Chapter XIX: Part 1: , 8vo., New Haven, 1866. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural (4)

It is evident, from a comparison of the mineral lists of the
States situated along the Pacific Coast of North and South
America, that there has been a most remarkable resemblance
in the conditions which have influenced the formation and
segregation of the accidental minerals now found accompanying
the stratified and eruptive masses throughout the whole vast
extent of the regions in question. This is another of the facts
which go to show the unity of the Cordilleras of North and
South America as a geological result.

Mr. Bolander stated that the absence of many mineral species from this coast found its parallel in a similar absence of many botanical groups.

Dr. Cooper did not think there was any poverty with respect to animal species on this coast, and suggested that the absence of certain groups of plants might be due to the absence of certain appropriate mineral constituents from the soil.

Dr. Behr thought that the Californian lepidoptera more nearly conformed to European and Mexican types than to those of the Eastern States.

REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 18TH, 1867.

President in the chair.

Twenty-six members present.

Messrs. R. H. Stretch and Gustav Holland, M.D., were elected Resident Members, and Mr. L. C. Schmidt of Eureka, Humboldt County, a Corresponding Member.

Donations to the Cabinet: A specimen of Coral from Mr. Eckley.

Donation to the Library: Mining Claims and Water Rights, 8vo, San Francisco, 1867, by Gregory Yale.

Professor Whitney read the following communication, supplementary to the one presented at the previous meeting.

The subject of the relation of the accidental minerals
occurring on the Pacific coast was brought forward by me at the
last meeting, and I wish now to add a few words in regard to
the elementary substances occurring in California, an inquiry
which will also afford us some interesting data for comparing
the geological and chemical conditions prevailing through the
great chain of the Cordilleras of North and South America.

I find on carefully tabulating the facts observed by the
Geological Survey, in regard to the mineral combinations
existing on the coast, that of the sixty-four elementary
substances existing in nature, so far as yet known to chemists,
there are only thirty-six which have been proven to occur in
California, in mineral combinations.

Those which are wanting here are the following: bromine,
glucinum, cadmium, cæsium, cerium, didymium, erbium, fluorine,
iodine, indium, lanthanum, lithium, niobium, norium, palladium,
ruthenium, rubidium, strontium, tantalum, terbium, thallium,
thorium, uranium, vanadium, bismuth, tungsten, yttrium,
zirconium (28.)

Of elementary substances occurring in the adjacent States,
and not yet detected in California, there are, so far as I
know, only three, namely: bismuth, fluorine and tungsten.
This would make twenty-three elements wanting on the Pacific
Coast of North America. Of these a few are extremely rare, in
general, and would hardly be expected to occur here. Among
these are didymium, erbium, indium, lanthanum, norium, thorium.
But there are others, the absence of which is indeed quite
surprising. Fluorine, for instance, is an element of extremely
wide distribution, and one which occurs in great quantity in
most mineral countries. Here it will probably hereafter be
detected in our micas, and perhaps in other combinations, and
also in mineral and sea water; but its most abundant source,
fluor-spar, seems entirely wanting in this State.

Bismuth is another element of common occurrence in various
combinations, but it has not yet been detected in California.
A few minute scales of a mineral that I determined to be
bismuth-silver, from the Twin Ophir mine, Nevada, is the only
authentic instance I know of thus far, of the occurrence of
this element on the Pacific coast. Tungsten, uranium and
vanadium, are tolerably widely disseminated; the latter,
however, less so than the former. No trace of either has
yet been found on this coast north of Mexico; of strontium,
zirconium, and glucinum, the same may be said. If we now
compare the distribution of the elements in the South American
Andes with that on this coast, we shall find some striking
points of resemblance; and to a large extent, either the
absence, or else the great rarity of several of the elementary
substances not seen in other mineral regions, is a fact which
holds good along the whole extent of the American Continent on
the Pacific side. Fluorine, in combination with calcium, is
almost as rare in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, as on this coast.
Indeed, it was formerly supposed by Domeyko not to occur at
all in Chile, but recently one or two localities, where it is
found in small quantity, have been made known. Tungsten occurs
in Peru at one locality in the form of wolfram, and in Chile
in one or two localities, also in Lower California, but its
combinations are extremely rare along the whole coast. The same
may be said of uranium. Strontium and zirconium have not yet
been discovered in Chile or Peru, although the former occurs
in one locality in New Grenada, and glucinum has only recently
been found in Chile in very minute quantity in one locality. No
combination of lithium is yet known on the Pacific coast.

Among the leading facts connected with the occurrence of
mineral substances and the elementary bodies on the Pacific
coast, and especially in the Cordilleras of North and South
America, the following may be mentioned as generally applicable
to the whole of the vast region extending from British Columbia
to Chile:

1st. The paucity of species considering the extent of the
region as compared with other parts of the world, and
especially with other mineral regions.

2d. The remarkable absence of the prominent silicates, and
especially of the zeolites.

3d. The absence of a large number of the elementary substances,
and the paucity of several others of very common occurrence in
other mineral regions.

4th. The very wide spread and abundant occurrence of the
precious metals, gold and silver, and the not uncommon
occurrence of platina.

5th. The great abundance of ores of copper, and the comparative
absence of tin, lead, and zinc.

6th. The similarity in the mineralized condition of the
silver—antimony and chlorine being prominent mineralizers of
this metal—while in Chile the rarer combinations of iodine,
bromine, and selenium occur, these latter being as yet unknown
north of Mexico.

7th. The absence or paucity as veinstone, or gangue, of one
of the most prominent minerals occurring as such in other
mineral regions, namely, fluor; to which it may be added, that
both calcite and barytes are extremely rare as veinstones in
California, and to judge from all the Mexican and Chilean
collections that I have seen, well crystallized specimens are
very rare in those countries.

8th. There is no elementary substance, and but few mineral
species peculiar to the Pacific coast, so far as yet
ascertained.

Professor Whitney remarked on the depression of Death Valley, the sink of the Amargosa River, below the level of the sea. Recently it has been repeatedly stated in the newspapers that no such depression really existed, and that, in point of fact, the valley in question was several thousand feet above the sea level, Mr. Gabb being cited as authority.

The valley visited by Mr. Gabb, however, was not, it appears, the real Death Valley, but one to which that name was given by an explorer by mistake. The true Death Valley is the sink of the Amargosa, while the one visited by Mr. Gabb is near the head of that river. The barometrical observations on which the statement of the depression of the real Death Valley is based were taken, in 1861, by a party of the California Boundary Survey. The observations were made with a barometer, which was compared before and after being used, with a standard, by Colonel R. S. Williamson, by whom also the computations and reductions of the observations were made; there was also a station barometer at the time on the Colorado, at no great distance, and this instrument was in good order. Thus it will be seen that the conditions were, in most respects, exceptionably favorable for a correct measure of the altitude of the valley, and it may be safely assumed that its depression below the sea level is not far from one hundred and seventy-five feet, as stated on Colonel Williamson’s authority, in the Geology of California, Vol. I. To secure a more reliable result, it would be necessary to have a long series of observations taken there with a well-adjusted instrument, and it would be desirable also to have a station barometer on the Colorado, or at some other not too distant point. It will probably be a long time before these favorable conditions are secured; and, in the meantime, Col. Williamson’s result must be received as a close approximation to the actual amount of the depression of this very remarkable locality.

Mr. Bolander, referring to a previous enumeration of pine species in California, submitted by him, stated that he must now reduce the number of true species by one, leaving the total at only fifteen. He also remarked upon the species of fir in this State, enumerating four only as being strongly marked. He showed the leaves and seeds of two species, and commented upon the mistake of Murray in asserting that there is a fifth species, which he calls _Picea magnifica_, but which is really _Picea amabilis_. Mr. Bolander thought the tendency to multiply species erroneously was attributable to a desire to make a market for seeds, those of new species being always in demand at good prices.

SPECIAL MEETING, NOVEMBER 27th, 1867.

President in the Chair.

This meeting was called for the purpose of hearing from Mr. George Davidson, Assistant U. S. Coast Survey, an account of his recent trip to Alaska, at the head of a party organized by Professor Peirce, Superintendent U. S. Coast Survey, to make a partial scientific reconnoissance of that region. Mr. Davidson gave an interesting account of the operations of the party, and a synopsis of their observations. These will be found at length in his official report, to be printed by order of Congress.

At the conclusion of Mr. Davidson’s remarks, the Academy passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Davidson and Professor Peirce, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, for the opportunity which had thus been afforded of hearing the results of an expedition of so much interest to the scientific world.

Dr. Kellogg, who accompanied the party as botanist, added some remarks on the Flora of the northwestern coast of America.

REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 2D, 1867.

President in the Chair.

Thirty-five members present.

Messrs. S. W. Holladay, Henry R. Goddard, and Henry K. Moore, were elected resident members.

Donations to the Library: Bulletin de la Société Imperial des Naturalistes de Moscow, 8vo., Moscow, 1866.

Professor Silliman read the following notices:

Note on three new Localities of Tellurium Minerals in California, and on some Mineralogical Features of the Mother Vein.

BY B. SILLIMAN.

(_a._) TELLURIUM MINERALS.—It is well known to mineralogists
and others that in the Melones Mine, on Carson Hill, there
occurs, in considerable abundance, a tellurium compound which
has been called Sylvanite by some mineralogists, but apparently
without sufficient authority. It occurs in one of the veins
on the Melones property, associated with Dolomite and quartz,
in what appears to be a gneissic rock; but the mine being
under water I am dependent on the specimens kindly furnished
me by the intelligent proprietor, Mr. G. K. STEVENOT, for my
knowledge of the gangue.

At the “Golden Rule” Mine, on the mother lode near Poverty
Hill, in Tuolumne County, I detected in August last the same
tellurium minerals which are found at Carson Hill in the
Melones. The veinstone here is an argillite, with thread-like
veins of quartz crossing the cleavages of the slate, and in
these _filons_ of quartz gold is seen in beautiful specimens.
It was in this association that I detected two or three small
groups of brilliant crystalline plates, identical in appearance
and physical characters with the Melones mineral, which
has been called Sylvanite, and affording the same blowpipe
reactions.

At the Rawhide Rancho, a mine near Jamestown, on the mother
lode, of which I have had occasion to make a careful study,
there occurs a deposit or shoot of very rich sulphides
containing copper, antimony, iron, arsenic, with gold, silver
and tellurium. This ore has in general a bronzy, blackish
appearance; shows often free gold in scales of a blackish
yellow color, and appears to be a kind of fahlerz, or
gray-copper ore, the value of which in silver and gold rises
to one thousand dollars per ton, (2,000 lbs.) or even higher.
Associated with this ore are brilliant sectile, flexible scales
of the same tellurium compound which occurs at Stanislaus and
Golden Rule, but in the Rawhide Mine intimately blended with
the blackish sulphides before-named—occasionally in nests
or small bunches with metallic gold. The blowpipe readily
detects in this ore antimony, arsenic, tellurium, copper,
iron, manganese, lime, magnesia, chromium, aluminum, gold and
silver. It is only in portions containing dolomite and the
peculiar greenish mineral, so characteristic of the mother
lode, that lime, magnesia, alumina, and chromium are detected.
In portions of the fahlerz-like mineral which appear nearly
pure, the blowpipe detects only antimony, arsenic, copper,
iron, and manganese.

Having transmitted characteristic specimens of these ores,
with other interesting California species, to Professors Dana
and Brush, at New Haven, these mineralogists inform me, by
letter just received, that the tellurids above-named appear
to be referable to a new species hitherto undescribed, and
Prof. Brush proposes to undertake an analysis of it upon the
specimens transmitted by me, which are barely sufficient for
the purpose. It is a tellurid of silver and gold, containing
more silver than gold. Associated with it is a white cleavable
mineral which Prof. Brush thinks may prove to be native
tellurium; this is in the Melones and Golden Rule specimens.

_Hessite._ I obtained from the Reist Mine, on the northeasterly
end of Whisky Hill, Tuolumne County, a very small crystal
corresponding in its physical characters to the extremely rare
telluric silver, known to mineralogists as _Hessite_. It occurs
in the auriferous slates to the east of the main vein; the
slates being opened here for a width of seventy-five feet as
an open cut. My attention was called to the existence of this
species at the Reist Mine by Mr. D. T. Hughes, of Tuolumne
County, who informed me that there was an interesting mineral
species there containing, as he believed, tellurium, and that
masses of it, half an ounce in weight, had been obtained some
years since. Unfortunately these specimens fell into ignorant
hands, and were destroyed in idle attempts to determine the
nature of the substance. On visiting the locality, which is
within one mile of the Rawhide Rancho, and on the opposite side
of Table Mountain, I found that the proprietor was exploring
in a different part of the open cut from that where this
species was found, the place being under water. Fortunately
in a collection of minerals from Whisky Hill, formed by Mr.
Williams, one of the proprietors, and preserved in his house
there, I was able to detect one small mass of the Hessite which
Mr. Williams divided with me. This Mr. Hughes recognized as
identical with the larger masses he had obtained at this mine
some years since.

Prof. Bush, in his letter to Prof. Silliman, of October 29th,
recognizes this species as Hessite. The specimen was associated
with native gold which had been amalgamated and heated, but the
constitution of the Hessite did not seem to be affected thereby.

“_Tellurid of Silver_” is mentioned by Blake, in his list of
California species, as found by him near Georgetown, in El
Dorado County, in 1854, washed from the gold drift, but the
parent vein had never been found.—Ross Browne’s Report, 1867,
p. 209.

It appears therefore, from the present state of our knowledge,
that a compound of gold and silver tellurium belonging probably
to a new species has been detected in three localities upon
the mother vein, and associated with it in two of these,
probably also native tellurium; and that Hessite (the tellurid
of silver) has been found in place in one locality and in
the drift in another. I have also detected the foliated
tellurium in extremely minute quantity in one of the mines
at Angels, and I mentioned in a publication, in 1864, its
probable occurrence among the ores of the Josephine and Pine
Tree Mines of Mariposa. A careful scrutiny will probably
detect those compounds of tellurium at other points when the
mother vein is opened, as at Blue Gulch, Quartz Mountain, and
Whisky Hill. I have already recognized the blackish antimonial
copper sulphides at the App Mine and Silver’s Mine, and in the
croppings on the surface of Whisky Hill. Indeed it may not
be too much to state that these ores appear to be somewhat
characteristic of those portions of the mother vein occurring
south of Angels, and especially wherever it is inclosed in
magnesian rocks.

Genth has named a species _Melonite_, from Melones Mine, which
he says is a tellurid of nickel. I have not been able to
recognize this compound among those ores of the Melones, which
I have seen.

(_b._) SOME MINERALOGICAL FEATURES OF THE MOTHER VEIN.—From the
opportunity I have had of studying the mother vein, I arrive at
the general conclusion that its mineralogical characteristics
vary greatly with the chemical constitution of the rocks which
inclose it. Wherever the serpentine or talcose and calcareous
rocks from the inclosing walls, or are near it, the mineral
contents of the vein are essentially different from those
observed where the inclosing rocks are argillites, or syenites
and diorites.

These we find at Mariposa, in the Josephine and Pine Tree
Mines, at Peñon Blanco, Maxwell Creek, Blue Gulch, Quartz
Mountain, Silver’s, Whisky Hill, Rawhide, Chapavele Hill,
Carson Hill, Angels, and Placerville—at all which places I have
examined the mother lode with more or less care—a peculiar
light apple-green mineral, occurring in scales, associated with
iron pyrites in small and brilliant pentagonal dodecahedrons
and implanted in a gangue of dolomite mingled with quartz.
The dolomite is of the variety known as ankerite, and by its
decomposition, which seems hastened by the oxidation of the
associated pyrites, gives origin to those highly characteristic
masses of brown and reddish-yellow iron gossan which form the
characteristic feature of the outcroppings of those portions of
the mother vein just enumerated. These gossans always retain
the bright green mineral before alluded to unchanged, as also
cellular quartz which discloses in its rhombic cavities the
form of the decomposed crystals of dolomite or ankerite whose
removal has left the vacant spaces. Before decomposition this
triple carbonate of lime, magnesia, and iron is brilliantly
white, and its real chemical character would never be suspected.

The green mineral, so far as I can ascertain, has never been
described, although it has often been noticed. It has been
called by some, _nickel gymnite_, and I have once distinguished
it by this name in a mining report. But this is a misnomer
which I take this occasion to correct; nickel gymnite of Genth,
found at Texas, Penna., is a hydrous silicate of magnesia,
lime, and nickel. The species so characteristic of certain
portions of the mother vein is anhydrous, and contains no
nickel.

MARIPOSITE (Provisional Name). Before the blowpipe it yields
evidence of the presence of the protoxides of iron, lime,
magnesia, and potassium; of the sesquioxides of chromium and
aluminum with carbonic, silicic, and sulphuric acids. The
oxide of manganese and sulphuric acid exist only as traces.
The mineral is probably new, and must be referred to the
mica section of an hydrous silicate. Should it, on a careful
chemical examination, prove to be new, I would suggest the name
_Mariposite_ as an appropriate name for it, as it was on the
Mariposa estate that it first attracted my attention, and where
it exists in great abundance.

This species which is so characteristic of the mother vein, in
connection with magnesian or chloritic rocks, occurs nowhere
so far as I have observed in this vein when it is inclosed in
argillites or syenites.

Of sulphides occurring in the mother lode there are two classes
which deserve special mention, beside the ordinarily occurring
pyrites of iron and copper.

These are the (1) antimonial copper sulphides, and the (2)
antimonial lead sulphides; both are arsenical and are rich in
both gold and silver.

To the first class allusion has already been made in the former
part of this paper. Besides the Rawhide Mine, they are found
in most of the openings on Whisky Hill, in Tuolumne County, in
the Silver, App and Josephine, and Pine Tree Mines. The lively
stains of blue malachite, seen at Williams’ Mine, on Whisky
Hill, and occasionally elsewhere, are derived from atmospheric
decomposition of the antimonial copper sulphides. The blowpipe
detects the presence of iron, antimony, arsenic, copper,
sulphur, tellurium (in certain cases) sulphur, gold and silver.
The vein is so abundant as to give to the raw ore, in some
cases, magnetic properties; and the button from the blowpipe
assay becomes strongly magnetic.

The antimonial lead sulphides occur in considerable abundance
at the Trio Claims, on Whisky Hill. The appearance of this ore
recalls that of granular galena. The gold and silver value of
this ore is very high, but no portion of it can be saved by
the ordinary mechanical treatment with mercury. The blowpipe
detects the presence of antimony, lead, iron, arsenic, sulphur,
gold and silver. There is no trace of copper, and the quantity
of arsenic present is slight. The ore is therefore essentially
an antimonial lead sulphide, rich in gold and silver.

There is good reason to believe, that as this remarkable vein
becomes more thoroughly explored, it will disclose other new or
rare compounds containing gold, and that these already noticed
will be found to be more widely diffused when proper care is
applied to the study of the mineralogy of the lode.

In Amador County the mother lode is found in connection with
argillaceous slates and syenite. Thus at the Eureka Mine, of
Hayward, known as the Amador Mining Co., the vein has a soft,
black slate for its foot wall and a heavy, firm syenite or
greenstone (called _granite_ by the miners) for the hanging
wall. The mineralogy of the vein is extremely simple, being
in fact nothing more than iron and copper sulphurets, chiefly
the former, with rarely galena or blende. I sought in vain
for any of the species mentioned in the former part of this
paper. There are no magnesian minerals, and the _Mariposite_
is entirely absent. The other mines of that range, as far
as I examined them, all partake of the same simplicity in
mineralogical character. There can be but little doubt, as it
appears to me, that the inclosing rocks in each case exercise
an important influence on the mineral contents of the vein.

SAN FRANCISCO, December 2d, 1867.

Mr. Stearns read the following:

List of Shells collected at Bodega Bay, California, June, 1867.

BY ROBERT E. C. STEARNS.

In pursuance of the idea mentioned in my paper on the shells
of Baulines Bay, of examining the bays and coast to the north
of San Francisco, I made a brief trip to Bodega Bay in company
with my friend Dr. Newcomb, on the thirteenth of June, 1867.
Most of the species enumerated were collected within a very
limited area, between tide marks, at the extreme point of
Bodega Head, as the arm of land is called, which extending
in a southerly direction from the general line of the coast,
incloses what is known as Bodega Bay. The bay itself is, for
the greater part, left bare at low tide, and the flats then
exposed, composed of sandy mud, contain abundance of the common
bivalves of the coast, principally _Macoma_, (two species)
and _Tapes_, in all its varieties: _Saxidomus gracilis_ may
also be found here in considerable quantities, and is at
certain seasons dug by the Indians, together with the other
so called “clams.” At the spot where the principal portion of
this collection was made, the outcropping rock is a coarse
granite, upon which _Litorina planaxis_ is found in great
numbers. The limited time at my disposal, at the season when
the trip was made, was only sufficient to admit of a brief,
and therefore unsatisfactory reconnoissance; nevertheless, at
least seventeen species were detected which have not heretofore
been found (or reported) so far to the north. Many of these
species I failed to find at Baulines, and some of them have
not been reported north of the Bay of Monterey. At Baulines,
the rocks are principally shales, and contain many species of
pholads, which as will be seen by a glance at this list, if not
entirely absent, must be rare at Bodega; the various “nestlers”
which are found associated with the borers are also wanting;
_Haliotis rufescens_ is abundant upon the rocky islets off the
coast, but not even a fragment of _H. Cracherodii_ was met with.

1. Cryptomya Californica, Conr.
2. Schizothærus Nuttalli, Conr.
3. Entodesma saxicola, Baird.
4. Mytilimeria Nuttalli, Conr.
5. Machæra patula, Dixon.
6. Macoma secta, Conr.*
7. —— nasuta, Conr.
8. Tellina Bodegensis, Hds.
9. Tapes staminea, Conr.‡
10. —— —— var. Petitii, Desh.‡
11. —— —— var. ruderata, Desh.‡
12. —— —— var. diversa, Sby.‡
13. Saxidomus gracilis, Gould.*
14. Chama exogyra, Conr.*
15. Cardium corbis, Mart.
16. Lazaria sub-quadrata, Cpr.
17. Kellia Laperousii, Desh.
18. Lasea rubra, Mont.
19. Mytilus Californianus, Conr.
20. —— edulis, Linn.
21. Modiola fornicata, Cpr.*
22. —— recta, Cour.*
23. Axinœa subobsoleta, Cpr.
24. Pecten hastatus, Sby.
25. Hinnites giganteus, Gray.
26. Placunanomia machrochisma, Desh.
27. Helix Nickliniana, Lea.
28. —— Columbiana, Lea.
29. Cryptochiton Stelleri, Midd.
30. Tonicia lineata, Wood.
31. Mopalia Wossnessenskii, Midd.
32. —— Merckii, Midd.
33. Kennerlyi var. Swanii, Cpr.
34. Trachydermon fallax, Cpr. (Mss.)
35. Nacella instabilis, Gould.
36. Acmæa patina, Esch.
37. —— pelta, Esch.
38. —— persona, Esch.
39. —— scabra, Nutt.*
40. —— spectrum, Nutt.
41. Scurria mitra, Esch.
42. Rowellia radiata, Cp.*
43. Glyphis aspera, Esch.
44. Clypidella callomarginata, Cpr.*
45. —— bimaculata, Dall, (Mss.)*
46. Haliotis rufescens, Swains.*
47. Leptothyra sanguinea, Cpr.
48. Chlorostoma funebrale, A. Ad.
49. —— brunneum, Phil.
50. Calliostoma costatum, Mart.
51. —— annulatum, Mart.
52. Phorcus pulligo, Mart.
53. Margarita pupilla, Gould.
54. —— acuticostata, Cpr.*
55. Crepidula adunca, Sby.
56. Hipponyx cranioides, Cpr.
57. —— antiquatus, Linn.*
58. Bivonia compacta, Cpr.
59. Bittium filosum, Gould.
60. Littorina planaxis, Nutt.
61. —— scutulata, Gould.
62. Lacuna porrecta, Cpr.
63. Trivia Californiana, Gray.*
64. Erato vitellina, Hds.*
65. Drillia incisa, Cpr.
66. Mangelia levidensis, Cpr.†
67. Odostomia gravida, Gould.*
68. Scalaria subcoronata, Cpr.*
69. Opalia borealis, Gould.
70. Velutina lævigata, Linn.
71. Lunatia Lewisii, Gould.
72. Olivella biplicata, Sby.
73. —— bœtica, Cpr.
74. —— intorta, Cpr.*
75. Nassa fossata, Gould.
76. —— mendica, Gould.
77. Amycla carinata var. Hindsii, Rve.
78. —— gausapata, Gould.
79. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.
80. Purpura crispata, Chem.
81. —— canaliculata, Duel.
82. —— saxicola var. ostrina, Gld.
83. Ocinebra lurida, Midd.
84. —— —— var. aspera, Baird.
85. —— interfossa, Cpr.
86. —— —— var. atropurpurea, Cpr.
87. Cerostoma foliatum, Gmel.

* The species marked with an asterisk, seventeen in number,
have never before been reported from a locality so far north.

† Mangelia levidensis (teste J. G. Cooper) has not previously
been detected at a point so far south; it has heretofore been
credited to “Straits of Fuca, W. T.” _vide_ Geo. Survey Cat.
1867, by J. G. C.

‡ Tapes staminea and vars. were obtained at low water by
digging from twelve to twenty inches deep, and together with
Macoma secta and M. nasuta, were found in the same holes.

The Chitons above enumerated, have been compared with specimens
recently (March, 1868) received labeled, from Dr. Carpenter of
Montreal.

No. 39, Acmæa scabra; elevated dark colored specimens of this
species with the characteristic sculpture sharply and well
defined, were obtained in considerable numbers. Subsequently
at Monterey I found occasional specimens displaying nearly the
same elevation and of the same color as those from Bodega.

Shells collected by the U. S. Coast Survey Expedition to Alaska, in the year 1867.

BY ROBERT E. C. STEARNS.

George Davidson, Esq., connected with the Coast Survey service
of the United States, who commanded the scientific department
of the Alaska Expedition, very kindly tendered positions on his
staff to the following members of the Academy: Dr. A. Kellogg,
as Surgeon and Botanist; Theodore A. Blake, as Geologist; and
W. G. W. Harford, as General Collector, by whom the species
here enumerated were collected. My acknowledgments are due
to Dr. J. G. Cooper, of San Francisco, for assistance in
determining species; also to Dr. William Stimpson of Chicago,
for similar service in reference to the Buccinidæ.

1. Saxicava pholadis, Linn. var. arctica; Sitka, Bella Bella,
Kodiak, Ounalaska.
2. Mya arenaria, Linn.; Kodiak.
3. Schizothærus Nuttalli, Conr.; Sitka, Kodiak.
4. Machæra patula, Dixon; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
5. Macoma nasuta, Conr.; Kodiak.
6. Macoma inquinata, Desh.; Fort Simpson, Bella Bella, Kodiak,
Spruce Isl.
7. Macoma inconspicua, Br. & Sby.; Fort Simpson, Chilchat,
Kodiak, Spruce Isl.
8. Mera salmonea, Cpr.; Kodiak.
9. Standella planulata, Conr.; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
10. Tapes staminea, var. Petitii, Desh.; Fort Simpson, Chatham Sound.
11. Tapes staminea, var. ruderata, Desh.; Fort Simpson, Carter’s Bay,
Sitka, Bella Bella, Kodiak, Spruce Isl., Ounalaska.
12. Saxidomus Nuttalli, Conr.; Ft. Simpson, Sitka, Carter’s Bay,
Kodiak.
13. Cardium corbis, Mart.; Sitka, Bella Bella, Carter’s Bay, Kodiak.
14. Cardium blandum, Gould; Sitka, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
15. Serripes Grœnlandicus, Chem.; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
16. Kellia Laperousii, Desh.; Ounalaska.
17. Lasea rubra, Mont.; Sitka.
18. Mytilus edulis, Linn.; Ft. Simpson, Carter’s Bay, Bella Bella,
Sitka, Kodiak, Spruce Isl.
19. Modiola modiolus, Linn.; Sitka, Ounalaska.
20. Modiolaria lævigata, Gray; Ounalaska.
21. Axinæa septentrionalis, Midd.; Bella Bella.
22. Yoldia, n. s.?; Stomach of Halibut, Kodiak.
23. Acila castrensis, Hinds; Sitka.
24. Placunanomia macroschisma, Desh.; Kodiak, Ounalaska.
25. Helix Columbiana, Lea.; Sitka, Chilchat River, 59° 9´ N.
26. Helix Vancouverensis, Lea.; Sitka, V. Island.
27. Helix ruderata, Stud.; Ounalaska.
28. Helix fulva, Drap.; Sitka, Ounalaska.
29. Vitrina pellucida, Müll.?; Ounalaska.
30. Zua lubrica, Müll.; Sitka, Kodiak.
31. Siphonaria thersites, Cpr.; Fort Simpson.
32. Katherina tunicata, Wood; Sitka.
33. Tonicia lineata, Wood; Fort Simpson.
34. Tonicia submarmorea, Midd.; Fort Simpson.
35. Mopalia muscosa, Gould; Vancouver Island.
36. Mopalia Wossnessenskii, Midd.; Fort Simpson.
37. Mopalia Merckii, Midd.; Fort Simpson.
38. Acmæa patina, Esch.; Fort Simpson, Kodiak, Ounalaska, Sitka.
39. Acmæa pelta, Esch.; Sitka, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
40. Scurria mitra, Esch.; Sitka.
41. Glyphis aspera, Esch.; Sitka.
42. Haliotis Kamschatkana, Jonas; Sitka.
43. Calliostoma costatum, Mart.; Sitka.
44. Margarita pupilla, Gould; Ft. Simpson, Bella Bella, Sitka,
Ounalaska.
45. Margarita helicina, Mont.; Ounalaska.
46. Phorcus pulligo, Mart.; Sitka.
47. Crepidula navicelloides, Nutt.; Bella Bella.
48. Crepidula grandis, Midd.; Captain’s Harbor, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
49. Bittium filosum, Gould; Ft. Simpson, Carter’s Bay, Bella Bella,
Sitka.
50. Littorina scutulata, Gould; Sitka.
51. Littorina Sitkana, Phil.; Chatham S’nd, Carter’s Bay, Bella
Bella, Sitka, Kodiak.
52. Lacuna solidula, Loven.; Ounalaska.
53. Isapis fenestrata, Cpr.; Ounalaska.
54. Trichotropis cancellata, Hds.; Fort Simpson, Sitka.
55. Natica clausa, Brod. & Shy.; Ft. Simpson, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
56. Lunatia pallida, Brod. & Sby.; Captain’s Harbor, Ounalaska.
57. Priene Oregonensis, Redf.; Ounalaska.
58. Olivella bœtica, Cpr.; Sitka.
59. Nassa mendica, Gould; Sitka.
60. Amycla gausapata, Gould; Ft. Simpson.
61. Amphissa corrugata, Rve.; Ft. Simpson, Carter’s Bay.
62. Purpura crispata, Chem.; Fort Simpson, Bella Bella, Lawson’s
Harbor, Carter’s Bay, Sitka.
63. Purpura canaliculata, Duel.; Chatham Sound, Carter’s Bay, Bella
Bella, Sitka, Kodiak, Spruce Isl., Ounalaska.
64. Purpura saxicola, Val.; Ounalaska.
65. Purpura saxicola var. fuscata, Fbs.; Fort Simpson, Carter’s Bay,
Bella Bella, Sitka.
66. Ocinebra interfossa, Cpr.; Carter’s Bay, Bella Bella, Sitka.
67. Cerastoma foliatum, Gmel.; Bella Bella, Sitka.
68. Trophon multicostatus, Esch.; Ounalaska.
69. Trophon orpheus, Gould; Sitka.
70. Chrysodomus dirus, Rve.; Chatham Sound, Ft. Simpson, Carter’s
Bay, Bella Bella, Sitka.
71. Chrysodomus liratus, Mart.; Chilchat, Kodiak, Ounalaska.
72. Buccinum glaciale, Linn.; Ounalaska.
73. Buccinum polare, Gray; Captain’s Harbor, Ounalaska.
74. [36]Buccinum cyancum, Brug.; Kodiak.
75. Volutharpa ampullacea, Midd.; Fort Simpson, Bella Bella, Sitka,
Kodiak, Ounalaska.

[36] In a note from Dr. Stimpson, he remarks in reference to
this species: it “has not, as far as I am aware, as yet been
reported from the Pacific.”

Mr. Bolander presented a paper by Mr. Lesquereux, entitled “A Catalogue of the species of Mosses found up to the present time on the Northwest coast of the United States of America, and especially in California,” which was referred to the Publication Committee and ordered printed in the Memoirs of the Academy.

Professor Whitney exhibited several of the maps in preparation at the office of the State Geological Survey, and gave a somewhat detailed account of the operation of the survey during the year 1866 and 1867, and of the progress in the publication department of that work. The statement made was in the main identical with that contained in the biennial letter of the State Geologist to the Governor, published by order of the Legislature then in session.

Dr. H. Gibbons exhibited a piece of pork erroneously supposed to contain trichinæ; he believed the entozoa in question were really _Cysticerci_. They have the appearance of soaked peas, and are not injurious when cooked.

Mr. R. L. Harris mentioned the fact that the railroad surveys conducted by himself, for connecting Vallejo and Sacramento, indicated that the latter place was not so much above the sea level as had generally been assumed from barometrical observations, and he believed that the top of the present levee at Sacramento was about twenty-one feet above mean high tide at Vallejo, instead of fifty-six, as previously supposed. If this was true, then the lowlands in the vicinity of Sacramento were in fact, only about one and a half feet above the sea level. The surveys of the coming season would probably enable him to fix this important point with accuracy.

Dr. Gibbons suggested that if the Tule lands in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys were permitted to undergo the natural processes of growth and decay, instead of being annually burned over, the land in question might in time become sufficiently elevated to be inhabited.

Mr. Goodale, who had recently visited Russian America, exhibited a number of implements and weapons of the natives of that region, and gave an account of their use. He also remarked on some of the topographical and geological features of that country.

REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 16TH, 1867.

Vice President Ransom in the Chair.

Thirty-seven members present.

The following gentlemen were elected Resident Members: Messrs. William Hamel, P. B. Cornwall, Horace D. Dunn and W. B. Rising.

Donations to the Cabinet: seven specimens of ores from Gregory Yale, Esq., also, a series of samples in bottles, illustrating the chlorination process of extracting gold from the sulphurets, by the same.

Mr. Goodyear read the following paper:

Salt Spring Valley and the adjacent region in Calaveras County.

BY W. A. GOODYEAR.

Having spent some time during the past summer in Copperopolis,
and the region lying west and northwest from it, I offer the
following observations respecting its topography and geology. I
will first notice the

TOPOGRAPHY.

For a general description of the topography, etc., of Calaveras
County, including the main features of the region in question,
reference may be made to Prof. J. D. Whitney’s Report upon the
Geology of California, Vol. I, p. 253. In addition, however,
to what is there stated, I will say that Copperopolis lies at
the _southwestern_ base of Bear Mountain, the summits of which
rise to an altitude of something more than 2,000 feet above the
sea. The Gopher Hills, also mentioned in the report, form a
well defined and connected, though subordinate range, lying to
the southwest of, and nearly parallel with the general course
of Bear Mountain. This range forms a prominent feature in the
topography of the region for a distance of at least fifteen
or eighteen miles southeasterly from the Calaveras river. Its
summits are probably 1,400 feet above the sea, and the lowest
break or gap within the distance named is that through which
Rock Creek finds its way to the plains below. The valley or
depression between the Gopher Hills and Bear Mountain, whose
average width is four to six miles, has received the name of
Salt Spring Valley. Its general altitude is little less than
1,000 feet above the sea, that of the town of Copperopolis
being nine hundred feet according to H. P. Handy’s survey of a
railroad route from Copperopolis to Stockton. I should mention
that for several miles northwesterly from Copperopolis, Bear
Mountain has an outlier along its southwestern base, in the
form of a low but tolerably well marked hilly ridge, between
which and the base of the mountain is a narrow but continuous
valley; and it is in this valley that the copper-bearing
belt of Copperopolis is found. Southwest of this outlier,
and for a distance of three or four miles northwesterly from
Copperopolis, Salt Spring Valley consists mainly of a region
of low hills, traversed by a net-work of steep and narrow
gulches. Farther northwest the surface of the valley for three
or four miles is more uniform, and here we find the nearly
level area of “Tower’s Ranch,” and the gently sloping basin of
the “Salt Spring Valley reservoir.” Beyond this, the country
is again hilly to the Calaveras river. Southeast and south of
Copperopolis, the surface is everywhere hilly. The slope of the
Gopher Hills towards the southwest is rapid until we reach the
low rolling country which forms the border of the San Joaquin
Valley.

Black Creek debouches from Bear Mountain a mile or so southeast
of Copperopolis, and flows to the Stanislaus. Littlejohn’s
Creek takes its rise in the hilly regions of the valley west of
Copperopolis, and flowing southwesterly, finds its way through
the hills into Rock Creek. The latter rises in Bear Mountain,
five or six miles northwesterly from Copperopolis, and flowing
southwest across Salt Spring Valley, breaks through the Gopher
Hills, and continues its course through the lower country to
French Camp Slough, a branch of the San Joaquin. All these
creeks become dry in the summer, though in winter they often
carry very large volumes of water. At the point where Rock
Creek breaks through the Gopher Hills is the substantial dam of
the Salt Spring Valley Reservoir.

GEOLOGY.

The strike and dip of the rocks are more or less variable;
but, so far as my observations extend in the region described,
they have everywhere the same general northwesterly trend
and high northeasterly dip which characterize so large a
portion of the gold-bearing slates of central California. The
strike is usually from N. 50° W. to N. 70° W., (magnetic) and
the dip from 50° northeast to vertical. I have seen no case
here of a decided southwesterly dip, nor of a low one to the
northeast. It is somewhat remarkable, by the way, that this
high northeasterly dip should be so general as it is in the
great mass of auriferous slates which forms the southwestern
flank of the Sierra Nevada. It is _towards_ the granite axis of
the chain, instead of _from_ it, as would seem more natural.
The causes of this are by no means as yet fully explained.
It is a circumstance, however, which would lose none of its
interest in the future, if, as certain facts mentioned in the
Geological Report, Vol. I, p. 286, might possibly seem to
indicate, further explorations should prove it to be in general
a great inversion of the strata—their upper portions having
been “forced back by immense pressure from above, producing a
condition of things similar to that so often observed in the
Alps, which is known as the ‘fan structure,’ and has so much
perplexed geologists.” When we take into account the enormous
denudation, amounting to thousands of feet in perpendicular
depth, which is known to have taken place in the Sierras
within the most recent geological periods, and the whole of
which, in this case, must also have belonged to the inverted
portion of the strata—unless indeed the inversion were produced
by a peculiar sliding and bending of the strata by their
own weight, the upper flexure having been since entirely
removed—and when, in addition to this we consider the hundreds
of miles in length, and the great thickness of the strata in
question, we can perhaps begin to appreciate the magnitude of
the movements and forces which would be involved in producing
such an effect. It would indeed, if true, be a striking
illustration of the grandeur of the scale upon which many
of the physical features of this country have been cast, as
compared with those of other and better known regions. But it
is hardly worth while to speculate further upon probabilities
like this in the present state of our knowledge, and I return
to my subject.

In Salt Spring Valley, the rocks consist almost entirely
of slates, with little variety of character, generally
thin-bedded, fine-grained and argillaceous, sometimes magnesian
or chloritic, and often splitting with facility into very thin
sheets. The thinnest bedded varieties are usually fragile,
and the structure is often wavy; but sometimes the cleavage
is regular and thin enough, and the rock possesses sufficient
strength to furnish a tolerable material for roofing purposes;
although no attempts have been made, so far as I know, to
thus apply it;—and, in fact, the expense attendant upon its
excavation and transportation would preclude any extensive use
of it, even if its quality were unsurpassed, which it is not.

The earthy covering of the rocks throughout the valley is
usually very shallow and the soil poor, (Tower’s ranch is,
however, an exception) and in many places the thin sharp edges
of the slates project in such a way as to form an exceedingly
jagged surface, though the projections are low, generally not
exceeding two or three feet in height. Much of the surface is
strewn with float quartz, usually in the shape of small but
partially rounded pebbles. Quartz veins of small or moderate
size, parallel with the stratification, are not uncommon. Iron
pyrites is of frequent occurrence, with a little gold in the
quartz. Some of the veins have been more or less worked, but
none of them to any great extent. About three or four miles
westerly from Copperopolis, in the hilly portion of the valley,
is a ten-stamp quartz mill, and a short distance from this,
on Littlejohn’s Creek, is the site of an older one, which was
burned down. Neither of these mills ever yielded much profit,
so far as I can learn, nor does the present one seem likely to
do so.

Several of the gulches in this vicinity are said to have
yielded gold enough in the past to pay for working, although
the diggings were not rich or extensive. It is stated also that
some years since, in one of these gulches, a quartz boulder
was found, weighing about one hundred pounds, which yielded
between two and three thousand dollars’ worth of gold. There
are three or four quartz veins near here, from which more or
less rock has been crushed. Portions of the rock from one of
these veins, the Winnemucca, a prettily-shaped vein of three
to four feet in thickness, are very cellular in structure, and
some of it shows fine gold quite freely to the naked eye. The
metal however, must be very irregular in its distribution, or
the ore would have paid better in the mill than the three or
four dollars per ton which I am told it yielded; and in fact,
the general character of the float quartz of the region, when
taken in connection with the probable origin of the valley
itself, and the fact that no important placer “diggings” have
been found here, does not seem to favor the probability that
these quartz veins will ever prove of much value. Between the
present mill and the site of the old one, as well as certain
other localities in the valley, are springs containing various
alkaline salts, from which the name “Salt Spring Valley” is
derived.

Accompanying the copper formation of Copperopolis, and just
west of it, is an immense body of serpentine, lying parallel
with the general stratification of the slates, and traceable
for miles along the valley by the openings made in it in the
workings for copper. Opposite a point 1,000 or 1,200 feet
northwest of the upper shaft of the Keystone claim, but on
the southwest flank of the outlier of Bear Mountain, already
noticed, is another heavy mass of serpentine. How far this
extends in a northwest and a southeast direction I do not know,
as I have not followed its line of outcrop, but it is certainly
not less than 1,000 feet in length.

The lithological character of the Gopher Hills is entirely
different from that of Salt Spring Valley. They consist mainly
of a pretty hard and tough, more or less coarsely crystalline,
and dark-colored hornblendic or pyroxenic rock, which is
evidently metamorphic, probably of a grit or sandstone. Epidote
is not uncommon in this rock, and calcite is occasionally
found, though rare. Through most of this region the original
stratification has been largely obscured, or nearly
obliterated. Its general course, however, can still be traced
without difficulty in the more or less elongated and flattened
form, and the general trend which the rocky outcrops frequently
assume when viewed from a little distance.

The texture of the rock varies considerably. In general it
is rather coarsely crystalline; but not unfrequently it is
much finer, or even compact; sometimes it is jointed. At
one locality, in particular, (“Goodwin’s,” or “Sheep Ranch”
Gulch) I noticed this jointed structure so well developed
that a compact and very tough, almost imperishable rock could
be quarried with facility, if desired, in nearly rectangular
blocks and slabs.

It is not uncommon to find among these hills those peculiar
holes in the rock which were hollowed out and used by the
Indians as mortars in which to grind their food. I observed
a number of similar holes in the hard rock, precisely in the
bed of Rock Creek, in the ravine a short distance below the
dam of the Salt Spring Valley Reservoir. It may be a question
here, whether they owe their origin to the Indians or to the
action of the stream, though from the peculiar deep and narrow
form, I am inclined to ascribe them to the former. Heavy
masses of flinty rock or hornstone also occur, particularly
upon the southwest flanks of the range. This rock usually
exhibits a much more distinct bedding than the ordinary mass
of the hills. Its stratification is often perfectly regular,
and sometimes the layers are beautifully thin and delicate.
There is a very heavy outcrop of this finely banded rock in
the ravine a short distance below the dam at Rock Creek.
Higher up the hill, upon the road known as “Black’s Grade,”
another outcrop of the same formation has been cut across
in building the road, and here a portion of the same flinty
rock is thickly filled with _fossils_, which appear to belong
either to some species of crinoids or fucoids, though the
structure is too much obliterated, and the specimens too much
distorted to admit of definite recognition. They are apparently
flattened in a direction parallel with the banding of the
rock. From the general mode of occurrence of this hornstone,
and from the frequent sharp and distinct lines of demarcation
between it and the adjacent hornblendic rock, it might be
inferred that the former traversed the latter as veins, and
the delicate banding of the rock, although parallel to the
general stratification of the country, would not preclude
such an assumption. But the fossils speak decidedly against
it, and it is probable that the hornstone is a metamorphic
form of fine sedimentary deposits, and that the banding is
the result of the original stratification. Quartz veins occur
here occasionally, and some of them at least are auriferous,
though I know of none having been worked with profit hitherto.
It is not improbable, however, that some of them may be found
remunerative in the future, since many of the gulches among
the hills here, in the early days of mining, were rich in
placer gold. The degree of metamorphism throughout these
hills has been very high; but I have seen no evidence of any
direct igneous action—at least no rock that I could identify
as eruptive, with the single exception, perhaps, of a small
and apparently completely isolated body of well characterized
_granite_, which occurs near the base of the Gopher Range, and
between its highly metamorphosed rocks and the San Joaquin
Valley, which is overlaid with tertiary and other recent
formations. The occurrence of this patch of granite here,
isolated as it seems from any other similar rock, is certainly
a point of much interest; but I have not been able to study its
relations. Its stratigraphical and topographical position is
similar to that of the Folsom granite, and it may be connected
with it in origin. If it should hereafter appear that there
is a well characterized, though more or less interrupted line
of granitic outcrops traceable throughout central California,
along the lower foothills of the mountains, and _west_ of
the great belt of auriferous slates, it would have a most
important bearing upon the theory of the general structure of
the Sierra Nevada. The existence of such a line, indeed, might
point to a very different, and perhaps more probable, _modus
operandi_ than that already suggested, by which the auriferous
slates themselves may have reached their present position, and
received their easterly dip.

One of the most interesting points connected with the geology
of the Gopher Hills, is the auriferous belt in which occurs the
“Quail Hill” Mine, and of which I shall speak further presently.

Of the geology of Bear Mountain I know but little, having
crossed it by but a single route. Where I have seen it,
however, it consists largely of a similar rock to that which
forms the mass of the Gopher Hills. Chromic iron is said to
occur in considerable quantity at a certain locality in Bear
Mountain, the exact whereabouts of which I could not learn. The
slates of the valley extend, in general, completely up to the
base of the Gopher and Bear Mountain ranges on either side,
and sometimes a short distance up their flanks; but here the
transition to the harder crystalline rock is usually quick and
well marked.

Salt Spring Valley probably owes its existence, as such,
entirely to inequality of denudation; the comparatively friable
slates yielding much more readily to mechanical action than the
harder and more highly metamorphosed rock on either side, which
has thus been left in the form of mountain ridges, projecting
many hundreds of feet above the adjacent region, while the
intervening and surrounding rock has been swept away to the
plains below.

A partial description of the copper mines of Copperopolis
will be found in the “Geology of California,” Vol. I, pp.
254-257. The depth of the main shaft in the “Union” is now
stated to be a little over five hundred feet, and the greatest
depth reached in the “Keystone,” is said to be five hundred
and sixty feet. All the deposits of ore here worked lie
parallel with the strike and dip of the inclosing strata.
The great ore mass of the “Union” Mine forks or divides into
two branches towards the northwest; and at the lowest depth
now reached, its width or thickness, after having reached a
maximum, is again diminishing. In the “Keystone” Mine there
have been two separate and nearly parallel bodies of ore
worked to a considerable extent, and a third one was struck
last spring previous to the suspension of work in the mine.
The two main bodies of ore in this mine have “pinched out” or
disappeared in various directions in their lines of strike
and dip. They seem to have an irregular lenticular form, and
together with the great mass of the “Union” appear to lie in
what are called “shoots,” which pitch at an angle of 50° or
60° in the direction of the strike towards the northwest. The
northwesterly prolongation of the strike of the great “Union”
deposit does not coincide with either of the “Keystone”
deposits, but passes east of them. There have been other and
smaller deposits in the “Union” ground, more or less worked,
lying west of the main body, some of which may possibly connect
with the “Keystone” shoots, though the best information I
could obtain leads me to think otherwise, and that they were
probably isolated lenticular masses. The mass of the great
deposit in the “Union” Mine consists of an intimate mixture of
chalcopyrite and iron pyrites, containing on an average sixteen
to seventeen per cent. of copper. Well defined selvages are not
to be seen at Copperopolis, and the country rock is impregnated
in all directions, sometimes to a considerable distance from
the purer ore, with more or less finely disseminated copper and
iron pyrites. In Europe it would pay to crush and work much of
the wall rock itself for the copper which it contains; but here
it is entirely worthless, as even ten to twelve per cent. ore
is not worth mining and shipping at present prices.