, as is the case in
oviparous fishes generally and in most of the lower forms of
animal life. The young fish is contained in a uterus which,
in the undeveloped state, resembles very much the ovaries of
the common oviparous fishes, except that its walls are thicker,
and that the number of ova it contains is very much smaller.
In the interior of the uterus, projecting from its sides, are
a number of processes analogous to those to which the ova are
usually attached. These processes vary in number in different
examples, but they are so arranged that each fœtal fish is in
contact on every side with a surface of one of these processes.
They consist apparently of a membrane composed of a cellular
tissue, and scattered over their surface are a number of small
mammillary elevations with an orifice in the center, and which
are probably the organs by which the peculiar secretion of the
uterus, to be hereafter noticed, is poured out. In an example
I examined, in which impregnation had apparently just taken
place, numerous ova were found adhering to these processes,
although not at all in such numbers as in the ordinary fishes.
I counted thirty-eight in about the space of an inch; of these,
however, but few can be developed, as the number of fœtuses
seldom exceeds forty, and sometimes is only eight. In the whole
of the uterus there probably were from one hundred to one
hundred and fifty ova. Of the earlier stages of development,
however, it is not my object to treat in the present memoir,
as I did not commence my investigations sufficiently early
to be able fully to make it out. As soon, however, as the
embryo has advanced sufficiently for the fins to be formed,
these appendages are found to be terminated by a number of
digitations, which project from the free edges of the fin, and
are usually found situated, one between each ray or spine. They
are composed almost entirely of fine capillary blood-vessels,
united apparently by a very delicate and structureless
membrane. They are so delicate that unless great care is taken
in removing the specimen from the uterus, they are destroyed;
nor have I ever been able to discover them in specimens that
have been preserved in alcohol. These processes seem continuous
with the membrane extended between the rays of the fins, but
are much more delicate; they project from the free edge of the
fin, sometimes as much as the eighth of an inch, and are, in
the fully developed embryo, the fifteenth of an inch broad.
On the free margin of each digitation, a larger capillary can
be observed, which appears to be continuous all around; it is
about the .003 in. in diameter, the intermediate space being
filled with a net-work of smaller capillaries. This system
of digitations projects from the entire edge of the dorsal,
ventral and caudal fins, but not from the pectorals. They in
fact form a fringe round the entire body, with the exception of
the head and that part of the abdomen in front of the anus.
Such is the structure of the organ that evidently has some
connection with the nourishment of the fœtus, resembling
as it does so closely the early formation of the vascular
villi and the placental tufts that proceed from the chorion
of the mammiferous embryo, and through which it derives its
nourishment before the placenta is fully formed.
The question now presents itself as to how nourishment is
conveyed from the parent to the fœtus through these tufts? As
before stated, the lining membrane of the uterus sends off
processes which surround each fœtus, without however forming
sheet sacks; but although these processes are very freely
supplied with blood-vessels, yet the finest injection failed
to show any more vascular spots where the fœtal digitations
might have been brought into more immediate contact with the
blood of the parent. I however was fortunate enough to obtain
a fish, in the uterus of which I discovered a considerable
quantity of fluid, and on collecting it, and submitting
it to chemical tests, I found that this fluid contained a
considerable quantity of an animal substance, resembling, to
a certain extent, some of the compounds that are formed from
albumen during the process of digestion. The fluid was of
yellowish color, translucent, deposited on standing some small
globules which under the microscope strongly refracted the
light, were not altered by acetic acid, but dissolved in ether;
probably fat globules; when heated, there was no coagulation,
although the fluid was not quite so clear; solution of Hg Cl₂
caused no precipitate; tannin in solution caused a yellowish
precipitate. In adding ether to a portion of the fluid, there
was a free disengagement of gas, a white flocculent precipitate
was formed, and on allowing the vessel to stand, the fluid
separated itself into three portions: the upper portion
consisting of pure ether apparently, then a layer containing
white flocculi, which occupied about the fourth part of the
fluid, and below this the remains of the original fluid, but
little altered in appearance. There can, I think, be little
doubt but that it is through the medium of this fluid that the
fœtus obtains its nourishment. The considerable portion of
animal matter it contains, and that too in a state particularly
fitted for absorption and for conversion into tissue, fits it
for furnishing the fœtus with the elements necessary for its
growth by absorption through the large surface of capillary
vessels which are found in the vascular digitations that
surround the fœtus, and which are constantly bathed in the
fluid. The difficulty that up to the present time has attended
every attempt to trace the connection between the parent and
fœtus in these embiotocoid fishes, is owing, in the first
place, to the extreme delicacy of the vascular digitations of
the fœtus, which prevents their being observed in preserved
specimens, and also to the fact that in almost every case
the fluid secreted by the uterus is entirely expelled by the
violent struggles of the fish when removed from the water,
so that it was almost by a rare accident that I succeeded in
obtaining any. I hope, however, during the coming season, to be
able more fully to carry out these researches.
[Illustration: FIG. 30. A Fœtal Fish, about two-thirds grown,
slightly enlarged.]
[Illustration: FIG. 31. A portion of Dorsal Fin of an almost
mature fœtal fish, about double the natural size.]
[Illustration: FIG. 32. A portion of a Digitation, magnified
about 150 diameters, showing capillaries.]
SAN FRANCISCO, January 21st, 1867.
Mr. Bolander exhibited the cones of many species of pines growing in this
State, and stated what was known concerning the peculiarities of the
different species, and their geographical distribution.
He stated that the pines of California comprise sixteen true
species, which he described briefly. There are twenty synonyms
for these species, which have created some confusion as to
their real name and number. The correct names of all, with
the popular characteristics of the most striking, and their
distribution, are given herewith. The names marked thus * are
those of trees having persistent cones, which they retain from
ten to twenty years in some instances. Those marked thus †
retain their cones but two years. Those marked thus ‡ retain
them but one year:
_Pinus insignis._*—Well known as the ornamental Monterey pine,
which is much cultivated in San Francisco.
_P. muricata._*—Not remarkable.
_P. contorta._*—Small and bushy, but valuable as shelter
against wind. Grows abundantly near Fort Bragg, in the
Mendocino country, where it makes the stoutest wind-proof hedge
known. Ought to be tried in San Francisco.
_P. tuberculata._*—Always small, seldom higher than 15 to 30
feet.
_P. ponderosa._‡—The well known yellow pine. Attains a height
of 225 feet and more, and a circumference of 23 or 24 feet.
_P. Lambertiana._*—The equally well known, larger and handsome
“sugar pine,” or “long-cone pine” of Frémont. Usually grows at
great altitudes; exceedingly valuable for timber, and affords
the principal supplies.
_P. Coulteri._†—Found in the lower eastern slope of the Coast
Range. Not very large; sometimes attains a height of 75 feet;
knotty, but ornamental. It is remarkable for having the largest
cone of all the pines, and specimens of its cone, when first
known, brought five guineas in England.
_P. Sabiniana._†—This is the nut pine of the foothills,
sometimes called the “scrub pine,” or “silver pine.” The Digger
Indians gather the nuts from its cone as a favorite article of
food. It is found on the foothills of both Coast Ranges and
Sierra Nevada.
Mr. Bolander mentioned several species in the group of coast
pines which he had not seen, viz: _P. Llaveana_, east of San
Diego; _P. deflexa_, on the summit of the California Mountains;
_P. Torreyana_,* near San Diego.
_P. monticola._‡—A tall tree and affording fine timber; said to
be hardier than the sugar pine, and might be preferred if its
position near the summit did not make it difficult of access.
_P. flexilis._‡—This grows on windy heights in the form of a
low shrub, so stout and thick that a man can stand on its top.
In low altitudes it reaches a height of a hundred feet. It is
useful only for firewood.
_P. monophylla._—This is a stunted, twisted tree, which grows
on the eastern slope of the Sierra, where it corresponds to the
nut-pine on the western slope. At a distance it resembles in
shape the live oak. Its cone is ill shapen and has an offensive
odor, but yields a sweet nut.
_P. Balfouriana._—This species is found near Scott’s Valley, in
Northern California.
Five species in the above list—_insignis_, _muricata_,
_Llaveana_, _deflexa_ and _Torreyana_—are peculiar to the sea
coast. Five species—the _contorta_, _ponderosa_, _Lambertiana_,
_Sabiniana_, _tuberculata_—are found both in the Coast Ranges
and Sierra Nevada. The _Coulteri_ is found only in the Coast
Range, eastern slope; the _monticola_ only high in the Sierra;
the _flexilis_ only on the upper Sierra and western slope of
the same; and the _monophylla_ only on the eastern slope.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 4TH, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Twenty-eight members present.
Messrs. Joseph P. LeCount, C. Von Liebenau, Amory F. Bell, W. C. Walker,
George H. Powers, Thomas Bennett, M.D., L. Gilson, Delos J. Howe, R. S.
Williamson, U. S. Engineers, R. D’Heureuse, Rev. John F. Harrington, H.
C. Hyde, G. B. Hitchcock and Jacob Bacon were elected Resident Members.
Donations to Library: Review of the Mining, Agricultural and Commercial
Interests of the Pacific States, from J. H. Carmany. Essai Politique sur
la Nouvelle Espagne, by A. de Humboldt, 2 Vols., 4to., and atlas folio,
Paris, 1811, presented by A. Sutro.
Professor Whitney read the following communication:
On the Fresh Water Infusorial Deposits of the Pacific Coast, and their
Connection with the Volcanic Rocks.
BY J. D. WHITNEY.
The microscopic discoveries of the last few years have
immensely extended the range and importance of the minute,
and, to the naked eye, invisible organisms, which, under the
general designation of “Infusoria,” are recognized as a part of
the kingdom of nature. It is especially to Ehrenberg that we
are indebted for a demonstration of the geological importance
of the Diatoms, those microscopic organisms which so long
puzzled naturalists to decide whether they were animal or
vegetable in their nature, but which are now, by the majority
of zoölogists, referred to as plants. In Ehrenberg’s great
work, the “Mikrogeologie,” or geology in little, this eminent
naturalist has given the results of the examination, by
himself, of specimens of infusorial rocks, soils, ashes, dust,
and other accumulations or masses of matter from every quarter
of the globe: these investigations show most conclusively
that deposits of vast extent—of such magnitude, indeed, as to
form no inconsiderable portion of the earth’s crust—are the
result of organic agencies, and that what seems to the eye an
unorganized mass, may in reality be made up of the delicately
wrought and almost infinitely minute remains of plant or animal
life.
That animals, or plants, so minute that a hundred millions of
distinct individuals will scarcely weigh a single grain, should
form accumulations hundreds of feet in thickness and extending
over thousands of square miles, seems a hardly credible
statement; but a fact still more difficult to believe and
comprehend is one which is thoroughly established by abundant
evidence, namely: that immense deposits of volcanic materials,
or, at least, of materials closely connected in their origin
and nature with volcanic action, and spread over vast tracts of
country in different parts of the world, are also, to a large
extent, made up of these microscopic organisms, the existence
of which seems dependent on the presence of water, and so
utterly at variance with a condition of volcanic activity.
Throughout this volcanic region of California, Oregon, Nevada,
and probably as far north as the igneous masses extend, which
are well known to cover a vast area on the western side of our
continent, there are found deposits, which are usually called
“fire-clay,” “kaolin,” “pipe-clay,” or simply “clay;”[30] these
masses are, however, not at all of the nature of kaolin, nor
are they proper clay, although they may, in places, pass into
clay or shale.
The material of which this deposit is made up is exceedingly
fine-grained, seemingly an impalpable powder, usually perfectly
white and more or less distinctly stratified. It is extremely
light, and resembles commercial magnesia more than anything
else. In its geological position, it is found underlying the
basaltic masses, or the products of the last great eruptive
action of the Sierra Nevada. It is often associated with, or
intercalated among beds of gravel, fine or coarse-grained
sandstone and shales, and bears the evident marks of being a
sedimentary deposit made along the sides of a gently-descending
broad valley, or lake-like expansion of a valley. This is
its character in the Sierra Nevada; but as we go north and
northeast, and come on to the great volcanic table lands
of Northern California and Southern and Eastern Oregon, we
find the thickness of the deposits of this kind of material
increasing, and the area occupied by them more considerable.
The following localities are especially worthy of notice: North
of Virginia City, Nevada; Surprise Valley; Pit River, near
mouth of Canoe Creek; Klamath Basin, or in the vicinity of
Wright, Rhett and Klamath Lakes; the Des Chutes Basin.
Of all the localities, the last mentioned would seem to be the
most remarkable for the extent and thickness of the deposits in
question. It was from here that the first specimens examined by
Ehrenberg, in 1849, were brought by Frémont, who represented
the deposit as 500 feet thick. This region has since been
examined by Dr. Newberry, who describes the cañons of the
tributaries of the Des Chutes as in places 2,000 feet deep, the
plateaux between which cañons are covered by basaltic lava,
and this is seen, in the magnificent sections thus presented,
to rest on a thickness of hundreds of feet of tufaceous
strata interstratified with a variety of beds of volcanic
conglomerates, pumice sand, ashes, etc. Dr. Newberry speaks of
tufaceous strata 1,200 feet in thickness, in the cañon near the
mouth of the Mptolyas River.
The white material, of which some of the more prominent
localities have been indicated above, and which is well known
to explorers under so many names, as already mentioned, is
in reality chiefly of a silicious character, and made up, to
a large extent, of organic bodies of microscopic dimensions,
infusoria, or _Diatomaceæ_. This fact was first recognized
in the case of the specimens collected by Frémont on the Des
Chutes River, and examined by Bailey and Ehrenberg. Specimens
collected by Dr. Newberry, on the Pacific Railroad Survey, were
also examined by Professor Bailey, but I am not aware that any
detailed description of the results was ever published.
Among the collection of the Geological Survey are a large
number of specimens of the white infusorial deposit, underlying
the lava at various localities. Of these a preliminary
examination has been made by Professor Brewer, and a large
supply of material is now in the hands of Mr. A. M. Edwards,
of New York, for a detailed examination and report. The fact
has been already well demonstrated that all or nearly all these
fine, white, light masses are made up, to a large extent, of
the silicious remains of the _diatomaceæ_, and in all cases of
forms peculiar to fresh water. The geological position of these
beds is extremely recent. They extend from the latter portion
of the Pliocene into the Post-pliocene epoch, and seem to have
continued their existence nearly, if not quite, down to the
present day.
So far the facts are very simple, and the principal results
of our detailed microscopic examination of these infusorial
deposits will be, the knowledge of the range of the different
species which occur in them, and the relations of the various
forms to those now living, either in this region or in other
parts of the world. This the extent of our collections will
give us better opportunities to do than others have yet had.
There is a point, however, of great interest connected with
these deposits, in regard to which I desire to make some
remarks at this present time, and on which I consider that our
explorations are capable of throwing some light.
Ehrenberg has recently[31] examined a specimen collected
many years ago, in the Toluca Valley, Mexico, by the
well-known mining engineer Burkart, of what he denominates
a “Phytolitharien Tuff” or phytolithic tufa, and which came
to him labeled “Trachytic Tufa, from Toluca Valley, _quere_,
whether pumice-like or infusorial.” Of this, Ehrenberg says:
“It is a silver-gray, easily crumbled, gritty tufa, which does
not effervesce with acids, and which, when heated, becomes
darker, but not black, and then assumes a light-brownish
color.” The microscopic analysis of it showed that it was made
up to a large extent of phytolitharia, which probably belong
chiefly to the grasses, and between them lie scattered a
comparatively small number of bacillaria. All are fresh-water
forms.
In his remarks on this material, Ehrenberg recalls the other
specimens of infusorial tufas, which have been examined by
him, at various times, since 1839. He mentions particularly
the rock from the Des Chutes River, collected by Frémont; also
trachytic tufa, with organic remains, from Honduras; trachytic
tufa from the volcano Maibu, in Chile; the mud-ejections (?)
of the volcanoes near Quito; the ejections (?) of the volcano
Imbabaru, as well as those from the island of Guadaloupe.
In regard to the Des Chutes River deposit, it may be
incidentally remarked that the eminent microscopist seems to
assign to it a much greater geological age than it really
deserves; it is, unquestionably, as recent as the latter part
of the Pliocene.
It would appear from what Ehrenberg has published, that he
considers this occurrence of organic forms, in connection with
reputed volcanic masses, to be something extremely difficult
to explain, as indeed it is, if we adopt the view taken by
him, namely, that these so-called tufaceous materials are the
direct products of volcanic action; that is to say, that they
have been ejected from craters, either in the form of showers
of ashes or of mud out-flows. It would be, indeed, to my
comprehension, something entirely inexplicable, that such vast
masses of matter, made up to a large extent of organic forms,
should be poured forth from the interior of the earth. This
would be the case, as it appears to me, no matter what theory
of volcanic action one might choose to adopt; since, whatever
may be the cause, no one will deny that a high temperature is,
at least, one of the results. That Ehrenberg really considers
these infusorial deposits to be of eruptive origin, is evident
from a remark in his last communication, (that in reference
to the specimen from the Toluca Valley) to the effect that
the occurrence of fresh-water forms, exclusively, in these
infusorial masses is evidence that volcanic phenomena are not
dependent on, or connected with, the presence of sea-water,
as is generally supposed, from the fact that volcanoes are
situated, in most cases, near the sea coast.
Not having the necessary works of reference at hand to be able
to see, in all the cases cited by Ehrenberg, exactly what
the evidence is, on which his theory of the origin of these
infusorial deposits is founded, I will not attempt to give an
authoritative statement in regard to any others than those
which belong to this coast; but I cannot avoid drawing the
inference, that the same conditions which are so easily traced
here will, on future examination, be found existing in all the
other localities cited by him.
The mode of occurrence of these fresh-water infusorial deposits
in California, and on the Pacific coast in general, is very
simple. They are accumulations of organisms which have been
collected at the bottom of the lakes, or in the lake-like
shallow expansions of rivers, in which they grew. This growth
took place at a time when volcanic agencies were busily at
work, giving rise to accumulations of ashes, pumice, and
other materials. The rapidity with which these infusorial
deposits form, at the present time even, the vast extent over
which they are distributed, and the general importance in the
geological history of the earth, are now matters which are well
understood, of the masses thus accumulated and in regard to
which the store of facts has been rapidly growing in magnitude
during the past few years. The mud deposits and deltas of
rivers, the bottoms of lakes and swamps, and the bed of the
ocean itself, are the repositories of these forms. Heat and
stagnant water seem to be what is required for their rapid
reproduction and the consequent rapid accumulation of their
remains.
The infusorial deposits of Central California—I refer now
to those of fresh water origin, and connected with volcanic
masses—are all situated in such positions as to show, that
they were formed and deposited in shallow water; that, through
the various alternations of calm and convulsion in the Sierra,
they were at one time allowed to accumulate in quiet, then
swept over by masses of gravel and sand, indicating a furious
rush of water, then covered with a shower of ashes and pumice
from the neighboring volcanoes of the Sierra then in active
operation; and finally, at the grand finale of the basaltic
lava overflow of the chain, capped with this indestructible
material, which has effectually prevented the washing away of
the otherwise easily removed infusorial deposits. This is the
connection between the volcanic and the infusorial masses; by
their absolute indestructibility the former have protected the
latter from denudation, and consequently we see them always
accompanying each other: for where the cover did not exist,
there the denuding forces have swept away every vestige of
the soft and easily yielding material, or else it remains
concealed under the water. To form an idea of the extent of
the erosion which has taken place since these infusorial beds
were deposited, and the consequent change in the configuration
of the country, we must bear in mind that the whole of the
present river cañons on the west slope of the Sierra have been
excavated since that time, and that, in many places, the
strata have been removed to a vertical depth of between two and
three thousand feet.
Everything shows that the surface covered by fresh water in
the region east of the crest of the Sierra was, at a not very
distant epoch, much greater in extent than it now is. There
existed, probably during or immediately after the glacial
epoch, a chain of great lakes occupying a large portion of the
country from Walker’s Lake to the Des Chutes River, a distance
of about four hundred miles, and extending over a breadth of
not less than one hundred. A large portion of this region is
now a volcanic plateau; and, where cut into by the force of
running water, the deposits of infusorial strata may be seen,
sometimes thin and unimportant, but often of great thickness.
Observations and measurements of terraces and determination of
the altitude of all these old lake deposits will enable us at
some future time to indicate on the map the area once occupied
by this great chain of inland seas. The vast extent of the
lacustrine infusorial formations on the east side of the Sierra
is thus accounted for, as well as the comparatively small area
which they cover on the western slope.
In addition to the stratigraphical reason given above why
the infusorial strata should occur connected with eruptive
masses, there may be a chemical one which shall, in part,
account for the apparent great development of the _diatomaceæ_
in volcanic regions. These organisms require an amount of
silica, infinitesimally small for each individual, but in
reality enormous for the number of organisms required to
develop themselves over the vast area and with the thickness
which they occupy. That a volcanic region should supply a
larger amount of silica in the state in which it can be
appropriated by the _diatomaceæ_, is extremely probable. We
know that silicification of all organic matters occurring in
these volcanic regions of our coast proceeds with the greatest
rapidity, and has taken place on an extensive scale. The
thermal springs contain a great amount of free silica, and
it is in the vicinity of such springs that large infusorial
deposits are frequently found. It seems that it could only
be in regions particularly favorable for the secretion of
their silicious coverings, that these infusoria could be
accumulated with such rapidity as to form what may be called,
without exaggeration, mountain masses. It is also possible
that temperature may have something to do with this rapid
development, and that volcanic regions may on this account be
favorable to it.
To my apprehension, the phenomena of infusorial deposits in
connection with volcanic masses admit of an easy explanation
on this coast, at least; and I can hardly believe that any of
the localities of _diatomaceæ_, if closely examined, would
present any such difficulties as to make the assumption
necessary that they have been ejected from the interior of the
earth. In cases where infusoria seem to have been actually
ejected from craters, as is said to have been the case in
some of the South American volcanoes, it is not difficult to
understand that an ancient crater may have become filled up and
temporarily converted into a lake; and that, after the growth
and deposition of an infusorial deposit at the bottom, a new
eruption may have broken out in the same place as a previous
one, or in its immediate neighborhood. In such a case, among
the ejected material, a large quantity of the infusoria would
be found mingled with the ashes, which must pass through the
material collected in the bottom of the crater as they rise
from the interior of the earth. The bursting of lakes at the
bases of volcanic cones, caused by the rapid melting of the
snows above them, have often given rise to torrents of volcanic
mud, called “Moya” in South America, in which both animal and
vegetable remains are often inclosed in great quantity; but the
connection between the organic and inorganic phenomena, in such
cases, is perfectly evident.
In fact, I see no reason for suspecting any connection between
the infusorial deposits and the volcanic masses of this coast,
or of any other part of the world, which should influence the
geologist in forming an opinion with regard to the cause or the
locality of volcanic action.
In conclusion, it may be remarked that the marine infusorial
rocks of the Pacific coast, and especially of California,
are of great extent and importance. They occur in the Coast
Ranges, from Clear Lake to Los Angeles. They are of no little
economical, as well as scientific, interest; since, as I
conceive, the existence of bituminous materials in this State,
in all their forms, from the most liquid to the most dense, is
due to the presence of infusoria—the proofs of which statement
I will, at some future time, endeavor to set before the Academy.
[30] They are also frequently called “magnesia,” and have been
repeatedly stated by “assayers” in San Francisco to be made up
of that earth.
[31] See Monatsbericht der Kön. Preuss. Akad. zu Berlin, 1866,
page 158.
Dr. Kellogg read a paper on “Fungi,” in which he gave a full account of
their nature, distribution, and uses.
Mr. Lorquin exhibited two ducks, and made some remarks in regard to them.
One of them he considered a hybrid between the Pintail and the Mallard,
and the other between the Pintail and the Teal.
Mr. Falkenau gave an account of the chemical reactions of the red matter
exhibited by Dr. Behr to the Academy, at the meeting of January 7th. The
quantity was too small for a satisfactory result.
Dr. Stivers made some remarks on the _Nereocystes Lütkeana_, one of the
Algæ, and remarkable for its absorptive power.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 18TH, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Twenty-five members present.
Messrs. I. W. Raymond, Rodmond Gibbons, Thomas H. Selby, Daniel Knight,
F. A. Holman, M. D., Edmund Scott, Henry Edwards, John Melville, George
Daly, Robinson Gibbons, Gregory Yale, James Howden, George H. Fillmore,
Marshall Hastings, John L. Eckley and Lee J. Ransom were elected Resident
Members, and J. G. Cooper, M.D., a Life Member.
Donation to the Cabinet: A skull of a California Indian, taken from a
burial place in Alameda County, near Centreville, by Mr. L. G. Yates.
Donation to the Library: The Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal for
1865 and 1866, by Dr. H. Gibbons.
Prof. W. P. Blake read the following communication:
Notice of Fossil Elephants’ Teeth from the Northwest Coast.
BY W. P. BLAKE.
The two molar teeth of the extinct elephant which I
exhibit this evening were presented to me by Col. Bulkley,
Superintendent of the American and Russian Telegraph. One is
from the mouth of the Yukon River, and the other from St.
Paul’s Island, near the middle of Behring’s Sea. The remains
of elephants are abundant in both places. Tusks are sometimes
found, and one has been sent by Col. Bulkley to the Smithsonian
Institution. These new localities may be regarded as forming
a connecting link between those of Siberia and America, and
indicate the former continuous distribution of the ancient
elephant upon the two continents.
The following list of localities, known to me, of similar
fossils in California, will show that the elephant must have
been frequently seen here in very early times: At Mare Island;
in Placer County, near Forest Hill; in Tuolumne County, at
Columbia, Shaw’s Flat, Texas Flat and near Sonora; in Calaveras
County, at Knight’s Ferry; in Los Angeles County, at San Pedro.
The last is, I believe, the most southern point at which such
remains have been found in this State.
Mr. Falkenau read a paper on Peat, in which he gave an account of the
origin, distribution and uses of this material. In the discussion which
followed the reading of this communication, it was stated by Mr. Bolander
that no valuable beds of peat had yet been discovered on this coast.
Messrs. Keyes and Behr also commented on supposed discoveries of this
material in California. The peculiar climate of this region was noticed
as unfavorable to the development of this material.
Dr. H. Gibbon made some remarks on the simultaneity of storms on both
sides of this continent.
Prof. Whitney made some remarks supplementary to his communication to the
Academy in 1862, on the question—“Which is the highest mountain in the
United States, and which in North America?”
He remarked that but little had been done, outside of
California, during the last five years, towards improving
our knowledge of the topography of the western part of our
continent. Some valuable contributions to the physical
geography of the central portion of the eastern edge of the
Rocky Mountains, have been published by Drs. C. C. Parry
and Engelmann in the Transactions of the St. Louis Academy,
(1863 and 1866) and several peaks were measured by Dr.
Parry; but of these only two are located on any map, namely:
Long’s and Pike’s. Of these Long’s Peak is 13,456 feet, and
Pike’s, 14,215; this latter being the highest summit in the
Rocky Mountain range, at least within the borders of our own
territory. Of the continuation of the Rocky Mountains north
into British Columbia, but little is known. Some peaks are
said to be 16,000 feet and over in height; but it is believed
that no accurate measurements have been made in that region;
and, further, it is not at all in accordance with what we
have learned of the relation of peaks to passes in other
mountain chains, to suppose that when the passes are as low
as 5,000 feet, the mountains on either hand should rise to an
altitude of 16,000 feet. This would be more probable were the
high points volcanic cones; but this they are not supposed to
be. Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle’s book, recently published,
gives no information as to the height of the peaks near the
pass traversed by their party, (the Leather Head Pass) except
a statement that one point, far exceeding all others in
elevation, was “from 10,000 to 15,000 feet high.”
Professor Whitney referred again to the fact that the height
of Mt. St. Elias, as given on the British Admiralty charts,
and probably from Sir Edward Belcher’s measurement, namely,
14,970 feet, was still ignored by all compilers of gazetteers
and geographies, even down to Ansted’s latest work, published
in 1867. The old figures, 17,854 feet, obtained from an old
Spanish document found in Mexico by Humboldt, have been shown
to be grossly exaggerated by two separate measurements of more
modern times.
The recent measurement of Mt. Hood by Mr. A. Wood, was
mentioned, and several reasons given why little weight should
be attached to it. If Mr. Wood’s measurement were correct, the
height of Mt. Hood must be nearly 4,000 feet greater than that
of Mt. Shasta, and so notable a fact would have been clearly
recognized by explorers, as it always has been that Mt. Shasta
itself is nearly that much higher than Lassen’s Peak. But, on
the other hand, experienced observers have stated that Mt.
Hood was not as high as Mt. Shasta, nor as Mt. Adams, or Mt.
Rainier, this last-named peak being, according to Wilkes,
only 12,300 feet. Again, Mt. Hood was roughly measured by Dr.
Vansant, and his result (11,934 feet) gives the height of that
mountain as less than that of Mt. Adams, also measured by him
with the same instrument, and this instrument could hardly have
been so rough and liable to error as the one employed by Mr.
Wood. Further, this last-named gentleman gives the limit of
forest vegetation on Mt. Hood as 9,000 feet, while our careful
observations on Mt. Shasta place it on that mountain, at 8,000
feet. It is certainly contrary to what we have everywhere
on this coast observed, to suppose that the limit to which
arboreal growth reaches, should not fall considerably in going
north three hundred miles, rather than rise 1,000 feet, as
would be the case if Mr. Wood’s measurements were correct.
Finally, that Mr. Wood’s figures are not very reliable is
shown by the fact, that on plotting his estimates of distances
traveled and the angles of the slopes as given by him, it was
found that, to correspond with his statements, the mountain
must be no less than 33,400 feet high.
Finally, Professor Whitney concluded that we have as yet no
satisfactory evidence to invalidate the statement previously
made by him, that we have in California the highest mountains
in the United States, and the grandest and largest mountain
mass in North America, although one or two of the volcanic
cones of Mexico rise to higher altitudes than any of our peaks.
Prof. Whitney also exhibited one of the short barometers made for the
Geological Survey, by James Green, of New York. Having had occasion to
work at high elevations—the party being sometimes, for weeks together,
camped at from 8,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea—it has been found that
the vacuum in the ordinary barometer tubes soon becomes deteriorated, and
the mercury dirty from the constant lowering and raising of the column,
which is required when a large number of observations are taken at so
great an elevation. By having the barometer tube made only long enough to
commence the reading at about twenty-four inches, or at an elevation of
6,000 or 7,000 feet, the difficulty above specified is to a great degree
avoided, and the instrument made much more portable and convenient to
carry, especially on peaks so steep that both hands are needed to aid
in climbing. Two of these short barometers have been used in the high
mountain work of the California Survey, and found extremely convenient.
Of course the short barometer must be compared with a long one at some
station camp of sufficiently great elevation to allow this to be done.
Dr. Gibbons made some remarks on the inferior quality of the macadamizing
material employed in this city. He inquired if any person knew of the
existence of any better stone for this purpose, in the vicinity of San
Francisco. Prof. Whitney replied that an excellent basaltic rock was
to be had in great abundance near Petaluma, at a point convenient for
shipment, and that there was no really valuable rock for macadamizing to
be had nearer than this point.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 4TH, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Twenty-nine members present.
Messrs. J. M. Sibley, William Norris, Henry Pickel, John W. Nystrom,
Ross E. Brown, Cornelius B. Miller and Theodore P. Painter were elected
Resident Members.
Donations to the Cabinet: “Electro-Silicon,” (Infusorial Silica) from
Six-Mile Cañon, near Virginia City, Nevada, from Dr. Lanszweert; Fossil
Fruit, from Long Valley, Mendocino County, from C. Beottie; Fossil
Shells, from the line of the Erie (Steuben County, N. Y.) Railroad, by A.
T. Beardsley; Magnesium Wire, by C. Z. Wilson; Fragment from the “Pyramid
of Cheops,” by Mr. Elliott; Two Specimens of Petrified Wood, from Sonoma
County, Package of Coffee Seed and Specimen of Nest of Trap-Door Spider,
from Dr. Kellogg.
Prof. Whitney announced the death of Alexander Dallas Bache, and read a
notice of his life and eminent scientific services.
Mr. Stearns read the following communication, prefacing it with some
remarks on the hibernation and æstivation of land shells:
Remarkable Instance of Vitality in a Snail.
In that invaluable work to the conchological student, entitled
“Recent and Fossil Shells,” by S. P. Woodward, pp. 18 and 19,
reference is made to certain genera and species of land shells,
and several instances are cited proving the remarkable vitality
of these comparatively insignificant animals, and their ability
to exist for great lengths of time without food.
Particular mention is made of a specimen of the snail _Helix
desertorum_, which was affixed to a tablet in the British
Museum, March 25th, 1846, and upon the 7th of March, 1850, it
was observed that the animal must have come out of the shell,
as the paper was discolored in the attempt to get away, but
finding escape impossible, it had withdrawn inside of the shell
and closed the aperture with the usual glistening film, which
led to its immersion in tepid water and marvelous recovery. It
will be noticed that this period embraced nearly four years.
A more remarkable case has come under my observation, which is
worthy of mention.
Dr. Veatch, a member of this Academy, visited Cerros or Cedros
Island, opposite the west coast of Lower California, and upon
his return, in the year 1859, brought home, among other
shells, a species of Helix, supposed to be new, described by
Dr. Newcomb, of Oakland, and to which the latter gave the
name of _Helix Veatchii_; many specimens of this species were
obtained, and some of them were given by Dr. Veatch to the late
Thomas Bridges. Mr. Bridges died in September, 1865, and in
December of the same year a portion of his collection passed
into my hands, including the same specimens of _Helix Veatchii_
to which I have before alluded. Judge of my surprise, when one
day, upon a careful examination, I detected a living specimen,
which, after being placed in a box of moist earth, in a short
time commenced crawling about, apparently as well as ever.
Fearing from its activity that by some accident it might crawl
away, and I might thus lose it, after a fortnight’s furlough
from its long imprisonment, I placed it in a pill-box, marking
the date of its reimprisonment upon the cover, in order that
at some future time I may examine it, and ascertain possibly,
if it does not outlive _me_, how long a snail can live without
rations.
Here is an instance of a snail living at least six years—in
Californian parlance, without a single “square meal.”
Mr. Bolander made some remarks in regard to the botanical collections of
Mr. Alphonso Wood, in California and Oregon, in 1866.
Mr. Wood claims to have collected in five months, in
California, 1,490 species of flowering plants, as appears by a
letter over his own signature in the San Francisco Bulletin;
furthermore, he also asserts, that during his whole journey
in California and Oregon he collected 15,000 specimens,
representing 2,794 species of plants. This journey occupied
about eleven months, including the time spent in coming from
and returning to the East. The route of Mr. Wood was from
San Diego north, through the regions which have been most
thoroughly collected over and studied by botanists, namely,
along the stage road to Los Angeles and San Bernardino, then to
San Louis Obispo, Santa Cruz, and north through the Sacramento
Valley, past the base of Mount Shasta, and along the stage road
to the Columbia River. Mr. Bolander considered it probable that
there were not over 500 species of flowering plants actually
existing in that part of California explored by Mr. Wood,
and in which he professes to have collected 1,490 species.
According to Professor Brewer’s careful investigations, it
appears that over fifty botanists have collected in California
and Oregon, during a period extending back for more than
seventy years. Some of these collectors were engaged for years
in the business, and had far greater facilities at their
command than those enjoyed by Mr. Wood, and they have jointly
thoroughly explored a far greater area than that even hastily
passed over by him. Yet, the sum total of all the species
obtained, up to the time of Mr. Wood’s visit, is only about
1,800 species, while he claims to have found 2,794; that is to
say, nearly 1,000 species more than had been brought to light
by fifty persons in seventy years. The absurdity of Mr. Wood’s
claims is self-evident. But, a comparison of his figures with
those of Eastern botanists will throw still further light
on this subject. Professor Gray enumerates, in his manual,
only 2,426 species of plants as occurring in the eighteen
Northern United States and Canada East, embracing an area of
no less than 600,000 square miles. The whole of California and
Oregon includes only about 250,000 square miles, only a very
small portion of which could have been thoroughly explored by
Mr. Wood; how unlikely, then, that he should have actually
obtained, in nine months, 368 species more on 250,000 square
miles, than all the botanists of the East have found on more
than double that area. Mr. Bolander also brought forward
ample evidence to show that Mr. Wood was not competent to
determine how many new species he had collected, proving by the
written statements of Dr. Kellogg, and others, that he was not
acquainted with some of the most common and easily recognized
genera of this coast.
Dr. Gibbons made some remarks on the rain-fall of this region during the
last seventeen years.
Mr. Gutzkow exhibited a sheet of metallic silver of three feet in
diameter, and about three ounces Troy weight, which had the appearance
and consistency of white writing paper. It was taken from the surface
of a lead-lined tank, in which a solution of protoxide of iron was
saturated, near the boiling point, with sulphate of silver. If the
temperature of the solution is maintained at a certain height, sheet
after sheet can be stripped off from the surface. The silver thus
obtained, is, after washing with muriatic acid to free it from the iron
solution, chemically pure, and by its peculiar shape and purity, well
adapted to serve as proof silver for assaying purposes. The experiment
will work only when operating on a rather large scale, so as to prevent
the too sudden cooling of the solution. The chemical action to which it
is due is the oxydation of the protoxide of iron into sesquioxide at the
expense of the oxygen combined with the silver. This oxydation, which
is known to precipitate the silver as a whitish powder, begins to take
place only at a certain temperature below the boiling point, and is made,
in the above experiment, to act on the crystals of sulphate of silver
separating on the surface of the slowly cooling solution.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 18TH, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Twenty-six members present.
Messrs. Elisha Brooks, Ellis H. Holmes, L. C. Lane, M.D., John C. Pelton,
J. M. Sharkey, M.D., J. A. Bauer, and Robert Hagen, were elected Resident
Members, and W. H. Dall a Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet: Crystal of Borax, from Borax Lake, by Mr.
Lightner; a Bald Eagle, by Dr. Ayres; a specimen of Wallapi Food, by
Frank S. Alling, El Dorado Cañon; gold-bearing Quartz, from South
Carolina, by Gregory Yale; Wolf Fish, from Frank Johnson; specimen of
_Bdellostoma_, from Dr. Canfield.
Dr. Cooper presented the following paper:
The West Coast Helicoid Land Shells.
BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.
In the article on p. 259, Vol. III, of these Proceedings for
April 2d, 1866, I suggested a division of the Californian
Banded Helices into five subgenera, founded on the shells
alone. Since then, Mr. G. W. Tryon has published a synopsis of
all of them except _H. facta_ in his “Journal of Conchology,”
Vol. II, Part 4, for October, 1866, arranging them in the
“genera” _Aglaia_, _Arianta_ and _Polymita_, but differing
essentially from Albers and other authors in the species he
assigns to these groups. The types of these subgenera, however,
differ so much from our species that it is easy to separate
the shells by good subgeneric characters; and as they inhabit
respectively South America, Europe, and Cuba, it is very
probable that the animals differ still more. Until these have
been compared, we may well hesitate in referring ours to the
same groups, and must for the present be guided by the shells
alone.
In examining these, the most striking and almost universal
character we find is the presence of a dark band, generally
pale margined, on one or both sides, and situated at or close
to the breathing aperture in the animal’s mantle, apparently
having some physiological connection with this opening. It is
too uniform and general to be merely an ornamental marking,
such as we find in many species, especially the tropical, which
usually show no uniformity in the arrangement of their bands.
The next most constant characters are those derived from the
nature of the surface, whether hirsute, with revolving grooves,
smooth or variously sculptured, with wrinkles, zigzag or
oblique patterns.
Although colors alone are usually unreliable as subgeneric
characters, I am inclined to consider them as such in the
case of these and some allied species, from their apparent
connection with important organs. In fact the band, so
constant in this large series of species, takes precedence of
considerable variety of form, for the variations in outline,
umbilicus, and peristome, though great in the extremes, are
so gradually shaded and blended together in the whole series
that no well-defined generic divisions can be founded on them,
though useful for the minor grouping. The umbilicus especially
is variable even in specimens of the same species, those from
southern and arid regions being often nearly imperforate, and
more conical than others.
Several Mexican species belong to the same series, such as H.
REMONDII _Tryon_, H. GRISEOLA _Pfeiff_, and H. BERLANDIERIANA
_Moric._, the two last extending to Texas. Others, as H.
HUMBOLDTIANA _Val._, scarcely differ from the typical _Pomatia_
in form. I would, however, exclude the true _Hygromias_
associated with these by Tryon. I would also exclude the plain
or variegated species of Lower California, which approach
nearer to _Polymita_. It must be observed that many of our
species approach in form to others of allied groups, so that
if we overlook characters of color and surface, we will be
inclined to place in the same groups, Nos. 40 and 52, 24
and 32, 29 and 47, etc. Even in color Nos. 32 to 35 show an
approach to the group of Lower California, but seem more
closely allied to our series, having merely a geographical
affinity to the former. Size is of little value, even as a
specific character among the land shells, nearly all the
species furnishing specimens twice as large as others of the
same kind. The proportions of height to breadth are more
reliable, but not constant.
The subgenus or division characterized by the band is scarcely
distinguishable as a whole from the typical _Helix_, (type
_pomatia_) of Europe, though the extremes vary greatly,
simulating the three or more foreign genera to which various
authors have attached them.[32]
Our species are distinct enough among themselves when the true
specific characters here given are noted, though occasionally
hybrids undoubtedly occur. Dr. W. Newcomb has raised many
specimens in his garden in Oakland, combining the characters
of Nos. 24, 25, 29, 31, and 43, in such manner that it is
often impossible to determine which they belong to. Yet their
natural locations are usually so widely separated that only
occasionally can hybrids occur in a state of nature, and where
several do inhabit one locality, as 24, 27, 28, 46 do at Santa
Cruz, though nearly allied, intermediate forms are not found.
Some of the so-called species are, however, scarcely more than
hybrids or varieties, but the names are retained as indicating
their differences, though almost every species is divisible
into varieties as well marked or better. Thus the specimen
described on p. 260 of this volume (from Mount Diablo) seems to
be a hybrid between _mormonum_ and _ramentosa_, and we also
find specimens connecting the latter with 25, 26, and perhaps
others.
Occasional links also occur, connecting many others of the
banded species together.
A similar intermixing of species, where nearly allied, occurs
among our marine shells wherever two or more encroach on each
other’s limits; but the comparative rarity of the intermediate
forms seems to indicate hybridity rather than specific identity
of their allies.
It is probable that groups X and XI and XIII and XIV should be
united, as the distinctive characters between them are not of
first importance, and species of each are very closely similar
otherwise. Parallel columns may be formed, as indicated on p.
260, in which close resemblances in form, number of whorls,
etc., between species of the different groups may be shown,
and this may be extended so as to show analogous parallels
with those of other sub-families, or even families, but these
resemblances do not indicate affinity, though very likely to
mislead. A geographical arrangement of some groups is also
indicated, though imperfectly, as there are no impassable
limits between them. For special localities of many species,
see vol. III, pp. 62, 115, 180, 259, and II, 91, 103.[33]
The Darwinian theory of development might be very beautifully
illustrated by these banded snails, if we could find evidence
that their various forms had all originated from a common
stock (which might be the _ramentosa_, as that species now
occupies a nearly central locality). But though fossil forms
have been found differing considerably from their present
representatives, there are others apparently as old, which show
no such differences, and none of them show a tendency towards
any common original type. The one referred to by Professor
Whitney on p. 278, as found with the human skull of supposed
pliocene (?) age, does not differ perceptibly from specimens
of _mormonum_, now living near the locality. It retains even
its band of color, which is soon lost in specimens imbedded
near the surface, and this (if not preserved by its deep burial
or incrustation) is strong evidence against a great antiquity
of the skull. All other fossil Helicoids are considered
postpliocene, at least so far as known in this State, though
extinct species occur in Europe as far back as the Eocene.
The bandless species of the west coast slope, from lat. 33°
to 49°, are added to the synopsis, to show their relations
and analogies with the banded. The arrangement followed is
essentially that of Tryon, except the addition of some he has
omitted, or not yet published. The generic divisions are also
reduced to groups, as the true generic characters are not yet
settled. The lip is entirely wanting in the first family,
but in the bandless _Helicidæ_ of this coast, it becomes of
great importance for grouping of species, (49 to 55) of which
we have very few, while east of the Rocky Mountains there
are more than fifty. Group III is also largely developed on
the Atlantic slopes. The tendency now is to divide too much,
which is as unnatural as to unite all under genus HELIX, as
many still do. It is probable that the divisions here called
subfamilies, answer more nearly to the true genera than any
others, though they require modification, and the selection
of names applicable to them as genera, is a difficult task. To
undertake to distinguish genera by the lingual teeth, mucous
pores, or any other single character of the soft parts, is
less practicable than to do it by the shells alone, and little
if any more reliable. There may, however, be foreign shells
closely resembling ours in form, which must still be separated
on account of the animal.
I have omitted most of the compound terms used by authors to
describe the forms or shells, as they are not used with any
uniform system, and do not well define the differences between
the various species of the same group. The dimensions are
more reliable for separating allied forms. “Striæ” is also an
indefinite term, used by various authors for lines of growth,
revolving grooves or stripes of color, and is therefore never
used alone in this article.
It is remarkable that no _reversed_ species or variety has yet
been found west of the Rocky Mountains.
Order PULMONIFERA.
Mollusca with or without shells, breathing by lungs, inhabiting
the land, fresh or salt waters.
Subord. GEOPHILA.
Terrestrial Molluscs. Section with external rounded shells.
NOTE.—The * indicates the original measurement of authors, in
hundredths of an inch.
=A.= Shell with edge of mouth sharp.
Fam. _Helicellidæ_. Shell corneous, thin, polished,
translucent, sometimes with internal teeth.
Subfam. _Vitrininæ_. Shell very fragile, whorls 2 or 3, the
last greatly expanded, not covering the animal.
I Genus BINNEYA Cp. Ear-shaped, nearly flat, one-third the
length of animal, spire none, corneous.
=1 notabilis= _Cp._ Whorls 2, pale brown, first with 30
delicate revolving ribs, epidermis expanded; diam. *0.46, alt.
0.12 in.
II Genus VITRINA Drap. Depressed subglobose, last whorl very
large, swollen, imperforate, shining.
=2 Pfeifferi= _Newc._ Wh. 3, greenish white, suture finely
margined, columella arched, spire flattened, diam. *0.19, axis
0.09.
Subfam. _Helicellinæ_. Shell thin, translucent, whorls 4 to 6,
mouth moderate, surface smooth, pitted below or perforated.
III Group. HYALINA Feruss. Depressed globose, moderately
umbilicate, or pitted, vitreous, shining, whorls uniform.
=3 Breweri= _Newc._ Wh. 5, pale corneous, umbilicus large,
suture slightly channeled, aperture lunar; diam. *0.20, axis
0.10.
IV Group. MACROCYCLIS Beck. Discoid, widely umbilicate, growth
lines often coarse, last whorl usually deflexed.
=4 Newberryana= _W. G. Binn._ Wh. 6, reddish-brown, flattened,
mouth not deflexed, fine revolving striæ; diam. 1.43, axis
0.50.
=5 Vancouverensis= _Lea._ Wh. 5, yellowish-green, shining, very
slight revolving grooves; diam. 1.10 to *1.25, axis 0.40.
=6 sportella= _Gould._ Wh. 5, pale-greenish, growth lines
coarse, crossed by revolving grooves; diam. *0.50 to 0.70, axis
0.20 to 0.25.
=7 Voyana= _Newc._ Wh. 5, pale corneous, mouth much sinuated
above, body whorl crossed by a thick callus; diam. *0.50, axis
0.15 to 0.20.
Subfam. _Gastrodontinæ_. Generally depressed conic, and
lamellarly toothed inside, growth lines distinct, small.
V Group. CONULUS Fitz. minute, conoid, whorls 4 to 6, narrow,
aperture basal, transverse, perforate or not, without teeth.
=8 chersina= _Say._ Wh. 5-6, amber-yellow, imperforate, base
indurated, smooth, shining; diam. 0.10 to 0.12, axis, 0.08.
=9 chersinella= _Dall._ Wh. 4½ to 5, yellowish, narrowly
perforate, mouth oblique, growth ribs distinct; diam. *0.14,
axis 0.09.
Subfam. _Patulinæ_. Thickish, epidermis opaque, form discoidal
to subglobose, umbilicate, often striped or hirsute.
VI Group. PSEUDOHYALINA Morse. Minute, convex discoid, nearly
smooth, umbilicate, unicolor, whorls 3 to 5.
=10 milium= _Morse_. Wh. 3, greenish white, plano-convex,
translucent, minute revolving grooves; diam. 0.05, axis 0.02.
Nevada Co. and Angel Island, _Rowell_, Monterey, _Canfield_,
San Francisco and Santa Cruz, rare. No revolving grooves seen.
=11 minuscula= _Binn._ Wh. 4, whitish, nearly flat, mouth
sub-oval, whorls narrow, smooth, a parietal callus; diam. 0.09,
axis 0.01.
=12 conspecta= _Bland_. Wh. 4, dark corneous, obtuse convex,
smooth, mouth sub-circular, oblique; diam. 0.08 to 0.10, axis
0.04 to 0.05.
VII Group. PATULA _Held_. Size moderate, convex-discoid,
concave below, umbilicus showing all the whorls, unicolor.
=13 Hornii= _Gabb._ Wh. 4½, opaque, brown, _sparsely hirsute_,
spire flattened, umbilicus a little contracted; diam. *0.16,
axis 0.09.
=14 Whitneyi= _Newc._ Wh. 4, smoky-brown, smooth, nearly flat,
umbilicus plainly perspective; diam. *0.20, axis 0.10.
=15 Cronkhitei= _Newc._ Wh. 4, yellowish corneous, a little
convex, growth-ribs distinct, not plainly perspective; diam.
*0.20, axis 0.15.
=16 striatella= _Anth._ Wh. 3-4, pale corneous, depressed
convex, umbilicus large, shallow, growth-ribs faint; diam.
0.20, axis 0.15. The west slope specimens may be all of last
species.
=17 Durantii= _Newc._ Wh. 4, light corneous, flat above, nearly
smooth, umbilicus perspective, opaque; diam. *0.20, axis 0.07.
VIII Group. HELICODISCUS? Morse. Planorboid, whorls visible
below, several sets of internal teeth. (“POLYGYRA” Tryon, part.)
=18 polygyrella= _Bland_. Wh. 7 to 8, yellowish horn color, 3
teeth opposite mouth, 3 nearer mouth, 1 parietal; diam. *0.44,
axis 0.19.
IX Group. ANGUISPIRA Morse. Large, rather heavy, subturbinate,
strongly ribbed, grooved or striped, umbilicate.
=19 Idahoensis= _Newc._ Wh. 5, ashy corneous, very convex, 20
to 25 strong ribs on last whorl, fewer above; diam. *0.52, axis
0.45.
=20 Cooperii= _W. G. Binn._ Wh. 5 to 6, white, 1 or 2 brown
distant bands or mottlings, fine revolving grooves; diam. 0.58
to 0.98, axis 0.35 to 0.37.
[34] =21 solitaria= _Say._ Wh. 6, white to dark brown, 1 to 4
brown bands, or a var. (?) brown, with 1 pale band; diam. 1.00,
axis 0.80.
=22 strigosa= _Gould._ Wh. 5, ashy to brown, usually 5 to 8
banded below middle, angled or carinate, revolving grooves;
diam. 0.75 to 1.00, axis 0.28 to 0.50.
_N.B._ Nos. 13, 16, 18, and Group IX are found only east of
California.
B. Shell with a distinct thickened lip.
Fam. _Helicidæ_. Epidermis thickish, opaque, colored, lip
thickened, expanded, reflected or toothed. Large or moderate.
Genus HELIX _Linn_. Form globose—conic to depressed carinate;
umbilicus wide to very small or covered; lip thickened,
sometimes a little expanded, and rarely tuberculate below, or
continuous across body whorl. Color, (in our species) yellowish
brown to black, with a darker band around the periphery and
sutural region, generally margined on each side (at least when
young) by a pale one.
†Band triple in young and thin specimens, (wanting in
varieties. Bandless specimens of Nos. 24, 25, 27, 28, 33, have
been noticed.) Colors, uniform brown or olivaceous, sometimes
mottled. Obliquely reticulate grooved, or wrinkled-malleated.
From forests of oak, etc., in middle regions, or moderate
elevations southward.
X Group. (“ARIANTA” Albers, No. 23. “POLYMITA” Tryon, No. 24.)
Form resembling _H. pomatia_, sculpture in zigzag or divaricate
grooves. Subimperforate.
=23 Californiensis= _Lea._ Wh. 5, yellowish-olive, thin, band
pale-margined, sculpture faint, subglobose; diam. 0.75 to 0.88,
axis 0.56 to 0.62.
=24 redimita= _W. G. Binn._ Wh. (4½) 5½ to 6, reddish brown,
band single, umbil. small or none; (var. of 25?) diameter 0.80,
axis 0.48.
XI Group. (ARIANTA and AGLAIA part., auct.) Form much like
_Arianta arbustorum_, sculpture like last. Umbilicate.
=25 Nickliniana= _Lea._ Wh. 6 to 7, yellowish-brown, oblique
grooved, wrinkled or malleated, umbil. small; diam. 0.72 to
1.05, axis 0.42 to 0.80.
=26 Bridgesii= _Newc._ (Not of Tryon, 1866.) Wh. 6, grayish
corneous, thinner, band broader, umbil. wider than 25 (a
var.?); diam. *1.00, axis 0.73.
=27 arrosa= _Gld._ Wh. 5½ to 7, brown, mottled yellow, (vars.
yellow or olive, bandless) wrinkled malleate; diam. 1.10 to
*1.60, axis 0.59 to 0.90.
=28 exarata= _Pfeiff._ (Not of Weigm. = cælatura _Fer._) Wh.
6 to 7, yellow, or olive and brown mixed, strongly wrinkled,
faintly malleate; diam. 0.75 to 1.15, axis 0.40 to 0.62.
=29 ramentosa= _Gld._ Wh. 5½ to 6½, yellowish brown, thin,
oblique grooved, sometimes wrinkled; diam. 0.70 to 1.30, axis
0.57 to 0.90.
=30 reticulata= _Pfeiff._ “Wh. 5½, reddish brown, band single,
sculpture like 29,” (probably a var.); diam. *0.85, axis 0.47.
=31 tudiculata= _Binn._ Wh. 5 to 5½, brown or olive, band wide,
paler margined, malleate, body whorl swollen; diam. 0.90 to
1.40, axis 0.45 to 0.80.
XII Group. (“POLYMITA” Tryon, part, “ARIANTA” Albers. part.)
Sub-globose conic; axis, 0.6 to 0.8 diam.; band single,
obscure, or none, often mottled; smooth or with revolving
grooves, sub-imperforate. Usually paler below.
=32 Kellettii= _Forbes_. Wh. 5, reddish with pale mottling in
bands, faint revolving or oblique grooves; diam. 0.72 to 1.20,
axis 0.48 to 0.68.
=33 crebristriata= _Newc._ Wh. 5, dark corneous, band obscure
or none, lip sometimes continuous; diam. *0.92, axis 0.55 to
0.80.
=34 intercisa= _W. G. Binn_. Wh. 5, grayish or brown, band
obscure, deeply grooved, lip thick, continuous, tubercled; (=
33 var.?) diam. *0.84, axis 0.57. “_Hab._ probably San Miguel
I.” _Newcomb_, from worn specimens in his museum, not “Oregon.”
=35 Tryoni= _Newc._ Wh. 5½ to 6, bluish or mottled, pale below,
band faint, lower lip sometimes tubercled; diam. *0.80, axis
0.55.
=36 Carpenteri= _Newc._ Wh. 5½, brownish white, band faint,
fine revolving grooves, mouth subcircular; diam. *0.90, axis
0.64.
=37? Rowellii= _Newc._ “Wh. 4½, opaque white, no band, or
sculpture” (bleached?), mouth subcircular, umbilicate; diam.
*0.60, axis 0.40. (Unique specimen, and may be of the Mexican
group, like _lævis_, etc.)
“Arianta” Remondii _Tryon_, and “Galaxias” griseola and
Berlandieriana, of Mexico, seem to connect this group with the
next.
†† Band triple, colors strongly defined.
XIII Group. (AGLAIA _Alb._ part.) Generally lower than group
XII, and lip more expanded, umbilicus large or moderate, with
revolving grooves, or smooth.
‡ Colors light, often palest below. Inhabit dry or treeless
regions, from lat. 32° to 36°.
=38 facta= _Newc._ Wh. 5 to 5½, white, or brownish above, lip
yellow, umbil. nearly covered; diam. *0.42, axis 0.22.
=39 Gabbii= _Newc._ Wh. 5, band margins and grooves obsolete;
(unique, between 38 and 40;) diam. *0.40, axis 0.20.
=40 rufocincta= _Newc._ Wh. 5 to 6, pale brown, depressed,
umbil. moderate, lip broad; diam. 0.50 to 0.85, axis 0.22 to
0.45.
=41 Traskii= _Newc._ Wh. 6 to 6½, like last, but umbil. larger,
lip thinner, usually higher; diam. 0.90 to 1.00, axis 0.40 to
0.62.
=42 Ayresiana= _Newc._ Wh. 6 to 7, yellowish, paler below,
strongly grooved, spire elevated; diam. *0.80, axis 0.55.
“Santa Cruz I., Cal.” Newcomb coll.
‡‡ Colors dark, often paler above. Inhabit damp coniferous
forests, lat. 37° to 50°.
=43 Dupetithouarsii= _Desh._ Wh. 7 to 8, brown or olive, band
margins whitish, grooves obsolete, often submalleate; diam.
0.90 to *1.20, axis 0.54 to *0.60.
=44 fidelis= _Gray._ Wh. 6½ to 7, band and beneath black, band
margins and above red or yellow (a hybrid? var., black, and
becoming slightly angled); diam. 1.12 to 1.50, axis 0.60 to
0.90. “Oregonensis” _Lea_, may be = 44 jun.
XIV Group. (AGLAIA Albers, part.) Depressed, usually subangled,
hirsute or bristle marked, umbil. large.
=45 infumata= _Gld._ Chestnut to black, a single band sometimes
visible, angled, lip thin, bristles deciduous; (closely allied
to black var. of 44;) diam. 1.40 to *1.50, axis 0.54 to 0.60.
=46 sequoicola= _Cp._ Wh. 6½, dark brown, rounded, bristles
only in young, leaving marks; diam. *1.08 to 1.20, axis 0.50 to
0.54.
=47 Mormonum= _Pfeiff._ Wh. 6 to 6½, brown, depressed,
sometimes subangled, sometimes bristle marked; diam. 0.95 to
1.30, axis 0.50 to 0.54.
=48 Hillebrandi= _Newc._ Wh. 6, yellowish brown, bands hid by
persistent long bristles, subcarinate, lip broad; diam. 0.80 to
0.96, axis 0.35 to 0.40.
=C.= Bandless; lip more developed, reflected, often toothed at
the base.
Genus MESODON _Raf._ Lip broadly expanded, often 1-3 toothed,
or with parietal tooth only, sometimes none; corneous.
XV Group. (“ARIANTA.”) Toothless, umbilicus large, surface
coarsely wrinkled or granulate, lip broad, reflexed.
=49 Townsendiana= _Lea._ Wh. 5½, to 6, mixed yellow and brown,
body whorl coarsely wrinkled, fine revolving grooves; diam.
0.68 to 1.38, axis 0.35 to 0.55.[35]
=50 anachoreta= _W. G. Binn._ “Wh. 6, reddish ashen, granulated
and sparsely indented;” diam. *1.00, axis 0.54.
XVI Group. ODOTROPIS _Raf._ “Tooth upon columella, umbilicus
covered.” Lower lip tuberculate, and a parietal tooth.
=51 devia= _Gld._ Wh. 6, brown or olive, no sculpture except
distinct lines of growth; diam. 0.80, axis 0.45.
XVII Group. APLODON _Raf._ One parietal tooth, (or none)
perforate or imperforate, hirsute or smooth, lip simple.
=52 Columbiana= _Lea._ Wh. 5½ to 6, corneous brown, with or
without hairs, umbilicate; diam. 0.50 to 0.70, axis 0.25 to
0.35. The small imperforate and toothed form usually classed
with this species may better be considered a rounded var. of
_germana_, the subangled form of which is very rare.
=53 germana= _Gld._ “Wh. 5½, reddish corneous, hirsute,
subangled, one parietal tooth, imperforate;” diam. *0.30, axis
0.20.
XVIII Group. TRIODOPSIS _Raf._ “Umbil. large, a tooth on each
lip, and one parietal.” Sometimes hirsute, hairs deciduous.
=54 Mullani= _Bld._ Wh. 5½ to 6, brownish corneous, microscopic
spiral lines and tubercles; (hairy?) diameter *0.53, axis 0.29.
=55 loricata= _Gld._ Wh. 5½, brown or greenish, scale-like
wrinkles quincuncially arranged; diam. *0.25 to 0.35, axis
*0.10 to 0.20.
I am indebted to Dr. Newcomb and Mr. R. E. C. Stearns for
much assistance in preparing this paper. Though not offered
as a final arrangement of the species, it is hoped that this
synopsis may aid in their determination, and thus make a step
towards a correct systematizing of this difficult series.
There are four or five other subgenera among the 50 species
of this family in the Atlantic States, divided by Bland into
fifteen groups. He places Nos. 51, 54, and 53 in his 8th, 9th,
and 15th groups respectively.—(Ann. N. Y. Lyc. N. H. 1864.)
[32] Extreme specimens of _H. arrosa_ found by Mr. Gabb in
Mendocino County, Cal., its northern limit, and also one of
_H. redimita_ found in Alameda County by Mr. Holder, have
exactly the form of _H. pomatia_, and in each case have one
and a half whorls less than the types, indicating perhaps that
the usual forms found here are higher developed than the type
of the genus. (A genus _Pomatia_ has also been founded on this
type of the Linnæan genus _Helix_.)
_Aglaia_ was used by Escholtz, 1825, in Acalephæ, by Swainson,
1827, in Birds, and by Renier Philinidæ, before Albers adopted
it in this order!!
[33] See, also, the “Geographical Catalogue of West Coast
Mollusca,” published by the State Geological Survey, April,
1867.
[34] The west slope specimens may be all of species 20.
[35] A specimen figured by Mr. Tryon in the last number of the
“Journal” just received, (May, 1867), as “var. _minor_,” from
Idaho and Nebraska, seems to have an obscure band, which,
together with its form and want of wrinkles, indicate entire
distinctness from _Townsendiana_. The small form of the latter
found by me in Montana has no band, and seems close to Binney’s
_anachoreta_, of which supposed specimens from “Oregon” are
in Mr. Rowell’s collection. The Eastern _Mesodon clausa_,
_elevata_ and perhaps others, have been found banded
occasionally, but without the paler margins, and only
as an exception.
Prof. W. P. Blake read the following:
Origin of the Submerged Forests in the Columbia River, Oregon.
BY WM. P. BLAKE.
The submerged forests of fir trees, extending about twenty-five
miles along the Columbia River, above the Cascades, have long
excited the curiosity of travelers upon that stream. The trees
stand erect as they grew, but the tops have decayed and broken
off, leaving only those portions of the trees that have been
protected from the air by the covering of water. At extreme
high-water very few of these old trunks can be seen, but at
low-water they appear in great numbers, and project a few
inches or feet above the surface, and in some places they
extend far out into the stream.
These trees are not petrified, as is supposed by many. The
outer portions are much softened and partly decayed, but
towards the heart the wood is sound, and appears to be
identical in character with the fir which covers the mountains
around. Some cedar stumps are also found.
It is well known that fir trees will not grow below the
high-water mark of our streams, or where the roots would be
subject to overflows. Flooding the roots of the fir even for a
few days is sufficient to destroy its life. It is thus clear
that there has been a change in the level of the water since
the forests grew. Either the land has sunk or the water has
been raised: the latter appears to have been the fact.
The river at the Cascades, just below the submerged forests,
plunges over great masses of a hard volcanic conglomerate,
which forms the base of the cliffs on each side. This
conglomerate, which is 150 to 200 feet thick, rests upon a
stratum of sandy clay. This stratum is much softer than the
conglomerate, and yields more rapidly to the action of running
water. It may be seen when the water is low, at the foot of the
Cascades, with the hard conglomerate overhanging it in large
masses.
From all these facts, it appears that the river, in cutting
its way downwards through the Cascade Range, reached this soft
substratum, and for a long time flowed in a comparatively
unobstructed channel at a much lower level than now, thus
permitting the forests to grow along its banks. The extensive
undermining of the conglomerate caused it at length to fall
into the stream, and this, together with the sliding in of
the banks upon this soft foundation, I regard as forming the
obstruction which dammed the waters and caused the overflow of
the forests above.
The mountains rise on each side to a height of 2,500 or 3,000
feet, and are composed of nearly horizontal beds of lava. One
of these mountains on the right bank, or Washington Territory
side, presents vertical cliffs towards the Cascades, and these
cliffs have a _freshly broken_ appearance, as if a large part
of the mountain had _broken off_ at no very remote period. The
surface of the country between this cliff and the Cascades is
very much broken, and the railroad which traverses it, exposes
enormous masses of the conglomerate, piled confusedly together
as if they had been hurled down by a land-slide. Mr. Brazee,
the engineer of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, informs
me that the ground is in constant motion toward the river, and
it has necessitated the relaying of the track within the past
year. The same phenomena have been observed on the left bank,
or Oregon side. The bank is in constant motion there, and at
low-water a fine blue clay may be seen rising in the channel,
as if crowded out by the pressure of the rocks above. As there
has not been any perceptible change of level in the stream for
years past, we may conclude that the erosive action of the
current is fully equal to the encroachment of the banks.
The Indians of the Columbia have a tradition of a great
convulsion at the Cascades. They assert that the Chinook canoes
formerly ascended the river as far as a water-fall at the
Dalles, passing, at the Cascades, _under a bridge of rock_.
This bridge, or arch of rock, they say, fell in at the time of
a quarrel between the two mountains, Mt. Hood and St. Helen’s,
and at the same time the waterfall at the Dalles was destroyed,
so that salmon could ascend to the Upper Columbia. Before that
the fall was so high that salmon could not get up, and all the
upper country Indians were obliged to go to the Dalles for
their supply.
The general accuracy of this tradition seems highly probable.
The Dalles are now a succession of rapids and low falls, in a
narrow channel, between vertical walls of basaltic lava. There
is very little fall or current in the river below the Dalles to
the Cascades, and the elevation of the water by an obstruction
at the latter point would in all probability affect the height
of the lower fall at the Dalles.
The sandy substratum of the coarse conglomerate at the Cascades
is evidently an old river or beach deposit. It is accompanied
by layers of round water-worn rocks, and is filled with trunks
of trees lying prostrate. These trees are fossilized. Some
of them are half coal and half stone. The central portions
are usually coal-like or carbonized, and the outer parts
silicified. They vary in size, from a few inches to six feet
in diameter, and are nearly all flattened by pressure. This
stratum is evidently the source of the great quantities of
silicified wood which are found about the Cascades.
Mr. Stearns read the following note on a large specimen of _Orthagoriscus
analis_, Ayres:
In passing through the Italian Fish Market in this City, in
the month of October, 1866, I noticed an unusually large
specimen of _Orthagoriscus analis_, commonly called “Sun Fish,”
described by Dr. Ayres on page 31 of Vol. II of the Academy
Proceedings. Curiosity led me to make a measurement, which I
find in my note-book as follows: length from snout to extreme
caudal point, 5 feet 8¼ inches; from tip of dorsal to tip of
anal fin, 7 feet 6 inches. I found the anal and dorsal fins to
be nearly the same length, measuring from the tip to junction
with body 23 inches. Weight, as stated by the fishermen, 632
pounds. It will be seen that the measurement from tip to tip of
fins as above, exceeds the length by 21¾ inches.
Mr. Stearns made the following remarks as to the true habitat of _Helix
Ayresiana_, Newc.:
On page 103, Vol. II, of the Academy’s Proceedings, may be
found, under date of March 18th, 1861, the description by Dr.
W. Newcomb of a _Helix H. Ayresiana_, the habitat of which was,
as I learn from Dr. N., doubtfully assigned at that time to
“Northern Oregon.” Recently Dr. Newcomb has himself detected it
on Santa Cruz Island, off the Coast of California, near Santa
Barbara.
Professor Whitney exhibited a sample of the coal used at Salt Lake City,
taken by Mr. Ives, chief of one of the Central Pacific Railroad surveying
parties, from a wagon on its way from the mines to the city. The locality
from which it was obtained is in Webber Cañon, and the geological age of
the deposit is supposed to be cretaceous. The quality of the coal seems
to be good; but nothing very definite could be communicated in regard to
the extent or geological position of the bed.
Professor Whitney also exhibited a specimen of very pure rock salt,
obtained from the Salt Mountain on the Muddy River, a branch of the
Virgin, nearly a hundred miles south of Pahranagat, by Major S. S. Lyon,
formerly of the Kentucky Geological Survey. Major Lyon being present,
at the request of the President, gave an account of this interesting
locality, which is one long known to explorers. He stated that the Salt
Mountain lies on both sides of the Muddy River, and rises 400 feet above
that stream. The locality is about thirty miles northeast of Colville,
and twenty from the Colorado. Major Lyon also gave some facts in regard
to the geology of the vicinity of Pahranagat, where he had been residing
for some months past.
Professor Whitney presented two analyses of ores from the Comstock Lode,
Virginia City, Nevada, made by Professor Domeyko, of Santiago, Chile, and
communicated by Mr. Rémond, who is now residing in that place. They are
as follows:
I. II.
Gold, 1.10 0.18
Silver, 15.90 8.90
Lead, 27.30 10.00
Zinc, 23.40 21.70
Iron, 2.80 12.00
Copper, 2.00 —
Antimony, 1.30 —
Sulphur, 18.70 26.90
Matrix, 7.50 20.32
------ ------
100.00 100.00
The name of the mine from which they were taken was not given.
Mr. Yale brought up the subject of the gold mines in Africa, supposed to
be worked by the Emperor Napoleon III, and kept secret from the world in
general. A discussion ensued, in the course of which Professor Whitney
and Mr. Ashburner expressed their doubts as to the possibility of the
locality of any extensive mining operations being long concealed, and
their disbelief in the truth of newspaper statements to this effect.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 1ST, 1867.
Prof. W. P. Blake in the Chair.
Thirty-two members present.
Messrs. Samuel I. C. Swezey, J. D. Farwell, Frederick Madge, D. J.
Littlefield, Archibald Cooper, Samuel Pillsbury, Arthur W. Saxe, M.D.,
and Bernhard Marks, were elected Resident Members.
Donations to the Cabinet: A case of Butterflies, from the East India
Islands and Brazil, collected and presented by Mr. Lorquin; California
Snow Plant, (_Sarcodes sanguinea_) by Dr. Kellogg.
Mr. Stearns presented the following papers:
Shells collected at Santa Barbara by W. Newcomb, M.D., in January, 1867.
BY ROBERT E. C. STEARNS.
1. Pholadidea penita, Conr.
2. —— ovoidea, Gould.
3. Saxicava pholadis, Linn.
4. Platyodon cancellatum, Conr.
5. Cryptomya Californica, Conr.
6. Schizothærus Nuttalli, Conr.
7. Neæra pectinata, Carp.
8. Clidiophora punctata, Conr.
9. Thracia curta, Conr.
10. Lyonsia Californica, Conr.
11. Mytilimeria Nuttalli, Conr.
12. Solen sicarius, Gould.
13. Solecurtus Californianus, Conr.
14. Machæra patula, Dixon.
15. Sanguinolaria Nuttalli, Conr.
16. Macoma secta, Conr.
17. —— yoldiformis, Carp.
18. —— nasuta, Conr.
19. —— inconspicua, Br. & Sby.
20. Mera modesta, Carp.
21. Tellina Bodegensis, Hds.
22. Cooperella scintillæformis, Carp.
23. Semele decisa, Conr.
24. —— rupium, Sby.
25. Cumingia Californica, Conr.
26. Donax Californicus, Conr.
27. Standella planulata, Conr.
28. Amiantis callosa, Conr.
29. Pachydesma crassatelloides, Conr.
30. Psephis tantilla, Gould.
31. Chione succincta, Val.
32. Tapes staminea, Conr.
33. Saxidomus aratus, Gould.
34. Rupellaria lamellifera, Conr.
35. Petricola carditoides, Conr.
36. Chama exogyra, Conr.
37. Cardium quadragenarium, Conr.
38. Lazaria subquadrata, Carp.
39. Lucina Californica, Conr.
40. Diplodonta orbella, Gould.
41. Kellia Laperousii, Desh.
42. Mytilus Californianus, Conr.
43. Modiola capax, Conr.
44. —— recta, Conr.
45. Adula falcata, Gould.
46. —— stylina, Carp.
47. Pecten latiauritus, Conr.
48. Janira dentata, Sby.
49. Hinnites giganteus, Gray.
50. Ostrea lurida var. rufoides, Gould.
51. —— —— var. expansa, Carp.
52. Bulla nebulosa, Gould.
53. Haminea virescens, Sby.
54. Tornatina cerealis, Gould.
55. Dentalium hexagonum, Sby.
56. Mopalia muscosa, Gould.
57. —— —— ?
58. Acanthopleura scabra, Rve.
59. Ischnochiton Magdalensis, Hds.
60. Nacella insessa, Hds.
61. —— depicta, Hds.
62. —— paleacea, Gould.
63. —— vernalis, Dall (mss.)
64. Acmæa patina, Esch.
65. —— persona, Esch.
66. —— scabra, Nutt, Rve.
67. —— spectrum, Nutt, Rve.
68. Lottia gigantea, Gray.
69. Scurria mitra, Esch.
70. Rowellia radiata, Cooper.
71. Clypidella bimaculata, Dall (mss.)
72. Fissurella volcano, Rve.
73. Glyphis aspera, Esch.
74. Lucapina crenulata, Sby.
75. Haliotis Cracherodii, Leach.
76. Phasianella compta, Gould.
77. —— pulloides, Carp.
78. Pomaulax undosus, Wood.
79. Trochiscus Norrisii, Sby.
80. Chlorostoma funebrale, A. Ad.
81. —— aureotinctum, Fbs.
82. Calliostoma canaliculatum, Mart.
83. —— costatum, Mart.
84. Crepidula lingulata, Gould.
85. —— excavata, Brod.
86. —— navicelloides, Nutt.
87. —— —— var. nummaria, Gould.
88. —— —— var. explanata, Gould.
89. Hipponyx cranioides, Carp.
90. —— tumens, Carp.
91. —— serratus, Carp.
92. Serpulorbis squamigerus, Carp.
93. Turritella Cooperi, Carp.
94. Cerithidea sacrata, Gould.
95. Bittium filosum, Gould.
96. Litorina planaxis, Nutt.
97. —— scutulata, Gould.
98. Lacuna variegata, Carp.
99. —— unifasciata, Carp.
100. —— solidula, Loven.
101. Rissoa acutelirata, Carp.
102. Luponia spadicea, Gray.
103. Trivia Californica, Gray.
104. —— Solandri, Gray.
105. Erato vitellina, Hds.
106. Surcula Carpenteriana, Gabb.
107. Drillia inermis, Hds.
108. —— torosa, Carp.
109. —— mœsta, Carp.
110. Conus Californicus, Hds.
111. Odostomia sp.
112. Chemnitzia torquata, Gould.
113. Scalaria Indianorum, Carp.
114. —— subcoronata, Carp.
115. Cerithiopsis assimilata, C. B. Ad.
116. Lunatia Lewisii, Gould.
117. Ranella Californica, Hds.
118. Mitra maura, Swains.
119. Volvarina varia, Sby.
120. Olivella biplicata, Sby.
121. Nassa fossata, Gould.
122. —— perpinguis, Hds.
123. —— mendica, Gould.
124. —— Cooperi, Fbs.
125. —— tegula, Rve.
126. Amycla carinata, Hds.
127. —— tuberosa, Carp.
128. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.
129. Purpura crispata, Esch.
130. —— triserialis, Blve.
131. —— saxicola, Val.
132. Monoceros engonatum, Conr.
133. Ocinebra interfossa, Carp.
134. Cerastoma Nuttalli, Conr.
135. Muricidea Barbarensis, Gabb.
Dr. Newcomb also visited Santa Cruz Island, and collected the
following species:
1. Waldheimia Grayi, Davidson.
2. Saxicava pholadis, Linn.
3. Semele decisa, Conr.
4. Acmæa scabra, Nutt.
5. Lottia gigantea, Gray.
6. Rowellia radiata, Cooper.
7. Haliotis Cracherodii, Leach.
8. —— corrugata, Gray.
9. Pomaulax undosus, Wood.
10. Trochiscus Norrisii, Sby.
11. Chlorostoma gallina, Fbs.
12. —— funebrale, A. Ad.
13. Chlorostoma aureotinctum, Fbs.
14. Trivia Californica, Gray.
15. Conus Californicus, Hds.
16. Amycla tuberosa, Carp.
17. Monoceros engonatum, Conr.
18. Cerastoma Nuttalli, Conr.
19. Muricidea incisus, Brod.
20. Trophon triangulatus, Carp.
21. Fusus ambustus, Gould.
22. Argonauta Argo, Linn.
23. Helix Ayresiana, Newc.
List of Shells collected at Purissima and Lobitas, California, October,
1866.
BY ROBERT E. C. STEARNS, CURATOR OF CONCHOLOGY, CAL. ACAD. NAT. SCIENCES.
“Purissima” and “Lobitas” are the names of two creeks situated
a few miles south of Spanish Town, in San Mateo County. Near
the points where these streams empty into the ocean are small
beaches and groups of flat rocks left bare at low tide,
limited, however, in extent, as the shore in the neighborhood
is for the most part exceedingly bold and precipitous, the
ocean at ordinary high water beating against the base of the
cliffs.
Dr. Newcomb and myself visited the localities at the period
above mentioned, and collected the following species from among
the drift or upon the rocks:
1. Waldheimia Grayi, Davidson.
2. Navea Newcombii, Tryon.
3. Zirphæa crispata, Linn.
4. Pholadidea penita, Conr.
5. —— ovoidea, Gould.
6. Netastomella Darwinii, Sby.
7. Parapholas Californica, Conr.
8. Saxicava pholadis, Linn.
9. Platyodon cancellatum, Conr.
10. Schizothærus Nuttalli, Conr.
11. Lyonsia Californica, Conr.
12. Mytilimeria Nuttalli, Conr.
13. Macoma inconspicua, Br. & Sby.
14. Standella falcata, Gld.
15. Tapes staminea, Conr.
16. —— ruderata, Desh.
17. Tapes diversa, Sby.
18. Rupellaria lamellifera, Conr.
19. Petricola carditoides, Conr.
20. Lazaria subquadrata, Cpr.
21. Kellia Laperousii, Desh.
22. Mytilus Californianus, Conr.
23. —— edulis, Linn.
24. Modiola fornicata, Gld.
25. Adula falcata, Gld.
26. —— stylina, Cpr.
27. Hinnites giganteus, Gray.
28. Placunanomia macroschisma, Desh.
29. Doris albopunctata, Cooper.
30. Cryptochiton Stelleri, Midd.
31. Katherina tunicata, Wood.
32. Tonicia lineata, Wood.
33. Mopalia muscosa, Gld.
34. —— Hindsii, Gray.
35. —— lignosa, Gld.
36. Acanthopleura scabra, Rve.
37. Nacella vernalis, Dall (mss.)
38. —— instabilis, Gld.
39. Acmæa patina, Esch.
40. —— pelta, Esch.
41. —— Asmi, Midd.
42. —— persona, Esch.
43. —— spectrum, Nutt.
44. Lottia gigantea, Gray.
45. Scurria mitra, Esch.
46. Glyphis aspera, Esch.
47. Clypidella callomarginata, Cpr.
48. —— bimaculata, Dall (mss.)
49. Haliotis Cracherodii, Leach.
50. —— rufescens, Swains.
51. Chlorostoma funebrale, A. Ad.
52. —— brunneum, Phil.
53. —— Pfeifferi, Phil.
54. Calliostoma canaliculatum, Mart.
55. —— costatum, Mart.
56. Margarita pupilla, Gould.
57. Crepidula adunca, Sby.
58. —— navicelloides, Nutt.
59. —— var. nummaria, Gld.
60. —— var. explanata, Gld.
61. Hipponyx cranioides, Cpr.
62. Litorina planaxis, Nutt.
63. —— scutulata, Gld.
64. Lacuna porrecta, Cpr.
65. —— unifasciata, Cpr.
66. Isapis obtusa, Cpr.
67. Erato vitellina, Hinds.
68. Drillia torosa, Cpr.
69. Scalaria Indianorum, Cpr.
70. —— subcoronata, Cpr.
71. Opalia borealis, Gld.
72. Velutina prolongata, Cpr.
73. Olivella biplicata, Sby.
74. —— intorta, Cpr.
75. Nassa fossata, Gld.
76. —— perpinguis, Hds. ?
77. —— mendica, Gld.
78. Amycla gausapata, Gld.
79. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.
80. Purpura crispata, Chem.
81. —— var. septentrionalis, Rve.
82. Purpura saxicola, var. ostrina, Gld.
83. Monoceros engonatum, Conr.
84. Ocinebra lurida, Midd.
85. —— var. aspera, Baird.
86. —— var. munda, Cpr.
87. —— interfossa, Cpr.
88. Cerostoma foliatum.
89. Octopus —— (n. s.?)
_Navea Newcombii_, alive in _Haliotis Cracherodii_. Nos. 4, 5,
6, 25, and 26 alive in soft shale between tide marks. _Doris
albopunctata_, two specimens alive on rocks near low water
mark. Of the Chitons, Nos. 31 and 36, particularly abundant;
of the others named several specimens obtained, also one or
two species undetermined. 41, common, alive, on _Chlorostoma
funebrale_. 45 and 46, several living specimens between tide
marks. 47 and 48, I think, are distinct species; suggest
_Lucapina_, but foramen nearly twice as large as in shells
of the latter of same size, differing also in sculpture and
weight of shell. 49, animal lives for a long time, and affixes
itself tenaciously to the rocks after the shell is removed. 63
and 65, together living on rocks near high-water mark, and on
eel grass in pools left by the tide. 89, perhaps young of Mr.
Gabb’s species _O. punctatus_; two living specimens, as yet
undetermined, probably a new species.
Professor Silliman read a paper “On Naphtha and Illuminating Oil
from Heavy California Tar (Maltha), and on the probable Origin of
Petroleum.” This paper is omitted by the Publication Committee, as
it had already been published in the _American Journal of Science_
at the time it was read before the California Academy.
Prof. W. P. Blake read the following communications:
Note upon the Brown Coal Formation of Washington Territory and Oregon.
BY WM. P. BLAKE.
Openings recently made in the coal formations along the Cowlitz
River have shown the existence of several seams of brown
coal, ranging from two to seven feet in thickness. They are
separated by layers of sandstone, and are underlaid by a pebbly
conglomerate.
The seven-foot seam contains a few partings of clay about
six inches thick, but is chiefly a very compact coal, which
breaks out in large blocks with a conchoidal fracture. It is
very tough, and is not easily broken. It has the appearance of
cannel or splint coal. Exposure to the sun and air causes it to
shrink and crack.
It burns freely, giving a luminous flame, and a light smoke,
similar to that from wood. The ignited coals hold fire in a
remarkable manner, and with a strong draught or blast give an
intense heat. A single fragment, when ignited, will continue to
burn slowly to the center under an envelope of ash. A sun-dried
sample gave me 50.8 per cent. of volatile matter, chiefly gas.
The residue was a brilliant coke, the fragments of which were
slightly adherent, thus showing a tendency to cake. Trials
of the coal in quantity in open grates failed, however, to
show any caking qualities. Some portions of the coal expand
when burning and give a porous coke, which in many respects
resembles ordinary charcoal.
This deposit appears to be formed in great part of trunks of
exogenous trees. One trunk has been cut through that was over
four feet in thickness: a part of this was compact coal, and
another portion was in a half silicified state. Lines of annual
growth may be seen in some of the samples. This combustible
partakes of the characters of both coal and wood, and is in
fact a highly condensed wood, carbonized, without the loss of
its volatile portions.
Fossil plants are found in abundance in the adjoining sandy
beds. They are chiefly leaves of deciduous trees, but there are
some very distinct impressions of palms. This is significant of
a warmer climate.
The same formation of brown coal appears to extend along the
Columbia, back of St. Helen’s, where it is in close proximity
to beds of iron ore, and the coal may perhaps be used to great
advantage in the production of that metal.
Analysis of Mt. Diablo (California) Coal.
BY W. P. BLAKE.
A sample of Mt. Diablo coal, from the Pittsburg mine, was
analyzed by me in January last, with the following results:
Water 3.28
Bituminous substances 47.05
Fixed carbon 44.90
Ash 4.71
The sample was very pure, and apparently free from sulphur.
Color black. Fracture sub-conchoidal, giving brilliant shining
surfaces. It is very brittle, and is easily reduced to powder
in a mortar. Streak, dark brown.
This coal does not fuse so as to cake and make a compact
mass of coke. It is not therefore an economical coal for gas
production. It gives a long flame in burning; parts with
its gas rapidly and breaks up into small fragments, thus
necessitating the use of grate-bars with narrow openings. The
above analysis differs from those hitherto published, chiefly
in the amount of water and gas. Former analyses give from
thirteen to fourteen per cent. of water.
Mr. Hanks presented an analysis of the rock-salt collected by Major Lyon
on the Muddy River, as mentioned in the proceedings of the last meeting.
On Saturday, April 6th, the Academy made a field excursion to Angel
Island, about fifteen members participating in the meeting. Facilities
were afforded for the excursion by Major James T. Hoyt and General John
A. King; and to these gentlemen the thanks of the Academy were ordered to
be returned by the Secretary.
REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 15TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the Chair.
Thirty-three members present.
The collections made during the field meeting on Angel Island were
exhibited and commented on.
Professor Silliman read the following paper:
Notice of a peculiar mode of the occurrence of Gold and Silver in the
Foot-Hills of the Sierra Nevada, and especially at Whisky Hill, in Placer
County, and Quail Hill, in Calaveras County, California.
BY B. SILLIMAN.
In the search for ores of copper which occurred in California
in what is now known as the “Copper Belt” of the Lower Sierras,
deposits of “Iron Rust,” as they were called by the miners,
were observed at numerous points far below the range of the
main gold belt of the Sierras. Several of these ochraceous
deposits had been previously “located” by prospecting miners
for gold, before there was any knowledge, or suspicion even,
of the existence of ores of copper in connection with them. It
was a matter of common observation that certain gulches, or
watercourses in the neighborhood of these rusty deposits, were
rich in placer gold, having been worked for gold from an early
date. The search for copper in this kind of deposit was not
commercially successful, although there were shipments of green
and blue carbonates of copper, red oxide and metallic copper,
to a limited extent from both the localities here referred to,
the metal from which was known to contain a notable value of
gold and silver, stated to be about fifty dollars to the ton
of ore. This search for copper has, however, opened up these
deposits so as to display their character in a conspicuous
manner.
The rocks appear to have been originally talcose and chloritic
schists, sometimes micaceous, inclosing masses of argillite,
and of quartz which appears to have been massive enough at
certain points to assume the character of a vein, and parallel
to the stratification which has the usual north-western strike
and easterly dip of the region. All this mass of material
which at Quail Hill is certainly three hundred feet wide, and
possibly twice that, and with a linear extent exceeding one
thousand feet, appears to have been very highly impregnated or
mineralized by sulphurets, chiefly of iron, with a portion of
copper, zinc and lead. The sulphurets have undergone almost
total decomposition throughout the entire mass, leaving soft
ochraceous deposits of a rusty red and yellow color, and
staining the rocks with brilliant colors, a peculiarity which
the miners have characterized by the name of “Calico rocks.”
This decomposition or oxidation of the sulphurets, has extended
to a point as low as atmospheric influences extend, or probably
to a point where water is permanently found, which at Quail
Hill is assumed to be about 170 feet below the outcrop of the
mass, or crest of the hill. Dykes of porphyry and of other
rocks, commonly called intrusive, are seen dividing these
great ore channels in a direction conformable to the line of
strike. But the decomposition which has affected other portions
of the ore channel, appears also to have changed them, for
they are found to be reduced completely to the condition of
kaolin and lithomarge, or kindred alterations of feldspathic
rocks. The outlines of the feldspar crystals are still easily
distinguished, although the mass of the dykes is completely
friable.
The zinc blende which is found in small quantities at Whisky
Hill, and the vitreous copper also to some extent, appear to
have escaped decomposition. The copper ores appear to have
been confined to a portion of the deposit, as is indicated
in the section exhibited, while the auriferous sulphuret of
iron has been co-extensive with the ore channel, the cubical
cavities left by the decay of its crystals being found in all
the outcrops both in the quartz and in the ‘calico rocks,’
resulting from the decomposition of feldspathic and talcose or
chloritic constituents.
Accompanying the entire mass of decomposition at both
localities, occur both gold and silver, disseminated with
remarkable uniformity in all parts of the orey ground. At
Whisky Hill, films of metallic silver are visible upon the
talcose masses stained green by malachite or chrysocolla; the
gold is rarely seen in situ, being mostly obscured by the very
rusty and highly-stained character of the associated materials.
But it is rare that on washing a small quantity of any of the
contents of these great deposits, gold is not found in angular
grains or small ragged masses, from the size of a few grains’
weight, to impalpable dust. Nuggets of several pennyweights
occur occasionally. This gold has evidently accompanied the
sulphurets and been left in its present position and condition
by their decomposition. There can be little doubt that the gold
of the gulches adjoining these deposits has been derived from
them. At Whisky Hill, the gulch gold ceases to be found as
soon as the limits of this deposit are passed, and the same is
true at Quail Hill. The occurrence of deposits of this nature
throughout the range of the foot-hills, seems to offer the best
solution which has suggested itself of the origin of the placer
gold which is found in situations so far removed from the
gold belt of the upper Sierras, and away from sources usually
recognized as those to which placer gold may be referred.
Experiments made by myself and by others on a considerable
scale, the details of which will appear elsewhere, show that
the amount of the precious metals disseminated in the average
mass of vein stuff and decomposed materials of every name at
Quail Hill, is considerably in excess of the general average
tenor of gold veins in California. The mean of my own trials
gave to the ton of 2,000 lbs. by assay:
Gold $35.14
Silver 15.08
------
$50.22
While from the working of carefully prepared averages in
considerable quantity by milling process, the tenor of the
precious metals was:
Gold $29.18
Silver 5.91
------
$35.09
The extremely friable condition of the entire mass of these
auriferous materials renders their extraction and treatment
easy and comparatively inexpensive.
At Whisky Hill, a mill of forty stamps has been set up which is
now running with satisfactory returns. The cost by contract of
delivery of the ores to the mill, being stated at forty cents
(40c.) per ton, the cost of mining and treatment in mill being
considerably less, it is said, than one dollar per ton, the
amount treated being five tons to each stamp.
The chemical results of the extensive decomposition of
metallic sulphids which has in former times occurred at
these localities, offer an interesting problem in chemical
geology. The sulphur has been removed chiefly as sulphuric
acid beyond doubt, which has combined with iron and copper to
form sulphates of these metals. These have for the most part
disappeared, being washed out by the atmospheric waters, and
have followed the drainage of the country. At Whisky Hill I
found the sulphate of iron, (Coquimbite) sulphate of copper,
(Cyanosite) and alum. The water of the shaft contains copper
enough to redden the iron tools. At Quail Hill considerable
masses of heavy spar are found, formed probably from the action
of soluble sulphates upon witherite. No gypsum was observed at
either locality.
The mineral species observed at Whisky Hill, are as follows:
Metallic Gold.
Metallic Copper.
Metallic Silver.
Red Copper.
Malachite (Green Carbonate of Copper).
Azurite (Blue Carbonate of Copper).
Chrysocolla (Silicate of Copper).
Cyanosite (Blue Vitriol).
Copper Glance (Vitreous Copper).
Zinc blende.
Galena.
Iron pyrites.
Alum.
Coquimbite.
Heavy Spar.
Hematite (chiefly the earthy varieties).
Kaolin.
Lithomarge and various aluminous and magnesian silicates
resulting from the decomposition of the chloritic and
talcose rocks.
The list of species is about the same for the deposit at Quail
Hill.
The line of division between the ore-bearing ground in these
great ore channels, and the country rock is quite distinctly
seen on both the eastern and western outcrop at Quail Hill, and
on the western at Whisky Hill. At the former place it is a dark
bluish porphyritic rock, probably metamorphic, of a sandstone
or silicious sediment. The outcroppings resemble those of many
quartz veins, and I find the moss-covered portions of this
quartzose matter full of cavities, resulting from the decay of
pyrites, and yielding, by assay, three to five dollars to the
ton in bullion.
From all the evidence presented, we seem justified in regarding
these remarkable metallic deposits as segregated veins, holding
a pretty uniform and high tenor of gold and silver, associated
with and derived from the decomposition of extended masses
of metallic sulphurets and quartzose matter, and carrying
at times, ores of copper, the commercial value of which is,
however, entirely subordinate to that of the precious metals
which are found to characterize these veins or ore channels.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 15th, 1867.
Mr. Falkenau read a communication “On the Spirit of the Age and its
Influence in the Department of the Natural Sciences.”
Mr. Bolander exhibited specimens of the _Apocynum_ found in Round Valley,
on moist land subject to overflow. The Indians make extensive use of it
for fish-lines and other purposes. The specimens presented were collected
by Mr. J. S. Silver, of Humboldt Valley, Nevada.
A field excursion of the Academy was made, on Saturday, April 20th, to
the hills near the Twelve-Mile House, on the San José Railroad. By the
courtesy of Richard P. Hammond, Esq., General Superintendent of the road,
free passes to go and return were furnished to the members participating
in this excursion.
REGULAR MEETING, MAY 6TH, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Thirty-two members present.
Messrs. F. F. Thomas, Silas A. White, B. Smith, M. J. McDonald, Wm.
Patten and Philip Prior, were elected Resident Members, and Dr. C.
L. Anderson, of Santa Cruz, Cal., Henry Walter Bates, Assistant
Secretary Royal Geographical Society of London, Prof. J. H. Balfour, of
Edinburgh University, Dr. John Alexander Smith, F.R.S., of Edinburgh,
James Haswell, M.A., of the Geological Society of Edinburgh, Capt. J.
B. Caldbeck, F.R.G.S., of Singapore, and Sir Roderick I. Murchison,
President of the Royal Geographical Society of London, were elected
Corresponding Members.
Donations to the Library: Gold and Silver Tables, by L. Garnett;
Catalogue of Casts of Fossils for sale by Prof. H. A. Ward, of Rochester
University.
The Committee on Field Meetings reported on that of April 20th, near the
Twelve-Mile House. Specimens of the fossils collected at the locality
visited were exhibited by Mr. Yale, and remarks were made on the position
and age of the strata there exposed, by Prof. Whitney, Dr. Cooper and Mr.
Stearns. Mr. Lorquin mentioned the species of birds seen and collected
during the excursion.
Mr. Stearns presented, in behalf of Mr. Rowell, the following description
of a new species of _Pisidium_, collected during the field excursion to
Angel Island:
Description of a New Species of Pisidium.
BY J. ROWELL.
_Pisidium angelicum_, Rowell.
Shell rounded oval, nearly equilateral, very convex; margin
well rounded; beaks very slightly raised and very approximate;
surface subgranulate, marked with from one to six very decided
striæ or lines of growth; teeth too minute for observation.
Long. (of largest) 2 mill., Lat. 1.5 mill.; Diam. 1 mill.
_Habitat_: Angel Island.
Of California species, it is most like _P. abditum_, but
differs in its sculpture, its less prominent beaks and its
more globular and equilateral form. Most specimens are covered
by an exceedingly persistent coat of jet black mud, making
examination of them very difficult; but some are perfectly
clean.
Mr. Stearns read the following note upon a recent
Exhibition of Parhelia.
On Wednesday, the 17th day of (April) last month, at about 5
o’clock in the afternoon, my attention was attracted towards
the heavens by an exhibition of the rather unusual phenomena
(unusual in this latitude) known as _Parhelia_.
The sky in the west at the time was somewhat cloudy, and the
atmosphere hazy. I was unable to determine the exact position
of the sun, but its altitude was approximately 22° above
the horizon; the diameter of the circle or halo was about
24°. A horizontal line, drawn through the sun and projected
sufficiently in a northerly and southerly direction to
intersect the halo, displayed at each point of intersection, a
_parhelion_ or mock sun of very considerable brilliancy, and
continued for upwards of half an hour.
A much more extensive display of these phenomena was witnessed
by me in the month of April, 1858, while residing near Boston,
Massachusetts.
The sun was not far from the zenith, surrounded by a single
broad halo, which latter was in turn inclosed by an outer
circle of many halos all intersecting with each other and with
the central halo—each of the numerous points of intersection
gemmed with a _parhelion_. So extensive was the display, owing
to the number of halos and the attendant _parhelia_, that the
whole heavens from the zenith to within apparently 30° of the
horizon, seemed covered with brilliant circles or rings, and
resplendent with numberless suns. The sky, at the time, was
obscured by a haze of considerable density, and a chilling wind
was blowing from the south.
Some remarks followed upon sun and moon halos, during which Dr. Gibbons
combated the popular notion that halos about the moon were infallible
signs of rain. His observations proved that, in some seasons, these signs
invariably failed in California, and at the East; he thought no rule
could be established on the subject.
Mr. Goodyear presented the following paper in behalf of Professor
Silliman:
Notice of New Localities of Diamonds in California.
BY B. SILLIMAN.
Every well-authenticated instance of the existence of the
diamond in the United States is of interest, since it serves
to enlarge our knowledge of the geographical and geological
distribution of this much esteemed gem.
I have the pleasure of exhibiting to the Academy four diamonds,
obtained from separate localities in this State. Three of them
are crystals, having the form of an icositetrahedron; the other
has been cut, and is set as a ring stone.
_The First Specimen_—Is from Forest Hill, in El Dorado County.
Its weight is 0.369 gramme, or 5.673 grains—equal to rather
less than 1½ carats. Its color is good, but it has a small
cavity and discoloration on one of the solid angles, and it is
less symmetrical than the second specimen. This crystal was
found at a great depth from the surface in a tunnel run into
the auriferous gravel at Forest Hill. I procured this stone
from Mr. Tucker, the well-known jeweler.
_The Second Specimen_—Is from French Corral, in Nevada County.
It weighs 0.3375 grammes, or 5.114 grains—equal to about 1⅓
carats. Its form is symmetrical, color slightly yellowish.
Its lustre has been dimmed slightly by having been subjected
to a red heat as a test of its authenticity. The _auto da fé_
is hardly the test a chemist would select for pure carbon!
It is remarkably destitute of flaws. This crystal was washed
out from the cement in the deep gravel washings for gold at
French Corral, and was found in the sluice boxes. It belongs to
Mr. Egbert Judson, of San Francisco, from whom I derive this
information.
_The Third Specimen_—Is smaller and less perfect than either
of the preceding. It was found at Fiddletown, in Amador
County. It weighs 0.2345 gramme, or 3.619 grains—a little less
than one carat. This crystal is distorted, and has several
reëntering angles and cavities. Mr. M. W. Belshaw, to whom it
belongs, informs me that since 1855, five diamonds have, to his
knowledge, been found at Fiddletown, where he then resided;
none of them weighing much over one carat. All these specimens
were found in a gray cemented gravel underlying a stratum of
“lava” or compact volcanic ashes, and were found in searching
for gold.
_The Fourth Specimen_—Is from Cherokee Flat, in Butte County,
and has been cut and set in a ring. Mr. Geo. E. Smith, of 605
Montgomery Street, San Francisco, who is an expert in diamonds
and owns the specimen exhibited, informs me that he has seen
fifteen crystals from this locality, and has authentic advices
of at least forty, all of which have been found in deep gravel
washings, and are believed to come from a stratum of about
three feet thick, forming part of a mass of twenty-five to
fifty feet of superincumbent material. When this special
stratum of sandy materials is washed, the diamonds have been
found. I have taken steps to obtain an authentic crystal from
this place, which appears to be the most prolific locality of
the diamond yet observed in California.
In the first volume of the Geology of California, page 276, Mr.
Rémond is quoted as authority for the existence of diamonds at
Volcano. If this locality is distinct from that at Fiddletown,
near Volcano, we have at present, five authenticated localities
of the diamond in California, from which specimens have been
identified by mineralogists.
If a knowledge of the characteristics of this remarkable
species was more common among the miners who work in the deep
gravel diggings, no doubt this gem would be found to be more
abundant and in more numerous places than is now suspected.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 6th, 1867.
Professor Whitney, in reply to various inquiries made by members,
remarked that there were probably some fifteen or twenty different
localities in California where diamonds had been found; but these were
all of small size, the largest which had come under his notice weighing
only 7¼ grains: this was found at French Corral, near San Juan North. It
was difficult to give any directions by which miners could infallibly
recognize the diamond when they happened to meet with this gem. The
crystalline form is very different from that of quartz, which is now,
however, much less frequently mistaken for the diamond than it was
formerly. Most of the crystals found in California, up to this time,
have been twenty-four sided. The fact that the faces of the crystals are
usually curved instead of being plane surfaces, is also characteristic
of the gem in question. The hardness and specific gravity are also
sure guides; but miners rarely have the means of getting at either of
these characters accurately. It is commonly believed that the diamond
can be struck a heavy blow, on an anvil, without breaking; but this is
a mistake, resulting from confounding toughness with hardness. It is
extremely doubtful whether washing the gravel for diamonds in California
would pay, under any circumstances; and it is believed that such washings
are not remunerative anywhere, except when performed by slave or convict
labor.
Professor Whitney read a paper on the geological position of coal. The
object of this paper was to show how completely the results of modern
geological explorations and discoveries had done away with the old idea
that valuable beds of coal are confined to any one member of the series
of geological formations. The recent investigations of geologists in
India, China, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and on the Pacific
coast of North America, were noticed and commented on. It was shown that
while the important coal fields of Eastern Europe and the Eastern United
States are of palæozoic age, those of India, China and Australia, on
the other hand, belong to the mesozoic series chiefly, although there
are important deposits even as recent as the cainozoic or tertiary.
Professor Whitney remarked on the distribution of the principal coal
fields of the world into two great groups, on opposite sides of the
globe: one of these is of palæozoic, and the other of mesozoic age. He
referred particularly to the coal of the Pacific coast of North America,
and gave a brief account of its geographical distribution and geological
age, noticing particularly the fact that most of the valuable fields
of that region belong to the cretaceous series, a geological formation
which, in other parts of the world, has been found to be one of the most
barren in combustible materials. In conclusion, the importance of coal
discoveries in the region between the Rocky Mountains and California to
the successful operation of the Pacific Railroad was explained, and the
hope expressed that the geological expedition recently set on foot by
the General Government, at the head of which is Mr. King, late of the
California Survey, might be the means of giving to the world reliable
information in regard to the coal resources of that region, of which we
now know so little.
Prof. Whitney presented an elaborate paper “On the Natural System of the
Igneous Rocks,” by Baron Richthofen; he advised its reference to the
Publication Committee, and that it should be made one of the “Memoirs”
which the Academy contemplates publishing. It was so referred, and the
committee was instructed to report on the feasibility of commencing the
publication of a series of quarto Memoirs.
Prof. Whitney exhibited a canine tooth, obtained from the deep gravel
deposits at Douglas Flat, near Murphy’s, in Calaveras County; it appears
to be different from the teeth of any animal yet found on this coast,
either living or fossil. He considered it as probably belonging to the
hyæna; if so, this was the first notice of the occurrence of this animal
on the American continent.
Dr. Cooper stated that Mr. Ridgeway, the zoölogist appointed to accompany
the Government exploration of Russian America, when on that coast, a few
years since, had found birds nearly identical with living species in
Asia—a fact of much interest, since none of the same species are found
on the eastern coast of America. There is here another suggestion of the
former intimate relations between Western America and Eastern Asia.
REGULAR MEETING, MAY 20TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the Chair.
Twenty-nine members present.
Messrs. John P. Cairns, J. W. C. Maxwell, Constantine Heusch, William
Fischel, E. W. Burr, Archibald C. Peachy, J. P. H. Wentworth, C. P.
Stanford, Henry Gibbons, Jr., M.D., and P. M. Randall, M.D., were elected
Resident Members.
Donations to the Cabinet: Fossils from Mission Peak, Alameda County, by
Mr. Bosqui; and from Japan, by Mr. Lorquin.
Donations to the Library: Jahrbuch der k. k. geologischen Reichsanstalt,
Band XVI, No. 2, 1866. Bulletins de l’Académie Royale de Belgique, (2)
XX, XXI, 1865-6. Annuaire, (of the same) 1866. Meteorologisch Jaarboek,
uitgegeven door het kön. Nederlandsch Meteorologisch Instituut, 1865; two
parts, long 4to, Utrecht, 1866. Die Regenverhältnisse des Königreichs
Hannover, &c., von Dr. M. A. F. Prestel, Emden, 1864. Festschrift
der naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Emden, 4to pamphlet, Emden.
Einundfünfzigster Jahresbericht der naturf. Gesells. zu Emden, 1865; 8vo
pamphlet, 1866. Schriften der Gesells. zur Beförderung der gesammten
Naturwissenschaften zu Marburg, Supplement Heft, (Claus, die Copepoden
Fauna von Nizza) 4to, 1866. Monatsbericht der kön. Preuss. Akademie der
Wiss. zu Berlin, 1865. Bulletin de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de
St. Petersbourg, Tome IX, Feuilles 1-36. Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale
des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, Tome IX, (complete) X, 1. Sur l’Etat de
l’Atmosphere à Bruxelles, pendant l’Année 1865, par M. Ernest Quetelet.
Geographical Catalogue of the Mollusca found west of the Rocky Mountains,
prepared for the State Geological Survey, by J. G. Cooper, M.D. Burton’s
City of the Saints, presented by Gregory Yale, Esq.
Mr. Stearns read a paper entitled “Ancient Mining on Lake Superior,”
which reading was followed by a discussion on that subject, in which Dr.
Cooper, Mr. Yale, Mr. Stearns and Mr. White took part.
Mr. Bolander exhibited a portion of a branch of _Pinus tuberculata_, and
commented on the fact that two whorls of cones had been formed in last
year’s growth. Drs. Behr, Kellogg and Gibbons discussed various questions
suggested by Mr. Bolander’s remarks.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 3D, 1867.
Vice President Stearns in the Chair.
Twenty-five members present.
Messrs. Tryon Reakirt, of Philadelphia, and Lorenzo G. Yates, of Alameda
County, were elected Corresponding Members; and Messrs. G. H. Mumford and
A. S. Gould, Resident Members.
Donations to the Cabinet: A Horned Frog, by G. Yale, Esq.; Specimen of
_Cladophorus_ from Fort Point, by Dr. Stivers; Section of the bark of
_Sequoia sempervirens_, by Dr. W. P. Gibbons.
Mr. Stearns announced the death of M. Auguste Rémond, a member of the
Academy, and formerly of the State Geological Survey.
Mr. Bosqui presented a communication from Mr. L. G. Yates, in regard to
the remains of an elephant found near Mission San José.
Dr. W. P. Gibbons read a communication on the remains of a redwood forest
in the Coast Range east of San Francisco. The subject of this paper was
discussed by several of the members present.
Mr. Nystrom presented a paper on the origin of the Table Mountain in
Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.
REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 17TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the Chair.
Twenty members present.
Donation to the Cabinet: Specimens obtained in excavating on the Beideman
tract, by G. Yale.
Mr. Gabb presented a communication on the “Geology of Lower California,”
which was referred to the Publication Committee, and ordered printed as
one of the Memoirs of the Academy.
Mr. Gabb also communicated the following translation of part of a letter
received by him from Sr. Don Antonio Raimondi, of Lima, Peru, with
reference to some geological features of that country:
I have just received a letter from Professor Raimondi,
accompanying a very interesting collection of fossils, sent
through my lamented friend Mr. Rémond, but which I have
not yet received. After remarking that he had not time to
write a detailed account of the country to assist me in my
determinations of the geological ages, he gives the following
condensed but interesting description of the country, which I
have considered of sufficient value to warrant its immediate
publication. I translate this portion of the letter in full.
“Peru, or at least the great chain of the Cordillera which
divides the whole of America into two parts, comprises various
smaller chains, often very high, and here consisting of four,
nearly parallel. The principal of these are two, one of which
is the dividing line between the waters emptying into the
Pacific on one side, and the tributaries of the Amazon on the
other. This is what is properly called the Cordillera of the
Andes, or the Western Cordillera. The other chain is called the
Eastern Cordillera, and in some points is as elevated or even
surpasses in height the true Cordillera. In the southern part
of Peru, for example, it is entirely covered with perpetual
snow, and contains very elevated peaks, including, in that part
which is prolonged into Bolivia, the two colossi called Sorata,
or Illampu and Illimani. The Eastern Cordillera is of the
greater geological age, appearing to be entirely composed of
micaceous and talcose schists which have been metamorphosed by
the elevation of the granites, those which have also introduced
into these schists numerous veins of quartz, which in some
places are quite rich in gold. This elevated chain has been cut
very deeply by numerous rivers, which, taking their origin in
the Western Cordillera, traverse these immense formations of
schists and granite through narrow gorges, and unite to form
the large affluents of the Amazon.
“The Western Cordillera or true chain of the Andes is made
up in nearly the whole of its length of rocks of a much more
recent age. The principal formations are Cretaceous, Jurassic,
Lias and Trias. Another group of rocks, probably Carboniferous,
form the great basin of Lake Titicaca and a small spot on the
heights of Huanta. This Cordillera has been metamorphosed by
various eruptive rocks, the principal of which are porphyries
and diorites. These have introduced innumerable metalliferous
veins, rich in lead, copper and silver, and which have been
worked in many places.
“The volcanic rocks are strongly developed in Peru, especially
in the southern part, and have never been well studied.
According to my opinion, they once formed an extensive chain,
which, from its being composed of rocks easily disintegrated,
has been in great part destroyed by the action of water, so
that it is separated mostly by isolated hills; but from all
that I have been able to see, it must have formed at one
time an uninterrupted chain, as it appears in the central
part of Peru, at a little distance from the Pacific Ocean,
and afterwards it approaches almost insensibly the true
Cordilleras; so that, near Arequipa, it is more than twenty
leagues from the sea, but in following it to the south it nears
the Cordillera, extending to Cruzalia, in the broken country of
Moqueque and Tacna.
“Along the whole length of the coast, at a distance of one or
two leagues from the margin of the ocean, rises a small chain
of hills formed of granite, syenites and porphyries. This chain
is called ‘the Hills’ (Lomas) and contains in places scattered
spots of copper and a very little gold. On the same coast and
on the adjacent islands, sedimentary rocks are rare, though
they are nevertheless found at rare intervals. To the north,
sedimentary rocks extend from Tumbes to the south of Payta,
at the little cove of Tortugas, where there are many springs
of fresh water in a hardened claystone, alternating with
calcareous strata, which contain little seams of coal.
“From Secharra, to near Lima there is no sedimentary formation.
Near the port of Ancon, five leagues from Lima, in the island
of San Lorenzo, near Callao, and in Chorillo, three leagues
south of Lima, there are some stratified sandstones with a
very few fossils. These formations appear to us to be either
Jurassic or Liassic, but the study of the few fossils found
will determine better their age.
“Near Arica, and three leagues to the interior from Iquique,
where are the celebrated silver mines of Huantapaya, there have
also been noticed sedimentary rocks belonging to the Oolite and
Lias.
“In the elevated regions of the Cordillera are many traces
of stone coal which, unlike those in the formation about
Lake Titicaca, which I have already said belong to the true
Carboniferous, are all of more recent age, belonging to the
Jurassic and Liassic, as you will see by specimens from the
Springs of Pariatambo.”
REGULAR MEETING, JULY 1ST, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the Chair.
Twenty members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Native oysters, (_O. laticaudata_), also
varieties of _Purpura lactuca_, from Dr. Cooper; cone of _Pinus
contorta_, and branch and fruit of _Garrya elliptica_ from Port Trinidad;
eggs, cocoon, and animal of the California silkworm, (_Saturnia
Californica_) by Dr. Lanszweert; _Aristolochia Californica_, from Angel
Island, by Mr. E. Brooks.
Mr. Stearns read a note from Professor W. P. Blake, stating that the
fossil vertebræ which he exhibited at the meeting of November 18th, 1866,
were not those of saurians, as he had supposed, but of one of the larger
forms of _Delphinidæ_.
Mr. Stearns exhibited specimens of _Haliotis_ from Monterey, which
were evidently hybrid forms. Some remarks on the peculiarities and
geographical distribution of these mollusks were made by Messrs. Stearns
and Cooper.
Dr. W. P. Gibbons made some additional remarks, supplementary to his
communication, at a previous meeting, on the extinct redwood forests of
the Coast Ranges on the east side of the Bay of San Francisco. These
remarks were followed by a discussion in which Messrs. Cooper, Kellogg,
Bolander, Veatch, and Stearns took part.
REGULAR MEETING, JULY 15TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the Chair.
Twenty-five members present.
Messrs. W. A. S. Nicholson, A. B. Stout, M.D., and C. W. McCormick, M.D.,
were elected Resident Members.
Donation to the Cabinet: Specimen of asbestos, from L. Ransom, Esq.
A collection of the shells of California, comprising in part the
specimens belonging to the Academy and which had been sent to Mr.
Carpenter to be named, was exhibited by Dr. Cooper, by whom they had been
arranged for the Museum.
Dr. Gibbons made some remarks on the effects of the earthquake of
October 6th, at Watsonville. He also spoke of the absence of worms from
California fruit; and his remarks were followed by a discussion of the
subject, in which Drs. Cooper and Behr took part.
Messrs. Stearns and Yale made some remarks on the ancient mines of the
Lake Superior region, and the race by which they had probably been worked.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 5TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the Chair.
Twenty-three members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: A specimen of a Sole, from Dr. Behr; four
hundred specimens of Chilean Plants, from Mr. Bolander.
Mr. Bolander gave an account of a recent visit made by himself to
Humboldt County, and of his botanical observations in that region. The
subject of the geographical range of the forest trees on this coast was
discussed by Messrs. Behr, Cooper, Yale, Bloomer, and Williamson.
Dr. Gibbons called attention to the meteoric display to be expected about
the tenth of the current month.
REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 19TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the chair.
Twenty members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Fossils from Purissima, by Mr. Yale.
Donations to the Library: Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences,
Vol. I, 4to, Washington, 1866, and Annuals of the same for 1863, 1864,
1865, and 1866.
The subject of the distribution of forest vegetation was discussed by
Messrs. Bloomer and Cooper.
Dr. H. Gibbons made some remarks on the distribution of clear and cloudy
days throughout the year at San Francisco.
Mr. Stearns exhibited a species of Pholas, and made some remarks on its
methods of boring. Dr. Cooper made some observations on the same subject.
REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 2D, 1867.
President in the chair.
Twenty members present.
Donations to the Library: Washington Astronomical Observations for 1864,
4to, Washington, 1867. Report on Interoceanic Canals and Railroads
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 8vo, 1867. Speech of Hon.
Charles Sumner on the Cession of Russian America.
A letter from George Gibbs, Esq., transmitted through the Smithsonian,
and urging the importance of collecting Indian crania on this coast, was
read and commented on by Professor Whitney. He also exhibited a part of a
jaw of _Oreodon_, sent from Montana, by Mr. Keyes. The precise locality
where it was said to have been found is about twenty miles northeast of
Bannock City, on Rattlesnake Creek, a branch of the Beaver Head. If there
is no mistake in the locality, this is a very interesting occurrence,
as the existence of these tertiary deposits characterized by bones of
extinct mammalia (the White River beds) was not before known as far west,
or at as high an elevation, as this.
Professor Whitney gave an account of his recent visit to Oregon,
Washington Territory, Vancouver Island, and British Columbia. He spoke
particularly of the volcanoes of that region, and remarked that he had
ascertained, by rough trigonometrical measurements, that Mount Hood
was at least two thousand feet lower than Mount Shasta. He was about
to ascend the first-named peak, in order to measure it barometrically;
but, on learning that Colonel Williamson was intending to do the same
thing, during the present season, he proposed to await that gentleman’s
measurement, the result of which could not fail to be accepted by
all as eminently trustworthy. Professor Whitney remarked that his
journey had been undertaken chiefly with a view to the study of the
“surface-geology,” and that he would, on a future occasion, bring before
the Academy the results of his observations.
Mr. Bolander made some remarks on the distribution of the redwoods and
Big Trees in California, and exhibited a map, prepared at the office of
the Geological Survey, on which the extent and position of the regions
occupied by these two species of Sequoia were shown by colors.
Dr. Ayres remarked on explosive sounds heard by him recently, during
perfectly clear weather, in the vicinity of Borax Lake. They seemed to
come from beneath the surface, and recalled the subterranean explosions
or noises mentioned in the Geology of California, Vol. I, as having been
heard in the vicinity of Mount Helena.
REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the chair.
Twelve members present.
Donation to the Cabinet: Twenty-eight mineralogical specimens from Dr.
A. B. Stout; mineralogical specimens from Mount Hood, by Col. R. S.
Williamson.
The following paper was read:
On the Height of Mt. Hood.
BY R. S. WILLIAMSON.
Having recently formed a party and visited Mt. Hood for the
purpose of ascertaining its altitude, and as my determination
of its height is much less than previous parties have made it,
I think it proper to state somewhat in detail the nature of the
observations and the method I have pursued to arrive at the
number I adopt as a close approximation to its true height.
By the kindness of Gen. F. Steele, commanding the Department
of the Columbia, the necessary transportation was furnished
for the party, consisting of twelve persons, of whom my two
assistants, Lieut. W. H. Heuer, U. S. Engineers, and Mr. John
T. Best, were specially charged with the observations on the
summit. We left Portland, Oregon, August 20th, and on the
evening of the twenty-second arrived at a place on the slope of
the mountain, where we camped, and from which, the next day,
the ascent was made; seven of the party attempting to reach,
and six reaching, the summit, where they remained from one and
a-half to three hours.
From this camp to the summit and back ten hours were occupied,
starting at 7:30, A.M. The weather was clear and pleasant, and
had been so for several days before, and was so for several
days after.
The instruments used at all the stations were made by James
Green, of New York, were in perfect order, and most of them
new. They consisted of cistern barometers reading to two
thousandths of an inch, with attached thermometer, and open air
thermometer, (dry and wet) with large divisions, so that they
were easily read to tenths of a degree. All the barometers
had been adjusted to or compared with the standard, and all
agreed with it except the one at Astoria, which required a plus
correction of three thousandths of an inch.
The stations used were Astoria, Fort Vancouver, Fort Dalles,
camp on slope of Mt. Hood, and summit of Mt. Hood. Observations
had been taken for several years at Astoria for me by Louis
Wilson, U. S. Tidal Observer, at 7, A.M., 2, P.M., and 9, P.M.,
of every day, besides hourly observations for ten days or more
of each month. The cistern of this barometer is fifty-three
feet above mean low tide.
At Fort Vancouver observations of the same character were
commenced July 1st of this year, and are still going on. At
Fort Dalles similar observations have been made since July 10th.
The observations at the camp on the mountain slope were
commenced at 7, P.M., on August 22d, and continued hourly
(with few omissions) until 8, A.M., on the twenty-fourth.
The barometer at the summit was hung up at 1:30, P.M., and
allowed to stand a half hour in free air, but protected from
the direct rays of the sun. It was then adjusted and observed
at 2, P.M., 2:15, P.M., and 2:30, P.M., by Mr. Heuer and Mr.
Best, independently, and the two records as shown to me were
essentially the same. The mean reading of the barometer reduced
to 32° Fahrenheit, was 19,941 inches, with an _observed_ air
temperature of 41°.7, and wet bulb of 31°.3. The height of
Fort Vancouver above Astoria was computed from the mean of
the simultaneous observations taken during the months of July
and August. The height of the Dalles above Fort Vancouver was
deduced from the corresponding observations during twenty-one
days in July, together with those for the month of August. The
height of the camp on the mountain slope above Fort Vancouver,
and also the height of that camp above Fort Dalles, were then
separately computed from the daily means of the observations
taken at the three stations during August 23d. The difference
between the two should give the same result as by the direct
calculations between Fort Vancouver and Fort Dalles; but on
account of the short period observed on the mountain camp, a
plus correction of a little over eight feet was found necessary
to the estimated height of that camp to make the three results
agree.
It then remained only to calculate the height of the summit
of Mount Hood above the mountain camp. The mean of the three
observations of the barometer was assumed as the nearest
approximation we can have to the mean pressure for that day, as
the horary oscillation at the summit is unknown. With regard to
the mean temperature for that day, we have no positive data to
determine it. We cannot take the observed temperature, as the
observations were taken during the hottest part of the day.
By consulting the hourly observations of the thermometer at
the camp, I find the range there is between 63° and 43°.7,
or nearly 20°; and supposing nearly as great a range of
temperature on the summit, I have assumed the mean temperature
then for that day to be 34°.
The following is the final result of the computations:
STATIONS. INTER. ALTS. SEA LINE.
Sea level at mean low tide — 0
Astoria 53 53
Fort Vancouver 79 132
Camp on mountain slope 5,820 5,952
Summit of Mount Hood 5,273 11,225
The computations are made with new tables which will shortly
be published, and which give results similar to Plantamour’s
formula, based on Regnault’s constants. They give results
somewhat higher than if Guyot’s tables had been used, the
latter giving the height of the summit, 11,185 feet.
On our return I took a single observation at what is called
“Government Camp,” about four miles below the camp on the
mountain slope, and another at a place called Stumpville, some
eight miles further on the road towards Portland. The results
give for the former place 3,864 feet, and for the latter 1,830
feet above the sea level.
The instruments used on the mountain have been returned in
excellent order, and compared with the one at Fort Vancouver
with most satisfactory results.
It may be asked: Why is it that the results here given differ
so widely from some previous estimates? Mount Hood is said to
be, by Mitchell’s School Atlas, 18,361 feet, and the Rev. Geo.
H. Atkinson with a party, ascended to the summit in August of
last year, boiled water with a spirit-lamp, found that the
thermometer read 180°, and therefore concludes the mountain
is 17,600 feet, and Government Camp 4,400 feet above the sea.
The reason is, that the instruments used are unreliable,
and this method of computing the altitude defective. With a
boiling point apparatus (or thermo-barometer as it is called)
of the most approved kind, the results by boiling water are
far inferior to those by the cistern barometer; but if the
observations are made with a common thermometer, with small
spaces for degrees, as was the case in this instance, and the
instrument not protected from drafts of air, the results are
utterly unreliable, and therefore worse than worthless.
Apart from the observations here described, there are other
evidences to show that the determination of the height of this
mountain here given is not underestimated. Col. B. C. Smith,
one of our party who reached the summit, had this year ascended
Mount Shasta, a mountain measured by Prof. Whitney to be 14,440
feet. The Colonel states that he feels confident, from the
comparative ease with which he ascended Mount Hood, that it is
of much less altitude than Mount Shasta.
On Mount Hood butterflies were found within a thousand feet
of the summit. Finally, Prof. Whitney and others, from rough
triangulations, have estimated it be about 12,000 feet.
It is to be hoped that other parties with good instruments
will take further observations on this mountain. As the height
of Fort Vancouver and Fort Dalles are known, and as these are
now permanent meteorological stations, further observations on
Mount Hood can be referred to one of these stations as a base,
and good results obtained.
While another set of such observations may produce slightly
different results, I think they will not differ one hundred
feet from the estimate here given.
Dr. Gibbons exhibited a specimen of _Euphorbia lathyris_, and remarked
upon its distinguishing characters.
REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 7TH, 1867.
Dr. J. G. Cooper in the chair.
Twelve members present.
Donation to the Cabinet: Salt from a manufactory on the Columbia River,
near Portland, Oregon, by Mr. Victor.
REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 21ST, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Twenty-three members present.
Mr. J. G. Burt was elected a Resident, and Professor W. D. Alexander, of
Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, a Corresponding Member.
Donation to the Cabinet: A large number of Californian plants, collected
and presented by Messrs. Bolander and Kellogg.
Donations to the Library: Humboldt and Bonpland’s Botanical Observations
in South America, four vols. 8vo., Paris, 1822, by Mr. Bolander.
Professor Whitney read extracts from letters recently received from Mr.
Dall, dated at “St. Michael’s, Russian America, August 14th, 1867,” and
addressed to the Academy and to himself. The following are some extracts
from these letters:
“I have traveled on snow shoes, with the thermometer from 8°
to 40° below zero, about four hundred miles. I have paddled
in open canoes up stream six hundred and fifty miles, and
down 1,300 miles. I have obtained 4,550 specimens, including
a set of the rocks from Fort Youkon to the sea, sufficient to
determine the geological formations for 1,300 miles. The only
fossiliferous beds are on the Youkon, and they extend about
sixty miles. They are brown sandstones, containing bivalve
mollusca and vegetable remains. There is a small seam of coal
thirty miles below the bend, and thin shale above and below.
The coal is of good quality; but there is so little of it that
it is worthless. These are the only fossiliferous strata I have
thus far found. The rocks above and below are all azoic and
nonstratified, excepting a little hard blue or black slate.
Granite, and especially mica, are very rare. I found a pebble
containing the well known fossils of the Niagara limestone on
the beach near Fort Youkon. Fossil wood and bones and teeth of
_Elephas_ and _Ovibos moschatus_ are common over the country.
There is a broad patch of volcanic eruptive rock on the river
near the lower bend, and it extends to the sea. The islands
of St. Michael and Stuart are formed of it, and it is roughly
columnar on the former near the Fort.”
“I have looked carefully for glacial traces, and so far have
found absolutely none.”
Mr. Dall adds that it is his intention to spend another year in Russian
America, working at his own expense, in order to finish the explorations
commenced by himself, and which the failure of the Telegraph Company
rendered it impossible for him to continue officially.
Dr. Cooper and Professor Whitney discussed the question whether the
volcanoes of Oregon and Washington Territory were to be classed as
active. The evidence on this point seemed very conflicting, so far as
showers of ashes are concerned. There is no doubt, however, of the
existence of solfataric action on Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and
probably on Rainier and Baker.
Professor Whitney exhibited some photographs and stereographs, taken for
the Geological Survey by Mr. W. Harris, in the Upper Tuolumne Valley,
near Soda Springs, Mount Dana, Mount Hoffmann, and Mount Lyell. He also
presented the following account of a remarkable portion of the Tuolumne
Valley, which forms almost an exact counterpart of the Yosemite. It is by
Mr. Hoffmann, the head of a party of the Geological Survey, by which it
was explored last summer:
Notes on Hetch-Hetchy Valley.
BY C. F. HOFFMANN.
Tuolumne Valley, or Hetch-Hetchy, as it is called by the
Indians (the meaning of this word I was unable to ascertain) is
situated on Tuolumne River about fifteen miles in a straight
line below Tuolumne Meadows and Soda Springs, and about twelve
miles north of Yosemite Valley. Its elevation above the sea is
from 3,800 to 3,900 feet, a little less than that of Yosemite.
The valley is three miles long running nearly east and west,
with but little fall in this distance. Near its center it is
cut in two by a low spur of shelving granite coming from the
south. The lower part forms a large open meadow with excellent
grass, one mile in length, and gradually increasing from ten
chains to a little over half a mile in width, and only timbered
along the edges. The lower part of this meadow terminates in
a very narrow cañon, the hills sloping down to the river at
an angle of from 40° to 60°, only leaving a channel from six
to ten feet wide; the river in the valley having an average
width of about fifty feet. This is the principal cause of the
overflow in spring time of the lower part of the valley, and
probably also has given rise to the report of there being a
large lake in the valley. Below this cañon is another small
meadow, with a pond. The upper part of Hetch-Hetchy, east of
the granite spur, forms a meadow one and three-fourths miles
in length, varying from ten to thirty chains in width, well
timbered and affording good grazing. The scenery resembles very
much that of the Yosemite, although the bluffs are not as high,
nor do they extend as far. On the north side of the valley,
opposite the granite spur we first have a perpendicular bluff,
the top of which is 1,800 feet above the valley; the talus at
the base is about five hundred feet above the valley, leaving a
precipice of about 1,300 feet. In the spring when the snows are
melting a large creek precipitates itself over the western part
of this bluff. I was told that this fall is one of the grandest
features of the valley, sending its spray all over its lower
portion. It was dry, however, at the time of my visit. The
fall is 1,000 feet perpendicular, after which it strikes the
debris and loses itself among the rocks. About thirty chains
further east we come to the Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height above
the valley is 1,700 feet. This fall is not perpendicular,
although it appears so from the front, as may be seen from the
photograph by Mr. Harris. It falls in a series of cascades at
an angle of about 70°. At the time of my visit the volume of
water was much greater than that of Yosemite fall, and I was
told that in the spring its roarings can be heard for miles.
Still further east we have two peaks, shaped very much like
“The Three Brothers,” in the Yosemite. Their base forms a
large, naked and sloping granite wall on the north side of the
valley, broken by two timbered shelves, which run horizontally
the whole length of the wall. Up to the lower shelf or bend,
about eight hundred feet high, the wall, which slopes at an
angle of from 45° to 70°, is polished by glaciers, and probably
these markings extend still higher up, as on entering the
valley the trail followed back of and along a moraine for
several miles, the height of which was about 1,200 feet above
the valley. The same polish shows itself in places all along
the bluffs on both sides, and particularly fine on the granite
spur crossing the valley. There is no doubt that the largest
branch of the great glacier which originated near Mt. Dana and
Mount Lyell, made its way by Soda Springs to this valley. A
singular feature of this valley is the total absence of talus
or debris at the base of the bluffs, excepting at one place in
front of the falls. Another remarkable rock, corresponding with
Cathedral Rock in the Yosemite, stands on the south side of
the valley, directly opposite Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height is
2,270 feet above the valley. The photograph by Mr. Harris will
give some idea of this rock.
At the upper end of the valley the river forks, one branch,
nearly as large as the main river, coming from near Castle
Peak, the main river itself from Soda Springs. About half a
mile up the main cañon, the river forms some cascades, the
highest being about thirty feet.
The valley was first visited, in 1850, by Mr. Joseph Screech, a
mountaineer of this region, who found it occupied by Indians.
This gentleman informed me that, up to a very recent date, this
valley was disputed ground between the Pah Utah Indians from
the eastern slope and the Big Creek Indians from the western
slope of the Sierras; they had several fights, in which the
Pah Utahs proved victorious. The latter still visit the valley
every fall to gather acorns, which abound in this locality.
Here I may also mention that the Indians speak of a lake of
very salt water on their trail from here to Castle Peak. Mr.
Screech also informed me of the existence of a fall, about a
hundred feet high, on the Tuolumne River, about four miles
below this valley, and which prevents fish from coming up any
higher. The climate is said to be milder in winter than that of
the Yosemite Valley, as is also indicated by a larger number
of oaks and a great number of _Pinus Sabiniana_. The principal
tree of the valley is _Pinus ponderosa_; besides this we have
_P. Sabiniana_, Cedar, _Q. Sonomensis_, _Q. crassipocula_; also
poplar and cottonwood.
The valley can be reached easily from Big Oak Flat by taking
the regular Yosemite trail, by Sprague’s Ranch and Big Flume,
as far as Mr. Hardin’s fence, between south and middle fork of
Tuolumne River, about eighteen miles from Big Oak Flat. Here
the trail turns off to the left, going to Wade’s Meadows or
Big Meadows, sometimes called Reservoir Meadows, the distance
being about seven miles. From Wade’s Ranch the trail crosses
the middle fork of Tuolumne and goes to the Hog Ranch, five
miles; thence up divide between the middle fork and main river,
about two miles, to another little ranch called “The Cañon.”
From here the trail winds down through rocks for six miles to
Tuolumne Cañon. This trail is well blazed, and was made by
Mr. Screech and others, for the purpose of driving sheep and
cattle to the valley. The whole distance from Big Oak Flat is
thirty-eight miles.
Another trail equally good, but a little longer, leaves the
Yosemite trail about half a mile beyond the crossing of the
south fork, thence crosses the middle fork within about one and
a half miles of the south fork crossing, and follows up the
divide between the middle fork and the main river, joining the
first-named trail at the Hog Ranch.
REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 4TH, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Thirty members present.
George C. Johnson was elected a Resident Member.
Donations to the Cabinet: Two packages of plants from France and
Australia, by Mr. Bolander; these plants were collected by Dr. F. Müller,
Director of the Botanical Garden at Melbourne, and by Réné Le Normand, of
Vire, France, and sent to Mr. Bolander in exchange for Californian plants.
Dr. J. Blake read the following:
On the Organs of Copulation in the Male of the Embiotocoid Fishes.
BY JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F.R.C.S.
Some months since I presented a communication to the Academy
pointing out the manner in which the fœtus of the embiotocoid
fishes was nourished whilst it was being developed within
the ovisac. (See p. 314.) I there stated that the ingress of
water into the ovisac would not take place at all freely, as
the organ communicated with the surface by a narrow canal
surrounded by muscular fibres. This structure of the oviduct
would evidently oppose an obstacle to the entrance of the semen
into the ovisac for the purpose of impregnation, unless some
means exist by which the ventral surfaces of the fish can be
maintained in contact during the act of copulation, as the
penis consists of a slightly developed tubercle which cannot
penetrate for any distance into the oviduct. From the direction
of the orifices of the penis and oviduct it is evident that
anything like a perfect contact of these organs can only be
maintained whilst the fishes are in a reversed position, so
that the head of one fish is towards the tail of the other. In
order that contact may be maintained whilst in this position,
we find the caudal fin of the male fish furnished with certain
appendages which enable it to give a firm hold to the ventral
fins of the female, so that close contact of the ventral
surfaces can be maintained. These appendages are of two kinds.
In _Embiotoca_, _Damolichthys_ and some other genera, we find
a well developed mammary elevation situated near the anterior
part of the anal fin on both sides, terminating in front by
a teat-like process. In _Amphisticus_, _Holconotus_ and some
other genera, this mammary appendage is wanting; but its place
is supplied by a bony transverse plate with serrated edges,
inserted in the fin some distance farther back and parallel to
the fin rays. In addition to these plates there are also found
cartilaginous ridges with roughened borders, placed in front of
the plates, and running parallel with the edge of the fin. I
think there can be no doubt but that these fin appendages serve
the purpose I have assigned to them, for on placing the fish
in the reversed position, with the orifice of the oviduct and
penis in contact, it will be seen that they enable the ventral
fins of the female to secure a firm hold on the anal fin of the
male, so as to keep the fish in contact during the process of
copulation. At the season of copulation, the anterior surface
of the anal fin in the male becomes covered with a thick layer
of firm epithelium. As this commences at a short distance from
the ventral attachment of the fin, a well marked groove is
formed at the base of the fin, which affords an additional
hold for the ventral fin of the female. After the season of
copulation is over, and the testicles regain their quiescent
state, this epithelium almost disappears. At the same time the
mammary sack diminishes very much in size, so that when the
testicles are reduced to their smallest size, hardly a trace of
the sack remains. One or the other of these forms of appendages
have been found on the anal fin of the male in all the species
of embiotocoid fishes I have examined.
Mr. Stearns exhibited some fossils collected by Mr. Schmidt near Orleans
Bar, Klamath County.
Professor Whitney exhibited some peculiar ores from Nevada and Mexico.
Those from Nevada were antimoniate of lead, containing considerable
silver. This occurs in Humboldt County, and in sufficiently large
quantities to be mined and smelted, with success as is stated, the value
of the silver being about $100 per ton. The Mexican ore is a pure oxide
of antimony, which will be more fully described hereafter. It occurs in
several mines in the northern provinces.
Professor Whitney made some remarks on the mineral species occurring in
California and on the Pacific Coast of America in general. The following
is an abstract of these remarks:
He stated that the number of minerals occurring in California,
and on the Pacific coast in general, taking the country from
Northern Mexico to British Columbia, was quite small in
proportion to the area of the region. Especially among the
silicates is there a great deficiency in species, and very
few of those which do occur are found of sufficiently well
crystallized form to be valuable as cabinet specimens.
The total number of species (following the fourth edition of
Dana’s Mineralogy for names, etc.) believed to exist on the
Pacific coast, including Northern Mexico, Arizona, California,
Nevada and Oregon, is one hundred and ten, of which, however,
thirteen are somewhat doubtful. Of the one hundred and ten,
there are eighty-nine which occur in California. Some of the
mineral species most common in other parts of the world, and
especially in mining regions, are either entirely unknown here,
or else exceedingly rare. Thus _barytes_, which is so abundant
a veinstone in England and Germany, is almost unknown in the
Sierra Nevada, having been only found in one or two localities,
and there in small quantity. Fluor is entirely wanting in the
Sierra Nevada, although found in some quantity in Arizona and
Nevada. Not a trace of this elsewhere so common mineral has
been found, so far as known, in California.
Among the silicates most universally diffused, but which are
up to this time entirely unknown in California, the following
may be mentioned as some of the most prominent: beryl, topaz,
zircon, Wollastonite, scapolite, spodumene, Allanite, iolite,
staurotide, kyanite, spinel, nepheline, datholite and all the
zeolites, in other countries so abundant where volcanic rocks
occur. Not a well defined specimen of a zeolite has yet been
found within the borders of California.
Another curious fact in the mineralogy of California is the
occurrence of some mineral species which are common as ores in
other mining countries, and which in California, or at least
in the mining region of the Sierra Nevada, are disseminated
through a great number of localities, but nowhere exist in
workable quantity. Galena and blende may be particularly
referred to as occurring in this way. There is hardly a
gold-bearing vein in the Sierra which has not some galena
and blende in fine particles in the veinstone; but not a
locality is known where the quantity of either of these ores
is anything like sufficient to justify mining, even were the
other conditions as favorable as in the Eastern States or in
Europe. Galena occurs in considerable quantity in the extreme
south-eastern portion of the State, or just over the borders,
in Arizona and Nevada; but no considerable deposit of zinc
blende has yet been made known anywhere in the Pacific States
or Territories; nor is any other ore of zinc known to occur in
workable quantity on this coast.
The mineral region with which ours most nearly agrees, in the
character of its ores and mineral substances, is that of the
South American Andes, especially of Chile. In Mr. David Forbes’
recent catalogue of the Chilean minerals, there are about two
hundred species enumerated, of which about sixty have hitherto
been discovered in California and the other Pacific States and
Territories. The Chilean mineral list, like that of California,
is remarkable for the absence of many of the almost universally
distributed silicates mentioned above as wanting in the Pacific
States, namely: beryl, topaz, zircon, Wollastonite, Allanite,
iolite, staurotide, kyanite, spodumene, spinel and datholite.
Many other silicates, abundantly distributed throughout other
portions of the world, might be mentioned as entirely wanting
along the whole Pacific Coast. Several of the more common
zeolites are found in the Chilean list, which are wanting in
California; while several others are equally wanting in both
countries. Among the common zeolites found in Chile which
have not yet been discovered in California are Prehnite,
stilbite, Laumontite and scolecite; while analcime, harmotome,
Thomsonite, natrolite and Heulandite are wanting there as well
as here.
It is evident, from a comparison of the mineral lists of the
States situated along the Pacific Coast of North and South
America, that there has been a most remarkable resemblance
in the conditions which have influenced the formation and
segregation of the accidental minerals now found accompanying
the stratified and eruptive masses throughout the whole vast
extent of the regions in question. This is another of the facts
which go to show the unity of the Cordilleras of North and
South America as a geological result.
Mr. Bolander stated that the absence of many mineral species from this
coast found its parallel in a similar absence of many botanical groups.
Dr. Cooper did not think there was any poverty with respect to animal
species on this coast, and suggested that the absence of certain groups
of plants might be due to the absence of certain appropriate mineral
constituents from the soil.
Dr. Behr thought that the Californian lepidoptera more nearly conformed
to European and Mexican types than to those of the Eastern States.
REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18TH, 1867.
President in the chair.
Twenty-six members present.
Messrs. R. H. Stretch and Gustav Holland, M.D., were elected Resident
Members, and Mr. L. C. Schmidt of Eureka, Humboldt County, a
Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet: A specimen of Coral from Mr. Eckley.
Donation to the Library: Mining Claims and Water Rights, 8vo, San
Francisco, 1867, by Gregory Yale.
Professor Whitney read the following communication, supplementary to the
one presented at the previous meeting.
The subject of the relation of the accidental minerals
occurring on the Pacific coast was brought forward by me at the
last meeting, and I wish now to add a few words in regard to
the elementary substances occurring in California, an inquiry
which will also afford us some interesting data for comparing
the geological and chemical conditions prevailing through the
great chain of the Cordilleras of North and South America.
I find on carefully tabulating the facts observed by the
Geological Survey, in regard to the mineral combinations
existing on the coast, that of the sixty-four elementary
substances existing in nature, so far as yet known to chemists,
there are only thirty-six which have been proven to occur in
California, in mineral combinations.
Those which are wanting here are the following: bromine,
glucinum, cadmium, cæsium, cerium, didymium, erbium, fluorine,
iodine, indium, lanthanum, lithium, niobium, norium, palladium,
ruthenium, rubidium, strontium, tantalum, terbium, thallium,
thorium, uranium, vanadium, bismuth, tungsten, yttrium,
zirconium (28.)
Of elementary substances occurring in the adjacent States,
and not yet detected in California, there are, so far as I
know, only three, namely: bismuth, fluorine and tungsten.
This would make twenty-three elements wanting on the Pacific
Coast of North America. Of these a few are extremely rare, in
general, and would hardly be expected to occur here. Among
these are didymium, erbium, indium, lanthanum, norium, thorium.
But there are others, the absence of which is indeed quite
surprising. Fluorine, for instance, is an element of extremely
wide distribution, and one which occurs in great quantity in
most mineral countries. Here it will probably hereafter be
detected in our micas, and perhaps in other combinations, and
also in mineral and sea water; but its most abundant source,
fluor-spar, seems entirely wanting in this State.
Bismuth is another element of common occurrence in various
combinations, but it has not yet been detected in California.
A few minute scales of a mineral that I determined to be
bismuth-silver, from the Twin Ophir mine, Nevada, is the only
authentic instance I know of thus far, of the occurrence of
this element on the Pacific coast. Tungsten, uranium and
vanadium, are tolerably widely disseminated; the latter,
however, less so than the former. No trace of either has
yet been found on this coast north of Mexico; of strontium,
zirconium, and glucinum, the same may be said. If we now
compare the distribution of the elements in the South American
Andes with that on this coast, we shall find some striking
points of resemblance; and to a large extent, either the
absence, or else the great rarity of several of the elementary
substances not seen in other mineral regions, is a fact which
holds good along the whole extent of the American Continent on
the Pacific side. Fluorine, in combination with calcium, is
almost as rare in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, as on this coast.
Indeed, it was formerly supposed by Domeyko not to occur at
all in Chile, but recently one or two localities, where it is
found in small quantity, have been made known. Tungsten occurs
in Peru at one locality in the form of wolfram, and in Chile
in one or two localities, also in Lower California, but its
combinations are extremely rare along the whole coast. The same
may be said of uranium. Strontium and zirconium have not yet
been discovered in Chile or Peru, although the former occurs
in one locality in New Grenada, and glucinum has only recently
been found in Chile in very minute quantity in one locality. No
combination of lithium is yet known on the Pacific coast.
Among the leading facts connected with the occurrence of
mineral substances and the elementary bodies on the Pacific
coast, and especially in the Cordilleras of North and South
America, the following may be mentioned as generally applicable
to the whole of the vast region extending from British Columbia
to Chile:
1st. The paucity of species considering the extent of the
region as compared with other parts of the world, and
especially with other mineral regions.
2d. The remarkable absence of the prominent silicates, and
especially of the zeolites.
3d. The absence of a large number of the elementary substances,
and the paucity of several others of very common occurrence in
other mineral regions.
4th. The very wide spread and abundant occurrence of the
precious metals, gold and silver, and the not uncommon
occurrence of platina.
5th. The great abundance of ores of copper, and the comparative
absence of tin, lead, and zinc.
6th. The similarity in the mineralized condition of the
silver—antimony and chlorine being prominent mineralizers of
this metal—while in Chile the rarer combinations of iodine,
bromine, and selenium occur, these latter being as yet unknown
north of Mexico.
7th. The absence or paucity as veinstone, or gangue, of one
of the most prominent minerals occurring as such in other
mineral regions, namely, fluor; to which it may be added, that
both calcite and barytes are extremely rare as veinstones in
California, and to judge from all the Mexican and Chilean
collections that I have seen, well crystallized specimens are
very rare in those countries.
8th. There is no elementary substance, and but few mineral
species peculiar to the Pacific coast, so far as yet
ascertained.
Professor Whitney remarked on the depression of Death Valley, the sink
of the Amargosa River, below the level of the sea. Recently it has been
repeatedly stated in the newspapers that no such depression really
existed, and that, in point of fact, the valley in question was several
thousand feet above the sea level, Mr. Gabb being cited as authority.
The valley visited by Mr. Gabb, however, was not, it appears, the real
Death Valley, but one to which that name was given by an explorer by
mistake. The true Death Valley is the sink of the Amargosa, while the
one visited by Mr. Gabb is near the head of that river. The barometrical
observations on which the statement of the depression of the real Death
Valley is based were taken, in 1861, by a party of the California
Boundary Survey. The observations were made with a barometer, which
was compared before and after being used, with a standard, by Colonel
R. S. Williamson, by whom also the computations and reductions of the
observations were made; there was also a station barometer at the time
on the Colorado, at no great distance, and this instrument was in good
order. Thus it will be seen that the conditions were, in most respects,
exceptionably favorable for a correct measure of the altitude of the
valley, and it may be safely assumed that its depression below the sea
level is not far from one hundred and seventy-five feet, as stated on
Colonel Williamson’s authority, in the Geology of California, Vol. I.
To secure a more reliable result, it would be necessary to have a long
series of observations taken there with a well-adjusted instrument, and
it would be desirable also to have a station barometer on the Colorado,
or at some other not too distant point. It will probably be a long time
before these favorable conditions are secured; and, in the meantime, Col.
Williamson’s result must be received as a close approximation to the
actual amount of the depression of this very remarkable locality.
Mr. Bolander, referring to a previous enumeration of pine species in
California, submitted by him, stated that he must now reduce the number
of true species by one, leaving the total at only fifteen. He also
remarked upon the species of fir in this State, enumerating four only as
being strongly marked. He showed the leaves and seeds of two species,
and commented upon the mistake of Murray in asserting that there is a
fifth species, which he calls _Picea magnifica_, but which is really
_Picea amabilis_. Mr. Bolander thought the tendency to multiply species
erroneously was attributable to a desire to make a market for seeds,
those of new species being always in demand at good prices.
SPECIAL MEETING, NOVEMBER 27th, 1867.
President in the Chair.
This meeting was called for the purpose of hearing from Mr. George
Davidson, Assistant U. S. Coast Survey, an account of his recent trip
to Alaska, at the head of a party organized by Professor Peirce,
Superintendent U. S. Coast Survey, to make a partial scientific
reconnoissance of that region. Mr. Davidson gave an interesting account
of the operations of the party, and a synopsis of their observations.
These will be found at length in his official report, to be printed by
order of Congress.
At the conclusion of Mr. Davidson’s remarks, the Academy passed a vote of
thanks to Mr. Davidson and Professor Peirce, Superintendent of the Coast
Survey, for the opportunity which had thus been afforded of hearing the
results of an expedition of so much interest to the scientific world.
Dr. Kellogg, who accompanied the party as botanist, added some remarks on
the Flora of the northwestern coast of America.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 2D, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Thirty-five members present.
Messrs. S. W. Holladay, Henry R. Goddard, and Henry K. Moore, were
elected resident members.
Donations to the Library: Bulletin de la Société Imperial des
Naturalistes de Moscow, 8vo., Moscow, 1866.
Professor Silliman read the following notices:
Note on three new Localities of Tellurium Minerals in California, and on
some Mineralogical Features of the Mother Vein.
BY B. SILLIMAN.
(_a._) TELLURIUM MINERALS.—It is well known to mineralogists
and others that in the Melones Mine, on Carson Hill, there
occurs, in considerable abundance, a tellurium compound which
has been called Sylvanite by some mineralogists, but apparently
without sufficient authority. It occurs in one of the veins
on the Melones property, associated with Dolomite and quartz,
in what appears to be a gneissic rock; but the mine being
under water I am dependent on the specimens kindly furnished
me by the intelligent proprietor, Mr. G. K. STEVENOT, for my
knowledge of the gangue.
At the “Golden Rule” Mine, on the mother lode near Poverty
Hill, in Tuolumne County, I detected in August last the same
tellurium minerals which are found at Carson Hill in the
Melones. The veinstone here is an argillite, with thread-like
veins of quartz crossing the cleavages of the slate, and in
these _filons_ of quartz gold is seen in beautiful specimens.
It was in this association that I detected two or three small
groups of brilliant crystalline plates, identical in appearance
and physical characters with the Melones mineral, which
has been called Sylvanite, and affording the same blowpipe
reactions.
At the Rawhide Rancho, a mine near Jamestown, on the mother
lode, of which I have had occasion to make a careful study,
there occurs a deposit or shoot of very rich sulphides
containing copper, antimony, iron, arsenic, with gold, silver
and tellurium. This ore has in general a bronzy, blackish
appearance; shows often free gold in scales of a blackish
yellow color, and appears to be a kind of fahlerz, or
gray-copper ore, the value of which in silver and gold rises
to one thousand dollars per ton, (2,000 lbs.) or even higher.
Associated with this ore are brilliant sectile, flexible scales
of the same tellurium compound which occurs at Stanislaus and
Golden Rule, but in the Rawhide Mine intimately blended with
the blackish sulphides before-named—occasionally in nests
or small bunches with metallic gold. The blowpipe readily
detects in this ore antimony, arsenic, tellurium, copper,
iron, manganese, lime, magnesia, chromium, aluminum, gold and
silver. It is only in portions containing dolomite and the
peculiar greenish mineral, so characteristic of the mother
lode, that lime, magnesia, alumina, and chromium are detected.
In portions of the fahlerz-like mineral which appear nearly
pure, the blowpipe detects only antimony, arsenic, copper,
iron, and manganese.
Having transmitted characteristic specimens of these ores,
with other interesting California species, to Professors Dana
and Brush, at New Haven, these mineralogists inform me, by
letter just received, that the tellurids above-named appear
to be referable to a new species hitherto undescribed, and
Prof. Brush proposes to undertake an analysis of it upon the
specimens transmitted by me, which are barely sufficient for
the purpose. It is a tellurid of silver and gold, containing
more silver than gold. Associated with it is a white cleavable
mineral which Prof. Brush thinks may prove to be native
tellurium; this is in the Melones and Golden Rule specimens.
_Hessite._ I obtained from the Reist Mine, on the northeasterly
end of Whisky Hill, Tuolumne County, a very small crystal
corresponding in its physical characters to the extremely rare
telluric silver, known to mineralogists as _Hessite_. It occurs
in the auriferous slates to the east of the main vein; the
slates being opened here for a width of seventy-five feet as
an open cut. My attention was called to the existence of this
species at the Reist Mine by Mr. D. T. Hughes, of Tuolumne
County, who informed me that there was an interesting mineral
species there containing, as he believed, tellurium, and that
masses of it, half an ounce in weight, had been obtained some
years since. Unfortunately these specimens fell into ignorant
hands, and were destroyed in idle attempts to determine the
nature of the substance. On visiting the locality, which is
within one mile of the Rawhide Rancho, and on the opposite side
of Table Mountain, I found that the proprietor was exploring
in a different part of the open cut from that where this
species was found, the place being under water. Fortunately
in a collection of minerals from Whisky Hill, formed by Mr.
Williams, one of the proprietors, and preserved in his house
there, I was able to detect one small mass of the Hessite which
Mr. Williams divided with me. This Mr. Hughes recognized as
identical with the larger masses he had obtained at this mine
some years since.
Prof. Bush, in his letter to Prof. Silliman, of October 29th,
recognizes this species as Hessite. The specimen was associated
with native gold which had been amalgamated and heated, but the
constitution of the Hessite did not seem to be affected thereby.
“_Tellurid of Silver_” is mentioned by Blake, in his list of
California species, as found by him near Georgetown, in El
Dorado County, in 1854, washed from the gold drift, but the
parent vein had never been found.—Ross Browne’s Report, 1867,
p. 209.
It appears therefore, from the present state of our knowledge,
that a compound of gold and silver tellurium belonging probably
to a new species has been detected in three localities upon
the mother vein, and associated with it in two of these,
probably also native tellurium; and that Hessite (the tellurid
of silver) has been found in place in one locality and in
the drift in another. I have also detected the foliated
tellurium in extremely minute quantity in one of the mines
at Angels, and I mentioned in a publication, in 1864, its
probable occurrence among the ores of the Josephine and Pine
Tree Mines of Mariposa. A careful scrutiny will probably
detect those compounds of tellurium at other points when the
mother vein is opened, as at Blue Gulch, Quartz Mountain, and
Whisky Hill. I have already recognized the blackish antimonial
copper sulphides at the App Mine and Silver’s Mine, and in the
croppings on the surface of Whisky Hill. Indeed it may not
be too much to state that these ores appear to be somewhat
characteristic of those portions of the mother vein occurring
south of Angels, and especially wherever it is inclosed in
magnesian rocks.
Genth has named a species _Melonite_, from Melones Mine, which
he says is a tellurid of nickel. I have not been able to
recognize this compound among those ores of the Melones, which
I have seen.
(_b._) SOME MINERALOGICAL FEATURES OF THE MOTHER VEIN.—From the
opportunity I have had of studying the mother vein, I arrive at
the general conclusion that its mineralogical characteristics
vary greatly with the chemical constitution of the rocks which
inclose it. Wherever the serpentine or talcose and calcareous
rocks from the inclosing walls, or are near it, the mineral
contents of the vein are essentially different from those
observed where the inclosing rocks are argillites, or syenites
and diorites.
These we find at Mariposa, in the Josephine and Pine Tree
Mines, at Peñon Blanco, Maxwell Creek, Blue Gulch, Quartz
Mountain, Silver’s, Whisky Hill, Rawhide, Chapavele Hill,
Carson Hill, Angels, and Placerville—at all which places I have
examined the mother lode with more or less care—a peculiar
light apple-green mineral, occurring in scales, associated with
iron pyrites in small and brilliant pentagonal dodecahedrons
and implanted in a gangue of dolomite mingled with quartz.
The dolomite is of the variety known as ankerite, and by its
decomposition, which seems hastened by the oxidation of the
associated pyrites, gives origin to those highly characteristic
masses of brown and reddish-yellow iron gossan which form the
characteristic feature of the outcroppings of those portions of
the mother vein just enumerated. These gossans always retain
the bright green mineral before alluded to unchanged, as also
cellular quartz which discloses in its rhombic cavities the
form of the decomposed crystals of dolomite or ankerite whose
removal has left the vacant spaces. Before decomposition this
triple carbonate of lime, magnesia, and iron is brilliantly
white, and its real chemical character would never be suspected.
The green mineral, so far as I can ascertain, has never been
described, although it has often been noticed. It has been
called by some, _nickel gymnite_, and I have once distinguished
it by this name in a mining report. But this is a misnomer
which I take this occasion to correct; nickel gymnite of Genth,
found at Texas, Penna., is a hydrous silicate of magnesia,
lime, and nickel. The species so characteristic of certain
portions of the mother vein is anhydrous, and contains no
nickel.
MARIPOSITE (Provisional Name). Before the blowpipe it yields
evidence of the presence of the protoxides of iron, lime,
magnesia, and potassium; of the sesquioxides of chromium and
aluminum with carbonic, silicic, and sulphuric acids. The
oxide of manganese and sulphuric acid exist only as traces.
The mineral is probably new, and must be referred to the
mica section of an hydrous silicate. Should it, on a careful
chemical examination, prove to be new, I would suggest the name
_Mariposite_ as an appropriate name for it, as it was on the
Mariposa estate that it first attracted my attention, and where
it exists in great abundance.
This species which is so characteristic of the mother vein, in
connection with magnesian or chloritic rocks, occurs nowhere
so far as I have observed in this vein when it is inclosed in
argillites or syenites.
Of sulphides occurring in the mother lode there are two classes
which deserve special mention, beside the ordinarily occurring
pyrites of iron and copper.
These are the (1) antimonial copper sulphides, and the (2)
antimonial lead sulphides; both are arsenical and are rich in
both gold and silver.
To the first class allusion has already been made in the former
part of this paper. Besides the Rawhide Mine, they are found
in most of the openings on Whisky Hill, in Tuolumne County, in
the Silver, App and Josephine, and Pine Tree Mines. The lively
stains of blue malachite, seen at Williams’ Mine, on Whisky
Hill, and occasionally elsewhere, are derived from atmospheric
decomposition of the antimonial copper sulphides. The blowpipe
detects the presence of iron, antimony, arsenic, copper,
sulphur, tellurium (in certain cases) sulphur, gold and silver.
The vein is so abundant as to give to the raw ore, in some
cases, magnetic properties; and the button from the blowpipe
assay becomes strongly magnetic.
The antimonial lead sulphides occur in considerable abundance
at the Trio Claims, on Whisky Hill. The appearance of this ore
recalls that of granular galena. The gold and silver value of
this ore is very high, but no portion of it can be saved by
the ordinary mechanical treatment with mercury. The blowpipe
detects the presence of antimony, lead, iron, arsenic, sulphur,
gold and silver. There is no trace of copper, and the quantity
of arsenic present is slight. The ore is therefore essentially
an antimonial lead sulphide, rich in gold and silver.
There is good reason to believe, that as this remarkable vein
becomes more thoroughly explored, it will disclose other new or
rare compounds containing gold, and that these already noticed
will be found to be more widely diffused when proper care is
applied to the study of the mineralogy of the lode.
In Amador County the mother lode is found in connection with
argillaceous slates and syenite. Thus at the Eureka Mine, of
Hayward, known as the Amador Mining Co., the vein has a soft,
black slate for its foot wall and a heavy, firm syenite or
greenstone (called _granite_ by the miners) for the hanging
wall. The mineralogy of the vein is extremely simple, being
in fact nothing more than iron and copper sulphurets, chiefly
the former, with rarely galena or blende. I sought in vain
for any of the species mentioned in the former part of this
paper. There are no magnesian minerals, and the _Mariposite_
is entirely absent. The other mines of that range, as far
as I examined them, all partake of the same simplicity in
mineralogical character. There can be but little doubt, as it
appears to me, that the inclosing rocks in each case exercise
an important influence on the mineral contents of the vein.
SAN FRANCISCO, December 2d, 1867.
Mr. Stearns read the following:
List of Shells collected at Bodega Bay, California, June, 1867.
BY ROBERT E. C. STEARNS.
In pursuance of the idea mentioned in my paper on the shells
of Baulines Bay, of examining the bays and coast to the north
of San Francisco, I made a brief trip to Bodega Bay in company
with my friend Dr. Newcomb, on the thirteenth of June, 1867.
Most of the species enumerated were collected within a very
limited area, between tide marks, at the extreme point of
Bodega Head, as the arm of land is called, which extending
in a southerly direction from the general line of the coast,
incloses what is known as Bodega Bay. The bay itself is, for
the greater part, left bare at low tide, and the flats then
exposed, composed of sandy mud, contain abundance of the common
bivalves of the coast, principally _Macoma_, (two species)
and _Tapes_, in all its varieties: _Saxidomus gracilis_ may
also be found here in considerable quantities, and is at
certain seasons dug by the Indians, together with the other
so called “clams.” At the spot where the principal portion of
this collection was made, the outcropping rock is a coarse
granite, upon which _Litorina planaxis_ is found in great
numbers. The limited time at my disposal, at the season when
the trip was made, was only sufficient to admit of a brief,
and therefore unsatisfactory reconnoissance; nevertheless, at
least seventeen species were detected which have not heretofore
been found (or reported) so far to the north. Many of these
species I failed to find at Baulines, and some of them have
not been reported north of the Bay of Monterey. At Baulines,
the rocks are principally shales, and contain many species of
pholads, which as will be seen by a glance at this list, if not
entirely absent, must be rare at Bodega; the various “nestlers”
which are found associated with the borers are also wanting;
_Haliotis rufescens_ is abundant upon the rocky islets off the
coast, but not even a fragment of _H. Cracherodii_ was met with.
1. Cryptomya Californica, Conr.
2. Schizothærus Nuttalli, Conr.
3. Entodesma saxicola, Baird.
4. Mytilimeria Nuttalli, Conr.
5. Machæra patula, Dixon.
6. Macoma secta, Conr.*
7. —— nasuta, Conr.
8. Tellina Bodegensis, Hds.
9. Tapes staminea, Conr.‡
10. —— —— var. Petitii, Desh.‡
11. —— —— var. ruderata, Desh.‡
12. —— —— var. diversa, Sby.‡
13. Saxidomus gracilis, Gould.*
14. Chama exogyra, Conr.*
15. Cardium corbis, Mart.
16. Lazaria sub-quadrata, Cpr.
17. Kellia Laperousii, Desh.
18. Lasea rubra, Mont.
19. Mytilus Californianus, Conr.
20. —— edulis, Linn.
21. Modiola fornicata, Cpr.*
22. —— recta, Cour.*
23. Axinœa subobsoleta, Cpr.
24. Pecten hastatus, Sby.
25. Hinnites giganteus, Gray.
26. Placunanomia machrochisma, Desh.
27. Helix Nickliniana, Lea.
28. —— Columbiana, Lea.
29. Cryptochiton Stelleri, Midd.
30. Tonicia lineata, Wood.
31. Mopalia Wossnessenskii, Midd.
32. —— Merckii, Midd.
33. Kennerlyi var. Swanii, Cpr.
34. Trachydermon fallax, Cpr. (Mss.)
35. Nacella instabilis, Gould.
36. Acmæa patina, Esch.
37. —— pelta, Esch.
38. —— persona, Esch.
39. —— scabra, Nutt.*
40. —— spectrum, Nutt.
41. Scurria mitra, Esch.
42. Rowellia radiata, Cp.*
43. Glyphis aspera, Esch.
44. Clypidella callomarginata, Cpr.*
45. —— bimaculata, Dall, (Mss.)*
46. Haliotis rufescens, Swains.*
47. Leptothyra sanguinea, Cpr.
48. Chlorostoma funebrale, A. Ad.
49. —— brunneum, Phil.
50. Calliostoma costatum, Mart.
51. —— annulatum, Mart.
52. Phorcus pulligo, Mart.
53. Margarita pupilla, Gould.
54. —— acuticostata, Cpr.*
55. Crepidula adunca, Sby.
56. Hipponyx cranioides, Cpr.
57. —— antiquatus, Linn.*
58. Bivonia compacta, Cpr.
59. Bittium filosum, Gould.
60. Littorina planaxis, Nutt.
61. —— scutulata, Gould.
62. Lacuna porrecta, Cpr.
63. Trivia Californiana, Gray.*
64. Erato vitellina, Hds.*
65. Drillia incisa, Cpr.
66. Mangelia levidensis, Cpr.†
67. Odostomia gravida, Gould.*
68. Scalaria subcoronata, Cpr.*
69. Opalia borealis, Gould.
70. Velutina lævigata, Linn.
71. Lunatia Lewisii, Gould.
72. Olivella biplicata, Sby.
73. —— bœtica, Cpr.
74. —— intorta, Cpr.*
75. Nassa fossata, Gould.
76. —— mendica, Gould.
77. Amycla carinata var. Hindsii, Rve.
78. —— gausapata, Gould.
79. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.
80. Purpura crispata, Chem.
81. —— canaliculata, Duel.
82. —— saxicola var. ostrina, Gld.
83. Ocinebra lurida, Midd.
84. —— —— var. aspera, Baird.
85. —— interfossa, Cpr.
86. —— —— var. atropurpurea, Cpr.
87. Cerostoma foliatum, Gmel.
* The species marked with an asterisk, seventeen in number,
have never before been reported from a locality so far north.
† Mangelia levidensis (teste J. G. Cooper) has not previously
been detected at a point so far south; it has heretofore been
credited to “Straits of Fuca, W. T.” _vide_ Geo. Survey Cat.
1867, by J. G. C.
‡ Tapes staminea and vars. were obtained at low water by
digging from twelve to twenty inches deep, and together with
Macoma secta and M. nasuta, were found in the same holes.
The Chitons above enumerated, have been compared with specimens
recently (March, 1868) received labeled, from Dr. Carpenter of
Montreal.
No. 39, Acmæa scabra; elevated dark colored specimens of this
species with the characteristic sculpture sharply and well
defined, were obtained in considerable numbers. Subsequently
at Monterey I found occasional specimens displaying nearly the
same elevation and of the same color as those from Bodega.
Shells collected by the U. S. Coast Survey Expedition to Alaska, in the
year 1867.
BY ROBERT E. C. STEARNS.
George Davidson, Esq., connected with the Coast Survey service
of the United States, who commanded the scientific department
of the Alaska Expedition, very kindly tendered positions on his
staff to the following members of the Academy: Dr. A. Kellogg,
as Surgeon and Botanist; Theodore A. Blake, as Geologist; and
W. G. W. Harford, as General Collector, by whom the species
here enumerated were collected. My acknowledgments are due
to Dr. J. G. Cooper, of San Francisco, for assistance in
determining species; also to Dr. William Stimpson of Chicago,
for similar service in reference to the Buccinidæ.
1. Saxicava pholadis, Linn. var. arctica; Sitka, Bella Bella,
Kodiak, Ounalaska.
2. Mya arenaria, Linn.; Kodiak.
3. Schizothærus Nuttalli, Conr.; Sitka, Kodiak.
4. Machæra patula, Dixon; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
5. Macoma nasuta, Conr.; Kodiak.
6. Macoma inquinata, Desh.; Fort Simpson, Bella Bella, Kodiak,
Spruce Isl.
7. Macoma inconspicua, Br. & Sby.; Fort Simpson, Chilchat,
Kodiak, Spruce Isl.
8. Mera salmonea, Cpr.; Kodiak.
9. Standella planulata, Conr.; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
10. Tapes staminea, var. Petitii, Desh.; Fort Simpson, Chatham Sound.
11. Tapes staminea, var. ruderata, Desh.; Fort Simpson, Carter’s Bay,
Sitka, Bella Bella, Kodiak, Spruce Isl., Ounalaska.
12. Saxidomus Nuttalli, Conr.; Ft. Simpson, Sitka, Carter’s Bay,
Kodiak.
13. Cardium corbis, Mart.; Sitka, Bella Bella, Carter’s Bay, Kodiak.
14. Cardium blandum, Gould; Sitka, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
15. Serripes Grœnlandicus, Chem.; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
16. Kellia Laperousii, Desh.; Ounalaska.
17. Lasea rubra, Mont.; Sitka.
18. Mytilus edulis, Linn.; Ft. Simpson, Carter’s Bay, Bella Bella,
Sitka, Kodiak, Spruce Isl.
19. Modiola modiolus, Linn.; Sitka, Ounalaska.
20. Modiolaria lævigata, Gray; Ounalaska.
21. Axinæa septentrionalis, Midd.; Bella Bella.
22. Yoldia, n. s.?; Stomach of Halibut, Kodiak.
23. Acila castrensis, Hinds; Sitka.
24. Placunanomia macroschisma, Desh.; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
25. Helix Columbiana, Lea.; Sitka, Chilchat River, 59° 9´ N.
26. Helix Vancouverensis, Lea.; Sitka, V. Island.
27. Helix ruderata, Stud.; Ounalaska.
28. Helix fulva, Drap.; Sitka, Ounalaska.
29. Vitrina pellucida, Müll.?; Ounalaska.
30. Zua lubrica, Müll.; Sitka, Kodiak.
31. Siphonaria thersites, Cpr.; Fort Simpson.
32. Katherina tunicata, Wood; Sitka.
33. Tonicia lineata, Wood; Fort Simpson.
34. Tonicia submarmorea, Midd.; Fort Simpson.
35. Mopalia muscosa, Gould; Vancouver Island.
36. Mopalia Wossnessenskii, Midd.; Fort Simpson.
37. Mopalia Merckii, Midd.; Fort Simpson.
38. Acmæa patina, Esch.; Fort Simpson, Kodiak, Ounalaska, Sitka.
39. Acmæa pelta, Esch.; Sitka, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
40. Scurria mitra, Esch.; Sitka.
41. Glyphis aspera, Esch.; Sitka.
42. Haliotis Kamschatkana, Jonas; Sitka.
43. Calliostoma costatum, Mart.; Sitka.
44. Margarita pupilla, Gould; Ft. Simpson, Bella Bella, Sitka,
Ounalaska.
45. Margarita helicina, Mont.; Ounalaska.
46. Phorcus pulligo, Mart.; Sitka.
47. Crepidula navicelloides, Nutt.; Bella Bella.
48. Crepidula grandis, Midd.; Captain’s Harbor, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
49. Bittium filosum, Gould; Ft. Simpson, Carter’s Bay, Bella Bella,
Sitka.
50. Littorina scutulata, Gould; Sitka.
51. Littorina Sitkana, Phil.; Chatham S’nd, Carter’s Bay, Bella
Bella, Sitka, Kodiak.
52. Lacuna solidula, Loven.; Ounalaska.
53. Isapis fenestrata, Cpr.; Ounalaska.
54. Trichotropis cancellata, Hds.; Fort Simpson, Sitka.
55. Natica clausa, Brod. & Shy.; Ft. Simpson, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
56. Lunatia pallida, Brod. & Sby.; Captain’s Harbor, Ounalaska.
57. Priene Oregonensis, Redf.; Ounalaska.
58. Olivella bœtica, Cpr.; Sitka.
59. Nassa mendica, Gould; Sitka.
60. Amycla gausapata, Gould; Ft. Simpson.
61. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.; Ft. Simpson, Carter’s Bay.
62. Purpura crispata, Chem.; Fort Simpson, Bella Bella, Lawson’s
Harbor, Carter’s Bay, Sitka.
63. Purpura canaliculata, Duel.; Chatham Sound, Carter’s Bay, Bella
Bella, Sitka, Kodiak, Spruce Isl., Ounalaska.
64. Purpura saxicola, Val.; Ounalaska.
65. Purpura saxicola var. fuscata, Fbs.; Fort Simpson, Carter’s Bay,
Bella Bella, Sitka.
66. Ocinebra interfossa, Cpr.; Carter’s Bay, Bella Bella, Sitka.
67. Cerastoma foliatum, Gmel.; Bella Bella, Sitka.
68. Trophon multicostatus, Esch.; Ounalaska.
69. Trophon orpheus, Gould; Sitka.
70. Chrysodomus dirus, Rve.; Chatham Sound, Ft. Simpson, Carter’s
Bay, Bella Bella, Sitka.
71. Chrysodomus liratus, Mart.; Chilchat, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
72. Buccinum glaciale, Linn.; Ounalaska.
73. Buccinum polare, Gray; Captain’s Harbor, Ounalaska.
74. [36]Buccinum cyancum, Brug.; Kodiak.
75. Volutharpa ampullacea, Midd.; Fort Simpson, Bella Bella, Sitka,
Kodiak, Ounalaska.
[36] In a note from Dr. Stimpson, he remarks in reference to
this species: it “has not, as far as I am aware, as yet been
reported from the Pacific.”
Mr. Bolander presented a paper by Mr. Lesquereux, entitled “A Catalogue
of the species of Mosses found up to the present time on the Northwest
coast of the United States of America, and especially in California,”
which was referred to the Publication Committee and ordered printed in
the Memoirs of the Academy.
Professor Whitney exhibited several of the maps in preparation at the
office of the State Geological Survey, and gave a somewhat detailed
account of the operation of the survey during the year 1866 and 1867, and
of the progress in the publication department of that work. The statement
made was in the main identical with that contained in the biennial
letter of the State Geologist to the Governor, published by order of the
Legislature then in session.
Dr. H. Gibbons exhibited a piece of pork erroneously supposed to contain
trichinæ; he believed the entozoa in question were really _Cysticerci_.
They have the appearance of soaked peas, and are not injurious when
cooked.
Mr. R. L. Harris mentioned the fact that the railroad surveys conducted
by himself, for connecting Vallejo and Sacramento, indicated that the
latter place was not so much above the sea level as had generally been
assumed from barometrical observations, and he believed that the top of
the present levee at Sacramento was about twenty-one feet above mean high
tide at Vallejo, instead of fifty-six, as previously supposed. If this
was true, then the lowlands in the vicinity of Sacramento were in fact,
only about one and a half feet above the sea level. The surveys of the
coming season would probably enable him to fix this important point with
accuracy.
Dr. Gibbons suggested that if the Tule lands in the Sacramento and San
Joaquin Valleys were permitted to undergo the natural processes of growth
and decay, instead of being annually burned over, the land in question
might in time become sufficiently elevated to be inhabited.
Mr. Goodale, who had recently visited Russian America, exhibited a number
of implements and weapons of the natives of that region, and gave an
account of their use. He also remarked on some of the topographical and
geological features of that country.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 16TH, 1867.
Vice President Ransom in the Chair.
Thirty-seven members present.
The following gentlemen were elected Resident Members: Messrs. William
Hamel, P. B. Cornwall, Horace D. Dunn and W. B. Rising.
Donations to the Cabinet: seven specimens of ores from Gregory Yale,
Esq., also, a series of samples in bottles, illustrating the chlorination
process of extracting gold from the sulphurets, by the same.
Mr. Goodyear read the following paper:
Salt Spring Valley and the adjacent region in Calaveras County.
BY W. A. GOODYEAR.
Having spent some time during the past summer in Copperopolis,
and the region lying west and northwest from it, I offer the
following observations respecting its topography and geology. I
will first notice the
TOPOGRAPHY.
For a general description of the topography, etc., of Calaveras
County, including the main features of the region in question,
reference may be made to Prof. J. D. Whitney’s Report upon the
Geology of California, Vol. I, p. 253. In addition, however,
to what is there stated, I will say that Copperopolis lies at
the _southwestern_ base of Bear Mountain, the summits of which
rise to an altitude of something more than 2,000 feet above the
sea. The Gopher Hills, also mentioned in the report, form a
well defined and connected, though subordinate range, lying to
the southwest of, and nearly parallel with the general course
of Bear Mountain. This range forms a prominent feature in the
topography of the region for a distance of at least fifteen
or eighteen miles southeasterly from the Calaveras river. Its
summits are probably 1,400 feet above the sea, and the lowest
break or gap within the distance named is that through which
Rock Creek finds its way to the plains below. The valley or
depression between the Gopher Hills and Bear Mountain, whose
average width is four to six miles, has received the name of
Salt Spring Valley. Its general altitude is little less than
1,000 feet above the sea, that of the town of Copperopolis
being nine hundred feet according to H. P. Handy’s survey of a
railroad route from Copperopolis to Stockton. I should mention
that for several miles northwesterly from Copperopolis, Bear
Mountain has an outlier along its southwestern base, in the
form of a low but tolerably well marked hilly ridge, between
which and the base of the mountain is a narrow but continuous
valley; and it is in this valley that the copper-bearing
belt of Copperopolis is found. Southwest of this outlier,
and for a distance of three or four miles northwesterly from
Copperopolis, Salt Spring Valley consists mainly of a region
of low hills, traversed by a net-work of steep and narrow
gulches. Farther northwest the surface of the valley for three
or four miles is more uniform, and here we find the nearly
level area of “Tower’s Ranch,” and the gently sloping basin of
the “Salt Spring Valley reservoir.” Beyond this, the country
is again hilly to the Calaveras river. Southeast and south of
Copperopolis, the surface is everywhere hilly. The slope of the
Gopher Hills towards the southwest is rapid until we reach the
low rolling country which forms the border of the San Joaquin
Valley.
Black Creek debouches from Bear Mountain a mile or so southeast
of Copperopolis, and flows to the Stanislaus. Littlejohn’s
Creek takes its rise in the hilly regions of the valley west of
Copperopolis, and flowing southwesterly, finds its way through
the hills into Rock Creek. The latter rises in Bear Mountain,
five or six miles northwesterly from Copperopolis, and flowing
southwest across Salt Spring Valley, breaks through the Gopher
Hills, and continues its course through the lower country to
French Camp Slough, a branch of the San Joaquin. All these
creeks become dry in the summer, though in winter they often
carry very large volumes of water. At the point where Rock
Creek breaks through the Gopher Hills is the substantial dam of
the Salt Spring Valley Reservoir.
GEOLOGY.
The strike and dip of the rocks are more or less variable;
but, so far as my observations extend in the region described,
they have everywhere the same general northwesterly trend
and high northeasterly dip which characterize so large a
portion of the gold-bearing slates of central California. The
strike is usually from N. 50° W. to N. 70° W., (magnetic) and
the dip from 50° northeast to vertical. I have seen no case
here of a decided southwesterly dip, nor of a low one to the
northeast. It is somewhat remarkable, by the way, that this
high northeasterly dip should be so general as it is in the
great mass of auriferous slates which forms the southwestern
flank of the Sierra Nevada. It is _towards_ the granite axis of
the chain, instead of _from_ it, as would seem more natural.
The causes of this are by no means as yet fully explained.
It is a circumstance, however, which would lose none of its
interest in the future, if, as certain facts mentioned in the
Geological Report, Vol. I, p. 286, might possibly seem to
indicate, further explorations should prove it to be in general
a great inversion of the strata—their upper portions having
been “forced back by immense pressure from above, producing a
condition of things similar to that so often observed in the
Alps, which is known as the ‘fan structure,’ and has so much
perplexed geologists.” When we take into account the enormous
denudation, amounting to thousands of feet in perpendicular
depth, which is known to have taken place in the Sierras
within the most recent geological periods, and the whole of
which, in this case, must also have belonged to the inverted
portion of the strata—unless indeed the inversion were produced
by a peculiar sliding and bending of the strata by their
own weight, the upper flexure having been since entirely
removed—and when, in addition to this we consider the hundreds
of miles in length, and the great thickness of the strata in
question, we can perhaps begin to appreciate the magnitude of
the movements and forces which would be involved in producing
such an effect. It would indeed, if true, be a striking
illustration of the grandeur of the scale upon which many
of the physical features of this country have been cast, as
compared with those of other and better known regions. But it
is hardly worth while to speculate further upon probabilities
like this in the present state of our knowledge, and I return
to my subject.
In Salt Spring Valley, the rocks consist almost entirely
of slates, with little variety of character, generally
thin-bedded, fine-grained and argillaceous, sometimes magnesian
or chloritic, and often splitting with facility into very thin
sheets. The thinnest bedded varieties are usually fragile,
and the structure is often wavy; but sometimes the cleavage
is regular and thin enough, and the rock possesses sufficient
strength to furnish a tolerable material for roofing purposes;
although no attempts have been made, so far as I know, to
thus apply it;—and, in fact, the expense attendant upon its
excavation and transportation would preclude any extensive use
of it, even if its quality were unsurpassed, which it is not.
The earthy covering of the rocks throughout the valley is
usually very shallow and the soil poor, (Tower’s ranch is,
however, an exception) and in many places the thin sharp edges
of the slates project in such a way as to form an exceedingly
jagged surface, though the projections are low, generally not
exceeding two or three feet in height. Much of the surface is
strewn with float quartz, usually in the shape of small but
partially rounded pebbles. Quartz veins of small or moderate
size, parallel with the stratification, are not uncommon. Iron
pyrites is of frequent occurrence, with a little gold in the
quartz. Some of the veins have been more or less worked, but
none of them to any great extent. About three or four miles
westerly from Copperopolis, in the hilly portion of the valley,
is a ten-stamp quartz mill, and a short distance from this,
on Littlejohn’s Creek, is the site of an older one, which was
burned down. Neither of these mills ever yielded much profit,
so far as I can learn, nor does the present one seem likely to
do so.
Several of the gulches in this vicinity are said to have
yielded gold enough in the past to pay for working, although
the diggings were not rich or extensive. It is stated also that
some years since, in one of these gulches, a quartz boulder
was found, weighing about one hundred pounds, which yielded
between two and three thousand dollars’ worth of gold. There
are three or four quartz veins near here, from which more or
less rock has been crushed. Portions of the rock from one of
these veins, the Winnemucca, a prettily-shaped vein of three
to four feet in thickness, are very cellular in structure, and
some of it shows fine gold quite freely to the naked eye. The
metal however, must be very irregular in its distribution, or
the ore would have paid better in the mill than the three or
four dollars per ton which I am told it yielded; and in fact,
the general character of the float quartz of the region, when
taken in connection with the probable origin of the valley
itself, and the fact that no important placer “diggings” have
been found here, does not seem to favor the probability that
these quartz veins will ever prove of much value. Between the
present mill and the site of the old one, as well as certain
other localities in the valley, are springs containing various
alkaline salts, from which the name “Salt Spring Valley” is
derived.
Accompanying the copper formation of Copperopolis, and just
west of it, is an immense body of serpentine, lying parallel
with the general stratification of the slates, and traceable
for miles along the valley by the openings made in it in the
workings for copper. Opposite a point 1,000 or 1,200 feet
northwest of the upper shaft of the Keystone claim, but on
the southwest flank of the outlier of Bear Mountain, already
noticed, is another heavy mass of serpentine. How far this
extends in a northwest and a southeast direction I do not know,
as I have not followed its line of outcrop, but it is certainly
not less than 1,000 feet in length.
The lithological character of the Gopher Hills is entirely
different from that of Salt Spring Valley. They consist mainly
of a pretty hard and tough, more or less coarsely crystalline,
and dark-colored hornblendic or pyroxenic rock, which is
evidently metamorphic, probably of a grit or sandstone. Epidote
is not uncommon in this rock, and calcite is occasionally
found, though rare. Through most of this region the original
stratification has been largely obscured, or nearly
obliterated. Its general course, however, can still be traced
without difficulty in the more or less elongated and flattened
form, and the general trend which the rocky outcrops frequently
assume when viewed from a little distance.
The texture of the rock varies considerably. In general it
is rather coarsely crystalline; but not unfrequently it is
much finer, or even compact; sometimes it is jointed. At
one locality, in particular, (“Goodwin’s,” or “Sheep Ranch”
Gulch) I noticed this jointed structure so well developed
that a compact and very tough, almost imperishable rock could
be quarried with facility, if desired, in nearly rectangular
blocks and slabs.
It is not uncommon to find among these hills those peculiar
holes in the rock which were hollowed out and used by the
Indians as mortars in which to grind their food. I observed
a number of similar holes in the hard rock, precisely in the
bed of Rock Creek, in the ravine a short distance below the
dam of the Salt Spring Valley Reservoir. It may be a question
here, whether they owe their origin to the Indians or to the
action of the stream, though from the peculiar deep and narrow
form, I am inclined to ascribe them to the former. Heavy
masses of flinty rock or hornstone also occur, particularly
upon the southwest flanks of the range. This rock usually
exhibits a much more distinct bedding than the ordinary mass
of the hills. Its stratification is often perfectly regular,
and sometimes the layers are beautifully thin and delicate.
There is a very heavy outcrop of this finely banded rock in
the ravine a short distance below the dam at Rock Creek.
Higher up the hill, upon the road known as “Black’s Grade,”
another outcrop of the same formation has been cut across
in building the road, and here a portion of the same flinty
rock is thickly filled with _fossils_, which appear to belong
either to some species of crinoids or fucoids, though the
structure is too much obliterated, and the specimens too much
distorted to admit of definite recognition. They are apparently
flattened in a direction parallel with the banding of the
rock. From the general mode of occurrence of this hornstone,
and from the frequent sharp and distinct lines of demarcation
between it and the adjacent hornblendic rock, it might be
inferred that the former traversed the latter as veins, and
the delicate banding of the rock, although parallel to the
general stratification of the country, would not preclude
such an assumption. But the fossils speak decidedly against
it, and it is probable that the hornstone is a metamorphic
form of fine sedimentary deposits, and that the banding is
the result of the original stratification. Quartz veins occur
here occasionally, and some of them at least are auriferous,
though I know of none having been worked with profit hitherto.
It is not improbable, however, that some of them may be found
remunerative in the future, since many of the gulches among
the hills here, in the early days of mining, were rich in
placer gold. The degree of metamorphism throughout these
hills has been very high; but I have seen no evidence of any
direct igneous action—at least no rock that I could identify
as eruptive, with the single exception, perhaps, of a small
and apparently completely isolated body of well characterized
_granite_, which occurs near the base of the Gopher Range, and
between its highly metamorphosed rocks and the San Joaquin
Valley, which is overlaid with tertiary and other recent
formations. The occurrence of this patch of granite here,
isolated as it seems from any other similar rock, is certainly
a point of much interest; but I have not been able to study its
relations. Its stratigraphical and topographical position is
similar to that of the Folsom granite, and it may be connected
with it in origin. If it should hereafter appear that there
is a well characterized, though more or less interrupted line
of granitic outcrops traceable throughout central California,
along the lower foothills of the mountains, and _west_ of
the great belt of auriferous slates, it would have a most
important bearing upon the theory of the general structure of
the Sierra Nevada. The existence of such a line, indeed, might
point to a very different, and perhaps more probable, _modus
operandi_ than that already suggested, by which the auriferous
slates themselves may have reached their present position, and
received their easterly dip.
One of the most interesting points connected with the geology
of the Gopher Hills, is the auriferous belt in which occurs the
“Quail Hill” Mine, and of which I shall speak further presently.
Of the geology of Bear Mountain I know but little, having
crossed it by but a single route. Where I have seen it,
however, it consists largely of a similar rock to that which
forms the mass of the Gopher Hills. Chromic iron is said to
occur in considerable quantity at a certain locality in Bear
Mountain, the exact whereabouts of which I could not learn. The
slates of the valley extend, in general, completely up to the
base of the Gopher and Bear Mountain ranges on either side,
and sometimes a short distance up their flanks; but here the
transition to the harder crystalline rock is usually quick and
well marked.
Salt Spring Valley probably owes its existence, as such,
entirely to inequality of denudation; the comparatively friable
slates yielding much more readily to mechanical action than the
harder and more highly metamorphosed rock on either side, which
has thus been left in the form of mountain ridges, projecting
many hundreds of feet above the adjacent region, while the
intervening and surrounding rock has been swept away to the
plains below.
A partial description of the copper mines of Copperopolis
will be found in the “Geology of California,” Vol. I, pp.
254-257. The depth of the main shaft in the “Union” is now
stated to be a little over five hundred feet, and the greatest
depth reached in the “Keystone,” is said to be five hundred
and sixty feet. All the deposits of ore here worked lie
parallel with the strike and dip of the inclosing strata.
The great ore mass of the “Union” Mine forks or divides into
two branches towards the northwest; and at the lowest depth
now reached, its width or thickness, after having reached a
maximum, is again diminishing. In the “Keystone” Mine there
have been two separate and nearly parallel bodies of ore
worked to a considerable extent, and a third one was struck
last spring previous to the suspension of work in the mine.
The two main bodies of ore in this mine have “pinched out” or
disappeared in various directions in their lines of strike
and dip. They seem to have an irregular lenticular form, and
together with the great mass of the “Union” appear to lie in
what are called “shoots,” which pitch at an angle of 50° or
60° in the direction of the strike towards the northwest. The
northwesterly prolongation of the strike of the great “Union”
deposit does not coincide with either of the “Keystone”
deposits, but passes east of them. There have been other and
smaller deposits in the “Union” ground, more or less worked,
lying west of the main body, some of which may possibly connect
with the “Keystone” shoots, though the best information I
could obtain leads me to think otherwise, and that they were
probably isolated lenticular masses. The mass of the great
deposit in the “Union” Mine consists of an intimate mixture of
chalcopyrite and iron pyrites, containing on an average sixteen
to seventeen per cent. of copper. Well defined selvages are not
to be seen at Copperopolis, and the country rock is impregnated
in all directions, sometimes to a considerable distance from
the purer ore, with more or less finely disseminated copper and
iron pyrites. In Europe it would pay to crush and work much of
the wall rock itself for the copper which it contains; but here
it is entirely worthless, as even ten to twelve per cent. ore
is not worth mining and shipping at present prices.
It will be seen that the more recent and deeper developements
in the Copperopolis mines have only served to confirm the
opinion expressed two years ago by the State Geologist (Geol.
Vol. I, p. 225) that “the deposits of copper ore in this
region, like nearly all the others in California, do not
appear to be included in regular fissure veins, but rather to
form _independent masses_ [the italics are mine] lying in the
direction of the strike of the inclosing rocks, and dipping
with them.” It seems, further, that they are here arranged
in some sort _en échelon_. There is no evidence whatever of
the existence here of a regular and continuous vein of copper
ore, stretching for miles through the country, as some have
supposed. (See Ross Browne’s Report, p. 144.)
The finding of “copper indications,” _i.e._, of small and
isolated bodies of ore, distributed with some constancy
through a narrow belt of country, for no matter how many
miles in length, is anything but conclusive evidence of the
existence beneath of a _regular vein_ of corresponding length
(which, by the way, if it existed, would be an anomaly in the
mining world)—especially when all the developments of the
most extensive workings hitherto made point so decidedly and
strongly to the opinion that there is no _true vein_ at all.
Such “indications” are however evidences, so far as they go
(and they go a good way in this direction) of the probable
existence of other large bodies of ore distributed here and
there along the belt in question. It is not improbable that
such may be found in the future, and it would not be strange
even if some of them should surpass in magnitude and value the
great deposit of the “Union,” which has already yielded such
enormous quantities of copper, and is yet far from being worked
out.
A description of the auriferous deposit of Quail Hill, in
the Gopher Range, together with a similar one at Whisky Hill
(called also the “Harpending Mine”) in Placer County, by
Prof. B. Silliman, was read before the California Academy of
Natural Sciences, at their meeting of April 15th, 1867, and
will be found in their published “Proceedings,” Vol. III, pp.
349-351. This paper describes well the particular deposits in
question, as well as the general appearance and character of
the formation in which they occur. Such deposits, however, are
not confined to one or two localities; but there are other
points in Calaveras County at which gold is known to exist in
considerable quantity, and with similar mode of occurrence.
Among these I may mention Quail Hill No. 2, near the Napoleon
Copper Mine, two or three miles southeast of Quail Hill No. 1,
and the “Plymouth Rock,” or “Austin and Hathaway” claim, at
Rich Gulch, near the Calaveras River. Moreover, the geological
causes and the peculiar chemical decomposition of the rock,
which have been involved in the formation of the deposits in
question, are by no means confined to the localities where
gold is known to occur. On the contrary, they may be traced
with considerable constancy through a narrow belt of country
along the southwest flank of the Gopher Hills, and stretching
from the Calaveras River southeast for a distance of at least
fifteen miles, and perhaps farther. Towards the northwest,
the same belt crosses the Calaveras; but how much farther it
extends in this direction I have no present means of knowing.
It is not unlikely that a similar formation may be found to
exist, here and there at least, in the same general line of
strike, nearly parallel with the stratification of the country,
through Amador and El Dorado Counties to Placer, and perhaps
beyond. The possibility of this at least is worth remembering.
Throughout this belt, in the Gopher Range, surface cuts and
shafts, of greater or less depth, made and sunk in prospecting
for copper, are of frequent occurrence. In fact, this is the
same belt that has been so often mentioned as “the second
important copper-bearing belt of Calaveras County,” and located
some six or seven miles southwest of the main copper belt
of Copperopolis. The “importance” of this belt, on account
of the copper ores which it contains, has been most grossly
exaggerated. An amusing illustration of this fact is to be
seen in a “map of the copper mines in Calaveras County,”
published a few years since, which represents the whole region
in question as literally covered for miles with highly colored
“locations” or “copper claims,” the whole of which, with
few exceptions—and these due not to copper but to gold—have
served no further end than that of rendering their locators
and owners sadder and wiser men. At one locality, indeed, viz,
the “Napoleon Mine,” a body of copper ore was found which in
many countries would have been remunerative, and was worked
to a considerable extent; but the working here was attended
only with loss, and was some time since entirely discontinued.
It should be remembered, however, in speaking of the copper
mines of California, that not only have they had to contend
with the general ignorance of copper mining, and especially
of copper metallurgy which has existed throughout the State,
and with extremely high prices for labor and transportation;
but also that, for a year or two past, the largely increased
supply of ore from the mines of Chili in South America, and
elsewhere—together with the diminished demand and consequent
low price for metallic copper, reacting with increased effect
upon the value of the ore—have told with crushing weight
even upon the best mines. There are certainly not more than
one or two, perhaps not even a single deposit of copper ore
in the known world, which surpasses or equals, in magnitude
and intrinsic richness combined, that of the “Union” Mine of
Copperopolis; and yet it is said that even the “Union” itself,
which is the only mine now active at Copperopolis, is hardly
more than paying expenses at present rates. So far then as my
observations extend, there is simply nothing whatever in this
“second copper belt” which can for some time to come justify
the expenditure of money in searching for copper here; though
it is not impossible that, besides the “Napoleon” Mine, other
deposits of ore may exist within the belt, which at some future
time, and under more favorable circumstances of labor, fuel,
and transportation, may become of value for the copper which
they contain.
It has been already remarked that the zone or belt of surface
decomposition in which the “Quail Hill” and other similar mines
occur, may be traced with considerable constancy for at least
fifteen or eighteen miles, and that it is not improbable that
it is much longer than this. We cannot, however, infer from
our present knowledge that the decomposed or “calico” rock is
continuous throughout the belt, or even for any considerable
portion of its length. On the contrary, its distribution
within the belt appears capricious and local, _i.e._, it
seems to occur in more or less detached and isolated masses,
which vary largely in form and size, and are irregular and
indefinite in outline; so that little more can be predicated
of their occurrence in general, than that they are mostly
confined within a comparatively narrow belt, and that their
longest dimension exhibits a general tendency to approximate
parallelism with the axis of the belt, and the stratification
of the inclosing country. Sometimes, as for instance, along the
northeastern side of the Quail Hill formation, this tendency is
so strongly developed, and the passage from the decomposed to
the undecomposed rock is so rapid, as to form for some little
distance a tolerably straight and well defined “wall” or line
of demarcation, parallel, or nearly so, with the stratification
of the country. But the change or passage from the decomposed
or “calico” rock to the surrounding undecomposed country,
though sometimes rapid is always gradual, so far as I have
seen; and though we cannot yet speak much from underground
explorations, the surface appearances throughout the country
would indicate decidedly that so regular a line of demarcation
as this at Quail Hill is the exception, and not the rule.
The southwestern limit of the decomposed mass of Quail Hill
has been found at several points; but here the change from
the decomposed to the undecomposed rock is not so rapid; and
though the explorations here, being shallow and limited, are
insufficient to determine this point with certainty, it is
not probable that any such regularity of demarcation exists
here as upon the opposite side. Most of the “calico rock”
of this belt still retains distinctly the structure of the
undecomposed rock from which it was formed. The crystalline
hornblendic rock is thus seen to have been largely altered by
the decomposing agency, and even the hornstone, which lay in
its track, seems to have been more or less affected by it. The
decomposition has been purely an oxidation, accompanied by such
mechanical and chemical changes as filtering mineral waters
might produce. It is probably superficial, both in origin and
character, extending to no great depth, although the main level
at Quail Hill is nearly one hundred and twenty feet beneath the
summit of the hill, and the decomposition of most of the rock
at this depth, so far as exploration has gone, is as perfect
as at any higher level. It is certainly long subsequent in
date to the metamorphism of the surrounding country, and is
unquestionably largely due to the action of the products of the
oxidation of metallic sulphurets (chiefly those of iron and
copper) which were originally distributed through the rock. At
the same time it is not easy to account for the whole of it
in this way alone, since at certain localities undecomposed
sulphurets are seen near the surface, and in rock which is
apparently much more permeable to atmospheric influences than
was much of that which has been more deeply decomposed; and
again, much of the decomposed rock, though retaining well its
original structure, shows far too little traces of sulphurets
to readily account for so general and thorough a decomposition
as has taken place. It is all indeed more or less colored by
oxide of iron, but much of it is not deeply colored, and the
undecomposed hornblendic rock itself, in the absence of all
sulphurets, contains sufficient iron in the state of protoxide
to impart a strong coloring when the rock is decomposed and
the iron passes to the state of sesquioxide. Much of the iron
originally present has undoubtedly been removed in a soluble
form, as sulphate, etc. But in rock which preserves its
original structure, as well as most of this does, pyrites, if
originally present, would have left traces of its existence in
the form of casts or cavities in the decomposed mass, which
might or might not have been filled with ferric oxide or other
matter. In certain localities the decomposed rock is in fact
filled with such cavities, often cubical in form, attesting the
former presence of large quantities of disseminated sulphurets.
But in other localities they are few and far between, and here
accordingly the decomposition can hardly be supposed to have
been due to the local presence of sulphurets alone.
The exact methods by which the general and local decomposition
has been effected, and those by which the rock was originally
impregnated with metallic ores—as well as the manner in which
certain substances, as barytes, now found as sulphate, and
true porphyry, now found as kaoline or lithomarge, have found
their present situation in the belt in question—all these would
possess both interest and importance in a high degree, could
they be more definitely known. Such questions, however, cannot
be answered with certainty, and their discussion here would
lead us too far into the doubtful realm of chemical geology.
But whatever may have been the agencies at work, it is evident
that there is nothing in all this to remind us of a true vein
formation. It appears that the zone in question is neither a
vein, nor generally speaking a system of veins. On the other
hand, it possesses emphatically in general the characteristics
of what the Germans style an impregnation—an impregnation
indeed which exhibits a certain regularity as being mostly
confined within a narrow zone, and stretching through a
considerable extent of country, but which within these limits
shows the greatest irregularity of form, and much variety of
character. Veins of quartz occur here and there within the
belt; but they are not more frequent here than elsewhere, and
their occurrence has probably little or no direct connection
with the peculiar character of the belt itself. There is
very little that deserves the name of quartz at Quail Hill,
though much of the surface rock is pretty highly silicious in
character.
The impregnation of the rock with metallic sulphurets,
particularly with sulphurets containing copper, has in certain
localities been sufficiently powerful and concentrated to
assume, in greater or less degree, the characteristics of
segregated veins of limited extent. This has been the case
at the Napoleon mine, and also at Quail Hill, where there
is, or was, a band of oxidized ores of copper traversing the
decomposed rock in a direction parallel with the general
stratification. This band consisted chiefly of the green and
blue carbonates of copper, mingled with ferruginous and earthy
matter, and accompanied by barytes. The last named mineral, so
common a veinstone in other parts of the world, but hitherto
so rare in California, occurs here in considerable quantity.
Its form is granular compact, sometimes quite pure, but usually
contaminated and intermingled with other matters. Crystallized
specimens of it have not been found here to my knowledge. It is
hardly probable that the barytes itself contains either gold
or silver; yet it certainly occurs here in the most intimate
contact with both, as I have seen respectable particles of
gold in place upon the immediate surface of compact specimens
of barytes—and a sample of heavy concentrated barytic sand
from the tailings of the mill, of sufficient fineness to pass
through a sieve of one hundred holes to the linear inch,
yielded to the assay over eleven dollars per ton in gold and
silver.
The thickness of the copper band varied from one to three or
four feet. Its outlines were indefinite, and its original
characteristics of form, etc., much obscured by the complete
decomposition both of itself and the surrounding rock. It was
without doubt originally a segregated mass of sulphurets;
and though it seems now to have nearly or quite run out and
disappeared, it may be found to come in again as such, in
depth, unaltered below the line of surface decomposition.
Other bands of similar character may perhaps exist in the
yet undeveloped portions of the mine. But the great mass
of decomposed material which forms Quail Hill as a whole,
retaining as it does to so great an extent the original
structure of the country rock from which it was formed, can in
no proper sense be called a vein; although its extent, when
considered as a repository of the precious metals, is something
far transcending the size of ordinary veins.
The gold and silver of these formations which have recently
attracted so much attention, and have become the object
of extensive mining operations at Quail Hill, seem to be
distributed at the latter place, to a greater or less extent,
throughout the whole mass of the decomposed rock. The surface
earth of the hill, also, everywhere contains gold, which may be
discovered by washing it in the pan; but this ceases to be the
case on the hillsides as soon as the limits of the decomposed
rock are passed. Some of the gold, as stated by Prof. Silliman
in his communication to the California Academy, already
referred to, is quite coarse; but much of it is exceedingly
fine and difficult to save in the mill. It is a noticeable
fact in the distribution of the precious metals at Quail Hill,
that the cupreous ores and the material in their vicinity have
hitherto been found to be always rich in gold and silver, and
to contain chiefly, if not exclusively, the coarsest gold.
The distribution of the gold at Quail Hill is not uniform, the
more slaty and ferruginous portion of the decomposed rock being
generally the richest in ore, while the compact porphyritic
kaoline contains but traces of gold, if any, and some of the
other and more compact rock is comparatively poor. The original
distribution of the sulphurets here seems also to have followed
approximately the same law—the kaoline containing in general
but little trace of their existence, while the more slaty rock
is often full of their cavities. Hematite, as well as the
hydrated sesquioxide of iron, occurs here in small quantities;
and a curious point in this connection is the fact that, while
much of the best ore is very highly charged with the hydrated
sesquioxide, the hematite has been found hitherto to contain
little or no gold. The origin of the decomposed porphyry
at Quail Hill is a point of much interest, and it may be a
question whether it is not the remnant of an intrusive igneous
dyke. The arguments in favor of this supposition consist in
the entire dissimilarity in character and structure between
it and the surrounding material, as well as in the rarity of
porphyry in the region round about. In fact, I have nowhere
else in this portion of the country seen anything deserving of
the name, while the whole texture and appearance of this mass
at Quail Hill are precisely such as would have resulted from
the decomposition in place of a true feldspathic porphyry.
But however strongly these facts may seem to argue in favor
of an igneous origin, it is not easy to reconcile such a
supposition with its mode of occurrence here. Other masses of
similar character may exist within the hill; but so far as
existing developments have cut or uncovered the one of which
I speak, the indications are that it is irregular in outline,
quite limited in extent, and of approximate lenticular shape.
Moreover, in certain places, it seems to pass gradually
into the eastern country rock, without any distinct line of
demarcation, the change in the texture of the rock being
even more gradual than the passage from the decomposed to
undecomposed material. At certain points, but a few feet from
the eastern “wall,” the kaoline is as perfectly porphyritic in
its texture and appearance as in any portion of the mass, while
between the two is every grade of passage from the one to the
other—the country rock being neither distinctly porphyritic in
texture, nor chiefly feldspathic in composition. I am strongly
inclined to think, therefore, in spite of its peculiar and
distinctive character, that this porphyritic mass is but a
local result of the metamorphism of sedimentary strata, which,
in many portions of this region, seems to have been as varied
in character as it has been high in degree.
The degradation of such formations as this at Quail Hill, has
undoubtedly furnished some of the placer gold of the region;
but the evidence does not by any means justify us in supposing
that it has furnished the whole of it. Gopher Gulch, which runs
at the foot of Quail Hill, and its branches, for a mile above
this point, or nearly to the summit of the Gopher Range, and
hundreds of feet above the level of the Quail Hill formation,
were in early days rich in placer gold, much of which was very
coarse. Other gulches in the vicinity have also furnished more
or less gold high up towards the summit of the range. Moreover,
the quartz veins, which here and there occur in the hard
metamorphic rock, are known, some of them at least, to contain
gold, and such have probably played their part in the formation
of the placers.
I have already mentioned the fact of the prominent association
of the precious metals with ores of copper at the Quail Hill
mine; but this fact derives still further interest from what
follows. As far as my observations have extended in Calaveras
County, and also at Whisky Hill, in Placer County, wherever
gold and silver have yet been found in paying quantities in the
decomposed rock formation, there also, or close at hand, are
found the oxidized ores of copper, carbonates and silicates;
and conversely, I have nowhere seen oxidized ores of copper
in this decomposed rock which were not, comparatively at
least, rich in gold and silver. It is true that sufficient
developments have not yet been made to enable us to state
whether this is the general fact or not. It is possible
that the association of these ores may be to a certain
extent accidental; but it is not unlikely that it may be
otherwise;—and at all events this is a point well worthy of
attention and further investigation.
As this finishes my remarks upon the “calico rock” formation. I
will close by simply mentioning a point relating to the lower
country of Calaveras County, that I have not yet seen publicly
noticed elsewhere. The low, rolling hills which form the
eastern border of the San Joaquin plain between the Stanislaus
and Calaveras Rivers, contain extensive beds of horizontally
stratified material, which is probably sedimentary-volcanic
in origin. The color of these beds is usually varying shades
of gray. They contain no pebbles, so far as I have seen; they
generally crumble easily, and resemble in appearance a friable
sandstone. But their grain or grit, which is pretty fine, is
also quite clean and sharp as well as hard, and rough-polishes
rapidly the hardest steel when rubbed upon it.
These beds are of considerable thickness, and cover many square
miles of country. Their stratification has evidently not been
disturbed since they were deposited, though they have been
largely eroded. The frequent flat tops of the hills, and the
level benches, which these beds have produced along their
sides, by irregularities of wear, impart a peculiar aspect to
the scenery.
Professor Silliman read the following:
On the Occurrence of Glauberite at Borax Lake, California.
BY B. SILLIMAN.
Glauberite, a species not before recognised as occurring in
North America occurs at Borax Lake, where it has lately been
obtained in blue clay, brought up from a depth of forty feet by
an artesian boring. No other crystallized, species was detected
in the masses of clay examined.
Glauberite is a sulphate of lime and soda, half an atom of
each base in combination with an atom of sulphuric acid. It
is usually associated with rock salt, as at Villa Rubia, in
New Castile, and also at Ausee, in Bavaria, and in the salt
mines of Vic, in France. In the Atacama desert in Peru, it is
associated with a fibrous borate of lime called Hagesine. Mr.
Stretch, the State Mineralogist of Nevada, in his catalogue
of minerals found in that State, mentions borate of lime
(Hagesine) as occurring in globular masses and in layers from
two to five inches thick, alternating with layers of salt in a
salt marsh in the Columbus mining District, Esmeralda County.
It is quite possible that a careful scrutiny would detect
glauberite also in this association so analagous to that of
Atacama.
Reference was also made to the occurrence of the species
laghassite detected by Prof. S. in 1864, at the little Salt
Lake near Rag Town in Nevada, as illustrating in an interesting
manner, the chemistry of these bodies of saline water. The
latter species is a hydrous, carbonate of lime and sodium,
while glauberite is a sulphate of the same bases. Both salts
undoubtedly result from the reaction of the respective elements
pre-existing in solution in the saline waters.
The crystals of glauberite from Borax Lake occur in very thin
flattened tables, derived apparently from the great extension
of the faces _O_ of the Monactinic prism.
Mr Bloomer read the following:
On the Scientific Name of the “Big Trees.”
BY H. G. BLOOMER, CURATOR OF BOTANY.
Early in 1853, specimens of the “Big Trees” were presented
to this Academy; Dr. Kellogg and other botanists, members of
the Academy, at once pronounced them to belong to the genus
_Taxodium_, to which the common “Redwood” of California was
referred at that time. Endlicher’s work upon the Coniferæ, in
which the genus _Sequoia_ (named after an Indian Chief) was
instituted, had not at that time reached us. Our California
Redwood, _Taxodium sempervirens_ was included in the new genus
of Endlicher. So then, the true scientific position of the
Big Trees was first determined by members of the California
Academy of Natural Sciences. At the time of the presentation
of these specimens, an English collector of plants and seeds,
Mr. William Lobb, saw them, and having experience enough to
know that they belonged to a species new to the gardeners,
immediately started for the grove and obtained cones, wood
and foliage, which he carried with him to England in the fall
of 1853. Dr. Lindley hastily described these as _Wellingtonia
gigantea_ in the _Gardener’s Chronicle_ for December 1853.
In the meantime Drs. Kellogg and Behr pursued their studies of
the great tree, and at length being convinced that there was no
generic difference between it and the _Taxodium sempervirens_
(now _Sequoia sempervirens_) instituted the species _Taxodium
giganteum_, described in the Proceedings of the Cal. Acad. Nat.
Sciences, May 7th, 1855, Vol. I, page 53.
Previous to this, however, Seemann, in Bonplandia, 3, p. 27,
January 15th, 1855, described it under the term of _Sequoia
Wellingtonia_. Mr. Seemann gives his reasons at length in the
Magazine of Natural History, 3d Series, Vol. 3, p. 164, for
discarding the genus _Wellingtonia_ of Lindley, and says:
“Dr. Torrey was undoubtedly the first who determined the true
systematic position of the tree.” Now this is an error, for Dr.
Torrey’s publication is dated in August, 1855; whereas Drs.
Kellogg and Behr’s appeared May 7th, 1855.
The principal thing to be determined in this matter now is, as
to the name and author, for these must accompany each other;
shall it be:
_Sequoia gigantea_ Endlicher, May, 1847;
_Wellingtonia gigantea_ Lindley, December, 1853;
_Sequoia Wellingtonia_ Seemann, January 15th, 1855;
_Taxodium giganteum_ Kellogg and Behr, May 7th, 1855; or
_Sequoia gigantea_ Torrey, August, 1855?
There are a number of other names made use of and referred to
by Seemann, Murray and others; but as they come to us without
the least scientific authority, they ought not to be considered.
Dr. Lindley’s genus falls to the ground almost by common
consent. I will refer here to a communication from Prof.
Brewer, late of the geological survey of this State. Before he
left San Francisco, he sent Dr. W. J. Hooker one of the large
photographs of the “Grizzly Giant,” one of the big trees in the
Mariposa grove; he had written to Prof. Brewer, asking about
“the Wellingtonia, Washingtonia, I care not what you call it.”
In Prof. Brewer’s answer, he told him that he (the Prof.) did
care what he called it, and also that it was not a new genus,
but a _Sequoia_. Dr. Hooker, in his answer to this, says: “I
heartily agree with you in all you say about the big tree; it
has now produced good fruit in our gardens, and is as true a
_Sequoia_ as can be, and should have no other name.” So here we
have high authority for discarding Lindley’s _Wellingtonia_.
Yet this only settles the question as to the generic term; Dr.
Hooker’s opinion thus far has only given us _Sequoia_.
The next claimant in point of priority is Dr. Seemann, who
rightly refers it to _Sequoia_, and adds the specific term
_Wellingtonia_, giving sufficient reasons for discarding
Endlicher’s specific term _gigantea_, as that was shown by
Hooker to be founded upon _Abies_ (Picea) _bracteata_.
In recent publications of American botanists, we find the term
_Sequoia gigantea_ of Torrey used to designate the species;
to show that this is not the true nomenclature, I need but
to say that Dr. Torrey never described it at all in any book
or proceedings. The reference is to the American Journal of
Science and Art, Vol. 18, p. 286, August, 1855, where it
says: “Dr. Torrey made to the American Association for the
Advancement of Science a communication in reference to the Big
Tree of California;” also Vol. 17, p. 443, but no description.
Now here is no sufficient ground for Dr. Torrey’s _Sequoia
gigantea_, for there is absolutely no description at all,
but a mere reference; and this reference is published three
months after Drs. Kellogg and Behr have described the tree as
_Taxodium giganteum_.
I think now that Endlicher’s, Lindley’s, and Torrey’s claims
have been refuted; the controversy is narrowed down as between
Seemann and Drs. Kellogg and Behr. By strict usage, and without
the usual courtesy of scientific men, the nomenclature of
the “Big Tree” should be _Sequoia Wellingtonia_ of Seemann.
But if courtesy is to be shown at all, it should be to those
students who are entitled to it; that Drs. Kellogg and Behr are
justly entitled to this honor, I cannot for one moment doubt.
Specimens of this gigantic tree were in their possession many
months before any other botanist had directed his attention to
the subject; studying indeed under every disadvantage, for our
botanical literature at that time was very meagre, not even
Endlicher’s work on the Coniferæ, in which was to be found the
then newly instituted _Sequoia_, to which was referred our
common _Taxodium sempervirens_ of Lambert, being available.
Had they access to this work they would have given us _Sequoia
gigantea_; mark, that this was three months before Torrey’s
reference.
They therefore are in truth and reality, if not technically,
the first scientific discoverers of the true position of the
great tree. The terms they used were _Taxodium giganteum_,
meaning by this that it was a congener with _Taxodium
sempervirens_, which it was.
If Seemann’s technical claims are set aside, then by courtesy
_Sequoia gigantea_ Kellogg and Behr, ought to be written as the
true name of the “Big Tree.”
For the advancement of science, we hope the final closing of
this and other questions pertaining to the Coniferæ of this
coast will be left to the able monographer of this order, Dr.
George Engelmann, of St. Louis, who is now in Europe, having
the notes and observations of recent botanists, and who will
there have access to all the literature and material necessary
to establish scientific accuracy and unity in this important
family of plants.
INDEX OF AUTHORS.—1863-1868.
AYRES, DR. W. O.—Remarks on Notorhynchus, etc., 15
On the Sacred Turtle of Japan, 16
BEHR, DR. H.—On Californian Lepidoptera, 84, 123, 163, 178, 279, 296
BLAKE, DR. J.—Infusoria from the moving sands near San Francisco, 35
On the Gradual Elevation of the Land in the vicinity of San
Francisco, 45
On Fœtus of Embiotocoid Fishes, 314, 371
BLAKE, PROF. W. P.—Gold from American River, 166
Fossils from Mare Island, 166
Fossils from Oregon Bar, 167
Fossils from Mariposa, 170
Oil Regions of Tulare Valley, 193
Sphene in the Sierra Nevada, 193
Iron Ore in Northern Arizona, 206
Gum of Sequoia gigantea, 234
Ammonites in Mariposa County, 235
Miscellaneous Notices, 289
Mineralogical Notices, 297
Fossil Fish from Nevada, 306
Fossil Saurians of California, 307, 361
Fossil Elephants Teeth, 325
Submerged Forests of Oregon, 339
Brown Coal of Oregon, 347
Analysis of Mt. Diablo Coal, 348
BLOOMER, H. G.—On the scientific names of the Big Trees, 399
BOLANDER, PROF. H. N.—Description of a new species of Melica, 4
Shrubs and Trees growing near San Francisco, 78, 296
Grasses of Arizona, 205
Remarks on Californian Trees, 225, 377
Botanical Collections of Prof. A. Wood, in 1866, 329
BREWER, PROF. W. H.—Plants growing in Hot Springs of California, 121
Explorations in Sierra Nevada, 170
Fossils of the Auriferous Slates, 198
BRUSH, PROF. G. J.—Analysis of Meteoric Iron from Arizona, 30
CANFIELD, DR. C. A.—Notes on Antilocapra Americana, 238
CARLETON, GEN. J. H.—On Meteoric Iron from Arizona, 33
CARPENTER, DR. P. P.—New Marine Shells of California, 155, 175, 207
CLAYTON, J. E.—Fossils from Nevada, 171
COOPER, DR. J. G.—On New or Rare Mollusca inhabiting California, 56
On a New Genus of Terrestrial Mollusca inhabiting California, 62
On New Genera and Species of Californian Fishes, 70, 93, 108
A New Californian Helix, etc., 259
A New Species of Pedipes, 294
West Coast Helicoid Land Shells, 331
CROFT, C. J.—The Grasses of Arizona, 205
DALL, W. H.—Memorial of T. Bridges, 236
Notes on Octopus punctatus, 243
Notes on Shells of Santa Cruz, etc., 258
New Subfamily of Mollusca, 264
On Shells of Monterey, 271
On Errors in Geography of California, 273
Letter from Alaska, 367
DANA, PROF. J. D.—On Crystallization of Brushite, 174
GABB, W. M.—A New Species of Virgularia from the Coast of
California, 120
Cretaceous Fossils from Sonora, Mexico, 153
Fossils from Mariposa, 172
Fossils from San Luis Obispo, 173
New Marine Shells from Coast of California, 182
Cretaceous Formation of California, 301
Geology of Peru, 359
GARRETT, ANDREW.—Descriptions of New Species of Fishes, 63, 103
GIBBONS, DR. H.—On Rains at San Francisco, 261
GOODYEAR, W. A.—On Salt Spring Valley, Calaveras County, 387
GRAY, PROF. ASA.—Descriptions of new Californian Plants, 101
HOFFMAN, C. F.—On Hetch-Hetchy Valley, 368
JACKSON, DR. C. T.—The Big Trees of Calaveras County, 204
KELLOGG, A., M.D.—Description of two New Species of Plants from
Nevada, 9
On two New Species of Collomia from Nevada Territory, 17
A New Genus and Species of Plant from Nev. Territory,
(Pterostephanus), 20
Descriptions of two New Plants, (Conyza, Collinsia.), 36
A New Species of Hosackia, 38
A New Species of Mentzelia, 40
Description of three New Plants, 42
A New Species of Allium, 54
A New Species of Alsine, 61
Thaspium cordatum and Epilobium obcordatum, 314
MOORE, G. E.—On Brushite, 167
NEWCOMB, DR. W.—New Species of Helix inhabiting California, 115
A New Species of Pedicularia, 121
New Species of Land Shells, 179
PEASE, W. H.—On an Atoll near the coast of Mexico, 200
PREISS, MAJ. E.—On Euphorbia prostrata as a remedy for Snake-Bites, 195
RAIMONDI, DON A.—On Geology of Peru, 359
RÉMOND, A.—Description of two New Species of Bivalve Shells from the
Tertiaries of Contra Costa County, 13
Description of two Species of Scutella, 13
Four New Species of fossil Echinodermata, 52
Geological Explorations in Mexico, 244
RICHTHOFEN, BARON F.—On Natural System of Volcanic Rocks, 356
ROWELL, REV. J.—Description of Gundlachia Californica, 21
On Pisidium angelicum, 353
SCUDDER, S. H.—Letter concerning Californian Butterflies, 47
SHARKEY, DR. J. M.—On fibrous Plants of Nicaragua, 401
SILLIMAN, PROF. B.—Gold and Silver of Whisky and Quail Hills, 349
Localities of Diamonds in California, 354
Localities of Tellurids in California, 378
Glauberite at Borax Lake, 399
STEARNS, R. E. C.—Shells of Baulines Bay, 275
Shells of Santa Barbara and San Diego, 283
Obituary of R. Kennicott, 298
Vitality of a Snail, 328
On Orthagoriscus analis, 341
On Helix Ayresiana, 341
Shells of Santa Barbara, etc., 343
Shells of Purissima, and Lobitas, 345
On Exhibition of Parhelia, 353
Shells of Bodega Bay, 382
Shells of Alaska, 384
TRASK, DR. J. B.—Earthquakes in California during 1863, 1864, 127
Earthquakes in California from 1800 to 1864, 131
Earthquakes in California during 1864, 190
Earthquakes in California during 1865, 239
WHITNEY, PROF. J. D.—On the inaccuracy of the Eighth Census, so far as
it relates to the Metallic and Mineral Statistics of the United
States, 6
Remarks on Japanese Minerals and Fossils, 15
On the Progress of the Geological Survey of California, 23
Analysis of Meteoric Iron, (Brush), 30, 34
On Meteoric Iron from Arizona, 48, 240
On Meteorites of Pacific Coast, 240
On Rémond’s Explorations in Northern Mexico, 243
On Geology of Nevada, 266
On Absence of Drift in California, 271
Human Skull from Calaveras County, 277
Tungstate of Lime and Copper, 287
Silurian Series of Nevada, 307
Tertiary Fossils of Nevada, 309
Triassic Fossils of Chili, 311
Liassic Fossils of Chili, 311
Tertiary Fossils of Chili, 311
Cretaceous Fossils of Chili, 311
Infusorial Deposits, 319
The Highest Mountain of North America, 325
On Coal of Webber Cañon, 341
On Salt from Muddy River, 341
On Ores from Comstock Lode, 342
On Geological Position of Coal, 356
On Fossil Tooth from Douglas Flat, 356
On Oreodon Jaw, 363
On Visit to Oregon, etc., 363
On Ores from Nevada and Mexico, 372
On Minerals of Pacific Coast, 372, 374
On Depression of Death Valley, 129, 376
On Maps of California, 386
WILLIAMSON, COL. R. S.—On the Height of Mount Hood, 364
On Depression of Death Valley, 129, 376
WILSON, JOHN.—Indian Relics from Chihuahua, 160
WOOD, PROF. A.—Ascent of Mount Hood, 292
Botanical Collections, 329
GENERAL INDEX.
PAGE.
Abies, 232
Acanthochites, 211
Acanthopleura, 211
Achatinella, 182
Acmæa, 213, 300
Æolis, 59
Allium, 54
Alsine, 61
Altitude of Sacramento, 386
American Satyrides, 165
Amiantis callosa, 286
Ammonites, 235, 289
Amphissa, 286
Amphithalamus, 218
Amycla, 159, 223
Anachis, 223
Analysis of Coal, 348
” of Salt, 348
” of Ores, 342
Angel Island, 348, 353
Antilocapra, 238
Antimoniate of Lead, 372
Aplodontia, 224
Aplopappus, 9
Aplysia, 57
Apocynum, 352
Apogon, 105
Arbutus, 232
Arenaria, 101
Argynnis, 84
Aristida, 205
Ascent of Mt. Hood, 292, 364
Aspidium, 129
Astarte, 209
Astragalus, 103
Astringent Gum, 234
Astrodapsis, 52
Astrophyton, 300
Ayresia, 73
Barometers, 327
Baulines Bay Shells, 275, 291
Bdellostoma, 295, 331
Belemnites, 173
Big Trees, 399
Binneya, 62
Botanical Collections, 329
Brown Coal, 347
Brushite, 167
Buccinum, 385
Calandrinia, 102
Calliostoma, 156, 186, 214
Cancellaria, 186
Carcharodon, 174
Cardium, 13, 154, 209
Carex, 38
Castanea, 231
Catalogue of Mosses, 386
Census, Eighth, 6
Ceratites, 167
Chætodon, 65
Cheilodactylus, 103
Chemnitzia, 154, 220
Chionobas, 163
Chironectes, 64, 107
Chioræra, 60
Chlorostoma, 286
Chromis, 160
Chrysallida, 219
Cinnabar, 298
Circe, 189
Clathurella, 184
Clypeaster, 53
Coal, Geology of, 356
” of Arizona, 122
” of Mexico, 251
” of Mt. Diablo, 348
” of Oregon, 347
” of Utah, 341
Cœcum, 215
Cœnonympha, 164
Collinsia, 36
Collomia, 17
Collonia, 175
Comstock Lode, 342
Conus, 174, 286
Conyza, 36
Cooperella, 208
Copper Glance, 297
Corbula, 207
Crenilabrus, 106
Crepidula, 385
Cretaceous Formation, 301
Crustacea, 313
Cupressus, 228
Curator’s Reports, 2, 99, 235, 237, 312
Cysticerci, 386
Cythna, 219
Danais, 84
Danaite, 297
Daphnella, 185
Dekaya, 70
Delphinula, 175
Dendronotus, 59
Depression of Death Valley, 129, 376
Diala, 218
Diamonds in California, 354
Diatomaceæ, 258, 320
Doris, 58, 346
Dosinia, 174
Drift Formation, 271
Earthquakes in China, 278
” in California, 127, 131, 190, 239
Echinarachnius, 53
Echinoderms, fossil, 52
Eighth Census, 6
Elephant’s Teeth, 325
Elevation of Land, 45
Emarginula, 188
Embiotocoids, 314, 371
Eocene formation, 301
Epilobium, 314
Esquimaux, 202
Ethalia, 215
Eulima, 221
Euphorbia, 195, 367
European Satyrides, 165
Excursion in Field, 348, 352
Exocœtus, 93
Exogyra, 154
Exploration of Alaska, 367, 377
Explosions under ground, 364
Family Limnæidæ, 264
Fenella, 217
Fibrous plants, 401
Field Excursions, 348, 352
Flabellina, 60
Fœtus of Fishes, 314
Fossils of Alaska, 367
” cretaceous, 301
” Elephant, 166, 171, 290, 325, 367
” Horse, 166, 171
” canine Tooth, 356
” Delphinidæ, 361
” in Gold Formations, 289
” from Mexico, 247, 249, 250, 252
” from Nevada, 266
” skull, 277, 291
” fish, 306
” bones, 307
” Saurians, 307
” Silurian, 307
” tertiary, 307
Fungi as Food, etc., 292
Gadinia, 188
Galerus, 215
Gastridium, 67
Geological Survey, 23, 170
Geology of Coal, 356
” of Mexico, 243
Geology of Peru, 359
Gibbonsia, 109
Gibbula, 158, 176, 214
Gillichthys, 109
Glaciers in Arizona, 162
Glauberite, 399
Globulus, 176
Gold of Whisky Hill, 349
” Quail Hill, 349
Grapta, 123
Gundlachia, 21
Hagesine, 399
Haliotis, 300, 361
Height of Mt. Hood, 294, 326, 363, 364
” Sacramento, 386
” Mountains, 326
Helices of Santa Cruz, 258, 260
Helicoid Land Shells, 331
Helix, 115, 179, 225, 258, 291, 328, 334, 384
Hepburn’s Shells, 283
Hetch-hetchy Valley, 368
Hosackia, 38
Hybrid Ducks, 324
” Haliotis, 361
Indian Hemp, 352
Infusoria, 35, 319
Iron Ore in Arizona, 206
Isapis, 217
Ischnochiton, 211
Jeffreysia, 209
Julis, 63
Junonia, 126
Kelloggia, 202
Kerargyrite, 297
Lagomys, 69
Land Shells of California, 331
Leda, 210
Leersia, 67
Leiostraca, 221
Lepidopleurus, 211
Lepton, 210
Leptonyx, 175, 286
Leptochiton, 212
Leptothyra, 286
Libocedrus, 228
Lilium, 202
Lima, 173
Limenitis, 127
Limnæidæ, 264
Linum, 42, 102
Lioconcha, 189
Liotia, 158
Litiopa, 219
Lycæna, 279
Macadamizing Rock, 327
Macoma, 208
Mangelia, 185, 383
Margarita, 158
Margaritana, 258
Mariposite, 380
Mastodon teeth, 291
Melica, 4
Melissa and Meridion, 258
Melitæa, 85
Mentzelia, 40
Mesalia, 216
Meteoric iron, 21, 30, 48
Meteoric shower, 300
Meteorites, 240
Mexican Cotton, 17, 19
Minerals of California, 372, 374
” Whisky Hill, 351
Mining, Ancient, 358, 362
Minolia, 157
Mirabilis, 10, 68
Mispickel, 8, 297
Monterey Shells, 271
Mopalia, 385
Morains in Arizona, 162
Mount Hood, 292, 326, 364
Mountain Barometers, 327
Muhlenbergia, 205
Murex, 185, 224
Myxodes, 108
Nacella, 213
Nassa, 223
Natica, 174
Native Copper, 297
Navarchus, 8, 58
Navea, 300, 346
Neaplysia, 57
Neithea, 154
Nemeobius, 178
Nereocystes, 324
Newcomb’s collection, 343
Northern drift, 271
Nostoc, 120
Notorhynchus, 15
Octopus, 243
Oenothera, 198
Officers elected, 3, 100, 177, 235, 312
Oil regions, 193
Opalia, 222
Ophisurus, 66, 98
Orcynus, 75
Ores from Nevada, 372
Orthagoriscus, 341
Ostrea, 13
Ovibos, 367
Oxide of Antimony, 372
Pachydesma, 286
Pallium, 174
Panicum, 121, 206
Parhelia, 353
Paspalum, 67
Peat Beds, 325
Pecten, 174
Pedicularia, 121
Pedipes, 294
Pentachæta, 197
Peru, Geology of, 359
Petricola, 310
Phaca, 103
Phidania, 60
Pholadidea, 310
Pholadomya, 173
Picea, 377, 401
Pinus, 204, 226, 296, 317, 353, 358, 370
Planorbis, 119
Pleuraphis, 205
Pleurotoma, 183
Plectodon, 207
Poa, 206
Polyporus, 292
Pomaulax, 286
Pompholyx, 264
Porites, 4
Pristiphora, 210
Proustite, 297
Psephis, 209
Pteroplatea, 112
Pterostephanus, 21
Ptychostylis, 187
Pulmonifera, 334
Puncturella, 214
Purpura, 4, 286
Pyrameis, 125
Quail Hill Minerals, 349
Quercus, 229, 296, 299, 370
Rains of San Francisco, 261
Red Crustaceans, 313
Rissoa, 217
Rissoina, 217
Rowellia, 188
Salt from Muddy River, 341
Salt Spring Valley, 387
Sarcodes, 202
Saturnia, 296
Satyrus, 164
Saxidomus, 174, 286
Scalaria, 221
Schinus, 273
Scintilla, 208
Scorpæna, 105
Scurria, 241
Scutella, 13
Semele, 208
Sequoia, 170, 204, 288, 363, 399
Sharks’ Teeth, 290
Shells of Alaska, 384
” of Baulines Bay, 275, 291
” of Bodega Bay, 382
” of California, 334, 361
” of Monterey, 271
” of Purissima, 345
” of S. Cruz I., 345
” of Sta. Barbara, 283, 343
” of San Diego, 283
” of land of West Coast, 334
Sierra Nevada Peaks, 170
Silene Dorrii, 44
Silkworms, 296
Silver leaf, 330
Silybum, 125
Skull from Calaveras, 277
Snail’s vitality, 328
Solariella, 156
Sphene in Granite, 193
Sphyræna, 203
Strategus, 8
Streptanthus, 101
Styliferina, 219
Submerged Forests, 339
Subterranean Explosions, 364
Succinea, 181
Surcula, 286
Taxodium, 399
Taxus, 229
Tellimya, 210
Tellurian Minerals, 378
Teredo, 11
Terrestrial Molluscs, 334
Thaspium, 314
Torreya, 229
Trachydermon, 212, 383
Tricuspis, 206
Trifolium, 102
Trigonia, 154
Triopa, 59
Trochiscus, 258, 275
Trophon, 224
Tsuga, 232
Tungstate of Silver and Copper, 287
Turbinolia, 154, 158
Turbo, 175
Turbonilla, 186
Turritella, 154, 174, 216
Twelve Mile House, 352
Urolophus, 95
Vitality of a Snail, 328
Vitis, 233
Vitrina, 334, 384
Volcanoes, Active, 368
Volutharpa, 385
Vanessa, 123
Viola, 101
Virgularia, 120
Washingtonia, 399
Wellingtonia, 399
West Coast Helicoids, 331
Whisky Hill Minerals, 351
Wood’s Collections, 329
Xylotrya, 11
Yoldia, 189
Zirphæa, 299
Zua, 384
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