Chapter XVIII: Part 1: , 8vo., New Haven, 1866. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural (3)

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.