PROCEEDINGS OP THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. VOLUME III 1 863- 1 867. SAN FRANCISCO: PUBLISHED BY THE ACADEMY. 1 8 6 8 . I* A»v ^' The date of publication of each sheet will be found at the bottom, of page?. 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. 97-1 76, 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, No. II. Natural System of Volcanic Rocks, pp. 95, hofen, Dr. Phil. By Leo Lesqi/ereux. Bv F. Baron Richt- ROOMS OF THE ACADEMY, j 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 op Sciences," and invites all interested in the increase and spread of any branch of knowledge to join in its work. All gentle- men residing within one hundred and fifty miles of San Francisco are, by the new Constitution, eligible to resident membership, with all the privileges oi those in the city, including lice 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 he obtained free by addressing the Corresponding Secretary. Meetings are now held on the first ami third Mondays of each month, at the rooms of the A.cademy, 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. President Vice President, . . . Secretary, .'.... Corresponding S cretary, Treasurer, Librarian Director of the Museum t ? F F I C ERS James Blake, M.D., F. R. C. S., 206 Bush Street. James G. Cooper, M.D., 6-j2 Howard Street. Theodore Bradley, Principal Boys' High School. Henry X. Bolandek, Principal Cosmopolitan School Edward Boson, Publisher, 51*7 Clay Street. A. Kellogg, M.D., 622 Clay St., Academy's Booms. H. Bloomer, cor. Montgonmry and Jackson Streets. (Jew rn I Zoology, Oonchology, Radiata, Entomology, Geology, . . CURATORS. E. F. LoRQtrm, 522 Pine Street. W. G. W. Harford, (122 Clay Street. J. B. Trask, M.D., 206 Kearny Street. R. H. Stretch, Room 50, Montgomery Block. W. A. Goodyear, 615 Stockton Street. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY O F 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 dis- tribution 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 : 1 April, 1863. 1'eo. Cal. Acad., vol. hi. a 2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA The Report of the Treasurer was read, and referred to the Finance Committee. The Curator of Palaeontology reported, that the number of speci- mens 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 hi 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 pre- serving 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 instru- mentality of the Smithsonian Institution. The books are in good order ; but many of them need binding, and the want of room ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. o o 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. 0. 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 Palaeontology. A. Kellogg, M.D Botany. J. G. Cooper, M.D Zoology. J. B. Trask, M.D Conchology. H. Behr, M.D Entomology. 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 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 hun- dred 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 stipi- tate, 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. ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 5 Palese 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, cili- ate, one-third shorter than the lower. Ovary obovate, contracted near the truncated apex, sessile, smooth ; styles terminal, divergent ; stigmas plumose ; pilis fasciculate, minutely serrate ; squammulse 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 nar- row, 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 : 6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 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 Cen- sus 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,'' (I860), 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 examina- tion 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 arc better posted to give notice of the-e 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 d( cument which musl 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 produc- tions, 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 S19.4s7.790, 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 lie decided by comparison with returns known to be approxi- mately 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 lie 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 ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 7 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, allow- ing that 28,000 tuns were made direct in 18G0, the amount, per head, of all the iron made in that year would be (if) pounds, instead of 92, as Mr. Kennedy cal- culates* 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 Commis- sion 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 Keport, 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 refer- ence 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 lie 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 mis- lead and confuse those who resort to Government documents for information in ! d to our metallic and mineral productions. * 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. 8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 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 fric- tion 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 slid- ing friction is the greatest ; but experience shows, that the fric- tion is really greatest when the sliding and rolling motions are combined. ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 9 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 Ob- servations, 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 Ter- ritory. BY A. KELLOGG, M.D. Aplopappus Cass. A. Nevadensis Kellogg. [Fig. 1.] Suffrutescent, caudex branching, branches three to four inches in height, some- what ascending ; rigid, striate, scabrous throughout. Heads solitary and ter- minal, homochromous and many-flowered. Leaves alternate, crowded near the base, oblanceolate, very acute, quite eutire, 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 fim- briate, 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 com- pressed ; 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-subu- late, hispid, much exsert, erect-spreading. This plant was brought from Nevada Territory by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr. 10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA Fig. 1. Mir a bills 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 pentan- drous and deciduous. ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 11 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 con- trary, 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 ac- count of the methods adopted by the Geological Survey for compu- tation, 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. 12 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 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 vis- ited, 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 corres- ponding member. Donations to the Cabinet. By Mr. Rowlandson, specimen of the wool of the Alpacca and Vicuna, 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. Rdmond, containing descriptions of new fossils from California. ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 13 Description of two New Species of Bivalve Shells, from the Tertiaries of Contra Costa County. BY AUGUSTE REM0ND. Cardium Brug. C. Gabbii Remond. 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 ; sur- face even, with fine imbricated lines of growth. Hinge (of the left valve) com- paratively 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 discov- ered, 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 palsontological studies. This species occurs in shelly sands, together with Tapes regitlaris 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 Rernond. The description is from two lower valves, from the collections of Mr. l'Abbe 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. Liga- ment 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. 1 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 REMOND. Scutella Lam. S. Gibbsii Remond. Disk oblong-sub-oval, rounded before and truncated behind, posteriorly cob- vex above, slightly depressed in front ; inferior surface flat, somewhat concave about the mouth. Apex about midway between the center and posterior mar- 14 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA gin ; ambulacral star non-symmetrical ; petals unequal, open at their extremi- ties. Anterior petal straight, longer than the others ; the lateral ones nearly straight, diverging from the apex with an angle of about eighty degrees ; pos- terior 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, sub- marginal. Ambulacral furrows double, nearly symmetrical, slightly ramified. Each ambulacral and iuter-ambulacral space is occupied by two rows of irreg- ular 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 com- paratively 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 sub- marginal ; ambulacral furrows symmetrical, not much ramified. Inter-ambu- lacral 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, irregu- larly 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. Geol- ogist 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 scutella? were derived had not been discovered, so that the specimens obtained being imperfect, no complete description could be made ; ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 15 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 scutella? 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, Geologi- cal Report, plate IV, fig. 30 ; aud 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 NOTORHYNCHTJS : 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 Heptancbus, of which he considers Notorhynchus a synonym. In 1861, Mr. Gill refers it to Rafincsque's genus Heptranchias. (Annals of the Lye. 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 Notorhyxchus was proposed by Dr. Ayres under a misapprehension." My " misapprehen- sion " 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. Muller 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 Notorhyn- cus 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 Nis- qually, 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. 16 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 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 Jap- anese 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 resem- blance 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 palaeozoic 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 Pro- ceedings 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 min- erals noticed were : calcite, adularia. chalybite, in the form ot'JJos ferri, garnets, small crystals of pyroxene, crystals of mica, pectolite, and another zeolitic min- eral 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 Enrys, 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 ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 17 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. Ben- nett, 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.] 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, pedicillate; and with the long, nar- rowly lanceolate, acuminate, bractoid leaves aggregated into a somewhat dense, Q Mat, 1863. Pro. Cal. Acad., vol. hi. ^ 18 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA Fig. 2. Fig. 3. V. subsessile head. Calyx obconic, membrauaceously diaphanous at the base ; segments green, cup pris- matic (or pentangular) ; also with five prominent processes, or folds, at the clefts, the semi-lanced seg- ments 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 J ; obovate, emarginate. , '} ) J)^ A very diminutive species from the western slope ' \ of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, found by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr, yields a beautiful yellow dye, hence the specific name. The plant C. micrantha Kellogg. [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 subses- sile, three to seven-nerved ; upper leaves mostly alternate, all somewhat silky, viscid-pubescent. Flowers pedicillate, axillary and terminal in a condensed, sub- cymose head ; calyx lobes sub-equal, linear-lanceolate, often sub-spatulate, acute, ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 19 corneously mucronate, three-uerved, 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, com- pressed (?), 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 communica- tion from Professor Planchon, of South France, in regard to suita- ble 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 Nat- ural Sciences, for September, 1862. Journal of the Boston Nat- ural History Society, volume VII, Nos. 2 and 3. Dr. Kellogg read the following paper : 20 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA Description of a New Genus and Species of Plant from Ne- vada Territory. BY A. KELLOGG, M.D. Pterostephanus Kellogg. Involucre obconically-corupanulate ; 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). Re- ceptacle 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 erateriform 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 Mala- cothrix and Calycoseris, but with a plumose pappus. Fig. 4. ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 21 P. runcinatus Kellogg. [Fig. 4.] Acaulescent, several naked scapes, two to four inches high, sub-glabrous, (rarely a few scattering glandular hairs) ; leaves radical, runcinately piunatifid. 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 front San Mateo, and one from Marin County, collected and presented by Mr. Bolander. Dr. Cooper communicated the following description of a new California!! Mollusc, discovered by Rev. Joseph Rowell, at Marys- ville, in the waters of Feather River. Gundlachia Pfeiffer. G. Californica Rowell. [Fig. 5.] Shell with the aperture sub-oval, obliquely expanded towards the left, posteriorly rouaded, and wider anteriorly. Internal shelf reach- ing 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, as an obtuse angle. Struc- ture corneous, with strong concentric lines of growth, and faint radi- ating strire. 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-hundred ths, Fig. 5. f and height six one-huudredtbs of an English inch. •22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 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 kuown 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 fun- nel, which in some of our specimens is still shown by the white semicircular ring. The shell much resembles that of the marine Crypta (Crcpidula), 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 •Taponicus 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. Classifi- cation 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 col- ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 23 lecting, 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 com- menced : 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 gee- ' logical 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. Remond served as volunteer, in the field work, during the season of 1862. Mr. W. M. Gabb took the place of Palaeontologist 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 Feb- ruary last, as Clerk, Commissary, and Barometrical Observer. Dr. J. G. Cooper has been in charge of the department of Zoology, and has been em- ployed, 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 com- bined 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 oper- ations : the first was, to make, as rapidly as could be done, a reconnoissance of 24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 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 com- plete a geueral idea as possible of their range and extent, so that a foundation might be laid for the detailed work which would follow the preliminary exam- ination ; 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 com- pletion. 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 an- nual 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-fifteeuths may be called mountain- ous, as the valleys include but a small portion of its surface. Into this mount- ainous 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 ACADEMY OP NATURAL SCIENCES. 25 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 Eanges, 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 deter- mined 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 baro- metrical 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 t6 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 Coun- ties, 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 26 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA the range between Mariposa and Shasta Counties. Our observations have also been extended to the Washoe Region, and we have received considerable collec- tions 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 1 80°) 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 fos- sil 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 struc- ture 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 litholog- ical 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 abuudauce, and the facilities which may exist in each separate district for making them economically available must, after the prelim- inary 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 huudred 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 fool- ish expenditures of time and money in searching for what our general geologi- cal 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 char- acter of a geological reconnoissance than of a detailed survey. Already, however, during the progress of our work, a large amount of inform- ation has been collected in reo-ard 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 ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 27 important branch of the industry of the Pacific Coast. Considerable work has been done, preliminary to a full report on the geology, mineralogy, and metal- lurgy 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 fif- teen thousand in number, and embracing probably half of all the species de- scribed from the State, besides many new and undescribed ones. The collect- ions have been made by Professor Brewer while engaged in geological explora- tions, 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 corres- pondence entered into to obtain all possible information on this subject from other regions whose climates are similar to our own. In the zoological 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. * O W O H O ■— n a — a "> no w O -o° ff- cs l"*s Class. mber of ies in the ection . . . . which t re new to fornia . . . . ieved t o ie\v, or u cribed . . . re — ■ o 5* SB which t re found tie Mississ : 9 2 • To • B : «-c ■ ?