Chapter II: Part I: , p. 1-96, for 1863, printed in April to December, 1863 (2)

In addition to the regular topographical work, an extensive
series of barometrical observation has been made, for the
determination of altitudes, some two hundred and fifty
important points having been ascended and measured. The most
interesting operation in this department was the determination
of the height of Mount Shasta, which, by an elaborate series of
observations, we found to be 14,440 feet above the sea level.
This is the first of the lofty volcanic peaks of the Sierra
Nevada which has been accurately measured.

In the department of geology proper, our explorations have
extended over portions of forty of the forty-six counties into
which the State is divided; and when it is remembered that the
average size of a county is equal to half that of the State of
Massachusetts, (California having just twenty-four times the
area of that State,) some idea of the magnitude of our work may
be obtained. The chain of the Sierra Nevada may be parallelized
with that of the Alps for extent and average elevation; while
the Coast Ranges are nearly as extensive as the Appalachian
chain of mountains.

We have obtained a pretty clear idea of the general structure
of the Coast Ranges from Los Angeles to Clear Lake; the
vicinity of the Bay of San Francisco has been worked out in
considerable detail, including all of San Francisco, San Mateo,
Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties, with
portions of Santa Cruz, Solano, Napa, and Sonoma. Considerable
field-work has been done in the Sierra Nevada, chiefly in
the lower portion of the range between Mariposa and Shasta
Counties. Our observations have also been extended to the
Washoe Region, and we have received considerable collections of
fossils from the Humboldt Mining District, (known by this name
on the Pacific Coast, but designated on Warren’s Map as the
“West Humboldt River Range,” and in longitude 180°) by which we
have been able to fix the age of the formations in that region.

Mr. Gabb has been chiefly occupied, the past year, in figuring
and describing the cretaceous fossils of the Coast Ranges
and the foot-hills of the Sierra, of which he has nearly
two hundred new species ready for publication. He has also
described the triassic fossils, collected by the Survey at
Washoe, and by Gorham Blake, Esq., in the Humboldt Range. The
fossils older than the Trias have been referred to Mr. Meek for
investigation. A portion of the fossil plants have been placed
in the hands of Dr. J. S. Newberry for description.

It is to the department of General Geology that, up to the
present time, by far the greater portion of our attention has
been given, since the first thing required in a geological
survey is a knowledge of the general geological structure of
the State, the age of the various formations which occur in it,
and their range and extent, or the position which they occupy
on the surface, and their relations to each other. Each group
of strata, thus determined by its lithological peculiarities,
and by the fossils which it contains, is then to be laid down
upon the map, in the position in which its outcrop occupies on
the surface. The general character of the minerals and ores
which occur in each formation or group of strata having been
thus determined, the details of their mode of occurrence, their
relative abundance, and the facilities which may exist in
each separate district for making them economically available
must, after the preliminary general work has been done, be
the object of more special and detailed examinations. It is
not, however, the business of a geological surveying corps to
act, to any considerable extent, as a prospecting party; to do
this, would require that we should confine our operations to a
very limited area; the labors of the whole corps for an entire
season would not suffice to thoroughly prospect more than a
few hundred square miles in a very rich mineral region, and
we should have often to engage in expensive mining operations
to decide what was really of permanent value. It is our task,
rather, to limit the field of research, and to show to others
where their labors will be best bestowed, preventing foolish
expenditures of time and money in searching for what our
general geological investigations have determined not to exist
in sufficient quantity, in certain formations, to be worth
working. Especially in the first years of our work, in a State
of such an immense area as California, our labors have more the
character of a geological reconnoissance than of a detailed
survey.

Already, however, during the progress of our work, a large
amount of information has been collected in regard to the
mode of occurrence and abundance of the useful ores and
minerals of this State and the adjoining Territories. The
principal deposits of coal have been carefully examined, and
their geological position ascertained. Most of the important
quartz mines of the State have been visited by Mr. Ashburner,
and a large amount of information has been collected by him,
preparatory to an elaborate investigation and report on
this important branch of the industry of the Pacific Coast.
Considerable work has been done, preliminary to a full report
on the geology, mineralogy, and metallurgy of the Washoe region.

In the department of botany and agricultural geology, the work
has thus far been chiefly confined to collecting the plants of
the State.

Extensive duplicate suites have been preserved both for study
and exchange, the specimens now collected amounting to not
less than twelve thousand or fifteen thousand in number, and
embracing probably half of all the species described from the
State, besides many new and undescribed ones. The collections
have been made by Professor Brewer while engaged in geological
explorations, at a very trifling expenditure of time and money.

In the department of Agriculture proper, less has been done,
owing to limited means. Partial preparation was made for
investigating the subject of grape culture, and the production
of wines; but discontinued from the same cause. Especial
attention has been paid to our native forage plants, to aid in
devising some means of arresting the rapid decrease of forage
in this State, and correspondence entered into to obtain all
possible information on this subject from other regions whose
climates are similar to our own.

In the zoölogical department—in charge of Dr. J. G. Cooper,
who has been employed about half the time since the Survey was
commenced—the annexed table gives a succinct idea of what had
been accomplished, up to the close of the year 1862, in the way
of collecting.

f========+=================================================
|Number of species in the collection.
| +-------------------------------------------
| |Of which there are new to California.
| | +-------------------------------------
| | |Believed to be new, or undescribed.
| | | +-----------------------------
Class. | | | |Other Californian species
| | | |not yet collected.
| | | | +-----------------------
| | | | |Total number credited
| | | | |to California.
| | | | | +-----------------
| | | | | |Of which there
| | | | | |are found east
| | | | | |the Mississippi.
---------+-----+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----------------
Mammalia | 32 | 10 | 3 | 45 | 77 | 14
Birds | 170 | 28 | 4(?)| 150 | 320 | 141
Reptiles | 36 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 45 | 0
Fishes | 58 | 16 | 16 | 75 | 133 | 0
Mollusca | 335 | 123 | 123 | 65 | 400 | 0(?)
---------+-----+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----------------

Of Articulata and Radiata no statistics can be given for want
of works especially devoted to the California species.

From this it appears that, notwithstanding the large
collections made by Government expeditions and by individuals,
during the last ten years, which have been elaborately
described in the Pacific Railroad and Mexican Boundary Reports,
the Smithsonian publications, and various other works, we have
been able to add materially to the known Fauna of California,
and of the country at large, even among the highest and best
known classes.

Arrangements have been made for having the collections in
natural history referred to the highest authorities in each
branch, and portions of our materials have already been placed
at the disposition of eminent men in Europe and the United
States for examination and description.

Deferring the fitting up of a laboratory, and the engaging
of a special assistant in the chemical department, until a
suitable permanent place could be provided in the State Museum
building, Mr. Ashburner went East in the spring of 1862 and
commenced the examination of some of the ores and minerals of
the State in the laboratory of the Sheffield Scientific School
of Yale College, under the direction of Professor Brush, who
has charge of the metallurgical department of that institution.
The reduction of the appropriation to fifteen thousand (15,000)
dollars for the year, made it necessary to suspend this work
soon after it was commenced, in order that the whole force of
the Survey might be concentrated on the field operations.

A small sum has been allowed to Mr. F. H. Storer, of Boston,
for a chemical investigation of the bituminous substances
found in different parts of the State. His researches will
probably be embodied in the first or second volume of the
annual reports. Qualitative examinations, as well as a few
quantitative ones, have been made at the office of the Survey,
of specimens which have been collected. A considerable number
of coals have been analyzed. Information in regard to ores and
minerals has been given to a large number of persons who have
applied for the same by letter or otherwise, as will always be
done when practicable.

If the survey is continued, it will be necessary to fit up
a complete laboratory, in which the important questions
constantly arising, both in regard to the composition and
metallurgic treatment of our ores, may be carefully and
systematically investigated.

No provision has yet been made by the Legislature for the
arrangement and exhibition of the collections made by the
Survey. These are already quite extensive, embracing many
thousand specimens of rocks, fossils, minerals, ores, all of
which are of importance in illustrating the Natural History,
the geological structure and the mineral resources of the
State. Such as have not been required for study remain packed
in boxes, and are stored at the office of the Survey in
Montgomery Block, San Francisco.

Of course it is highly desirable that a permanent, fire-proof
building should be provided for the State collections, the
proper disposition of which is a subject of great interest, not
only as connected with the welfare and progress of the survey,
but as influencing the educational and material progress of the
State.

The only official step thus far taken in this matter is the
appointment, by the last Legislature, of the State Geologist,
the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State
Surveyor-General as a Board of Commissioners “to report to
the Legislature, on or before the second Monday of December,
1863, upon the feasibility of establishing a State University,
embracing an Agricultural College, a School of Mines, and a
Museum, _including the geological collections of the State_.”

A considerable number of specimens, some of them of value, have
been already given to the State by individuals; and there can
be no doubt that many interesting and valuable articles would
be contributed, provided it were demonstrated that they would
be properly exhibited, and well taken care of. It is believed,
that when the State Museum is once established, and a suitable
building provided, the value and importance of it to the
people will soon be made so clear, that it will be sustained
and fostered by the Legislature.

By the terms of the Act of the Legislature authorizing a
Geological Survey of the State of California, it was made
the duty of the State Geologist to present to the Governor,
to be laid before the Legislature, as near as may be to the
beginning of each session, a “Report of Progress,” in which
the operations of the Survey during the preceding year should
be set forth, and its more important practical results made
public. He is also required to communicate an account of the
expenditures, and to furnish estimates for the continuance of
the Survey.

By an Act of the Legislature of 1862, however, the State
Geologist was authorized to combine his first and second annual
reports into one volume, to be printed during the winter of
1862 and 1863, and an appropriation of $3,000 was made to pay
the expenses of printing, engraving, etc., while the size,
form, and style of the report, and the place of printing, were
left to the discretion of the State Geologist, under the advice
and with the approval of the Governor.

According to this, there is a report now due the State; but, as
no part of the appropriation of last year for the continuance
of the Survey has been yet received, or is likely to be, for
months to come, and as the appropriation for printing is in
the same condition, the work has been necessarily delayed. As
it is presumed that the amount due the Survey from last year
will be available some time next winter, it is not anticipated
that there will be any difficulty in issuing the first volume;
and, if the Legislature takes the necessary steps early in the
session, two, or perhaps three, volumes can be published in
1864. It is intended that they shall be of royal octavo size,
in the best style of typography, and illustrated with maps,
sections, plates of fossils, etc. The maps will be engraved on
copper and printed from transfers, in order the original plates
may be preserved, to be used, after necessary corrections and
revisions, in the final report, or otherwise, as may be found
desirable. The maps will be sold separately, with or without
the geological coloring, as desired. The first volume will
be chiefly devoted to the geology of the Coast Ranges; the
second to that of the Sierra Nevada and the mining districts
of the eastern slope. If my plans are not thwarted by the
Legislature, both these volumes will be issued together next
year, and will form a “Report of a Geological Reconnoissance
of the State of California.” By the law, as it now stands, the
publications of the Survey are required to be copy-righted,
and sold for the benefit of the Common School Fund; hence, it
has been impossible to communicate to the public, from time
to time, through the medium of the Academy’s publications,
the results which have been obtained. It is proper to say, in
this connection, that the extent of territory to be examined,
the complexity of the phenomena, and the bearing which our
investigations will have on important questions of economical
interest, make it eminently proper that there should not be an
undue haste exhibited, on the part of the Survey, to place its
results before the world. We can only hope to influence the
mining public, in this State, by degrees; and it is necessary,
first of all, that it should be made clearly to appear, with
the lapse of time, that our statements are to be relied on as
closely approximating to the truth.

Professor Whitney communicated the following letter from Professor Brush, giving the results of a chemical investigation of the meteoric iron presented to the city of San Francisco, by General Carleton:

SHEFFIELD LABORATORY OF YALE COLLEGE,
NEW HAVEN, March 30th, 1863.

_Professor J. D. Whitney, State Geologist, San Francisco, Cal._

DEAR SIR:—I have examined the specimen of meteoric iron
from Tucson, which you sent me for analysis, and herewith
communicate to you my results.

The density of the mass is 7.29. When a fragment of it is
placed in a solution of neutral sulphate of copper, it quickly
becomes coated with metallic copper, proving the iron to be
“active.” An inspection of the specimen with a lens showed it
to be dotted with little cavities, which on the fresh fracture
were lined with a white silicious mineral, giving the surface a
porphyritic, or pseudo-porphyritic, appearance.

When a fragment was attacked with an acid, a portion of the
iron was dissolved, leaving the silicious mineral projecting
from the surface of the specimen; and with a magnifier, black
particles of Schreibersite could be seen. After complete
solution of the iron, a careful microscopic examination was
made of the insoluble residue. With a magnifying power of 25
diameters, it appeared to consist chiefly of two substances:
one a milk-white to transparent mineral, having a fused,
rounded surface, occurring in little globules, or elongated,
rounded particles; while the other constituent was black
and angular, and attractable by the magnet. The first named
substance, when observed with a magnifying power of 100
diameters, proved to contain minute specks of the black mineral
disseminated through it; some of the silicious fragments were
translucent and of a milk-white color, and others colorless
and transparent; a large number, however, were transparent at
one end, shading into milk-white at the other, thus seeming to
indicate that the transparent and translucent portions were not
two distinct minerals. A blowpipe examination of the silicious
mineral showed it to have characters very much resembling
_olivine_. The black mineral proved to be _Schreibersite_. A
minute trace of chromium was also observed in the insoluble
residue.

The qualitative analysis of the portion soluble in nitric
acid indicated the presence of iron, nickel, cobalt, copper,
phosphorus, lime, and magnesia with unweighable traces
of chlorine, sulphur, and alumina. For the quantitative
examination of the meteorite a fragment weighing 4.3767
grammes was treated with nitro-chlorohydric acid (aqua regia),
and after solution of the iron the whole was evaporated; on
approaching dryness, gelatinous silica separated, showing that
the silicate had been partially, at least, decomposed by the
acid. After heating until the silica was rendered insoluble,
it was repeatedly treated with acid and evaporated, so as to
insure the oxydation of all the Schreibersite, and finally
the soluble part was taken up with chlorohydric acid, and on
dilution separated by filtration from the silica and insoluble
residue.

The filtrate, or _soluble_ part, was accurately measured and
divided into four portions for analysis—two portions were used
for the determination of the iron, nickel, cobalt, phosphorus,
and alkaline earths; a third portion was employed to estimate
the copper, and the fourth portion was reserved to answer in
case of accident.

Two methods were used for the separation of the iron from the
nickel and cobalt—one by precipitation of the iron as basic
acetate, and the other by precipitation with carbonate of
baryta in the presence of an excess of chloride of ammonium;
but in neither case was the separation perfected on the first
precipitation, and traces of nickel remained with the iron
even after the second precipitation. The nickel and cobalt
were separated by means of nitrite of potash, and the cobalt
was subsequently converted into sulphate and as such weighed.
The lime and magnesia were separated by oxalate of ammonia,
care being taken to redissolve and reprecipitate the lime to
insure its being free from traces of magnesia. On spectroscopic
examination of the precipitate, it proved to be lime, free from
other alkaline earths.

The precipitate of iron, after being weighed, was fused with
carbonate of soda; the product of the fusion was dissolved in
chlorohydric acid, and the phosphoric acid precipitated with
molybdate of ammonia. This phospho-molybdic precipitate was
dissolved in ammonia to free it from possible traces of silica
and other impurities, and the phosphoric acid precipitated from
this solution by an ammoniacal mixture of sulphate of magnesia
and chloride of ammonium.

The copper was precipitated as sulphide by sulphuretted
hydrogen gas, redissolved in nitric acid, and determined as
oxyd.

The _insoluble residue_, containing free silica and
undecomposed silicate, was perfectly white, and free from all
traces of Schreibersite. It weighed 0.1855 grm. equal to 4.24
per cent. of the specimen analyzed. It was fused with carbonate
of soda, and the silica and bases determined in the usual
manner. It contained 0.159 grm. silica; 0.0054 protoxyd of
iron, with a minute trace of alumina; 0.0028 lime, and 0.0168
magnesia.

The soluble and insoluble portions gave in the analysis the
following per centage composition:

Considering the silica
to exist as olivine.

Iron 81.56 79.44
Nickel 9.17 9.17
Cobalt 0.44 0.44
Copper 0.08 0.08
Phosphorus 0.49 0.49
Silica 3.63 } Combined with 2.73 }
Protoxyd of Iron with } Protoxyd of Iron, } 10.07
trace of Alumina 0.12 } making Olivine }
Lime 1.16 }
Magnesia 2.43 }
Chlorine, }
Sulphur, } minute traces traces
Chromium, }
----- -----
99.08 99.69

If the silica found in this analysis be considered to exist in
combination with lime, magnesia, and iron, in the proportions
to form olivine, it will be necessary to deduct 2.12 per cent.
from the amount of metallic iron (equal to 2.73 per cent. of
protoxyd of iron), in order to give the silicate the olivine
formula, (3 R O, Si O₃). Admitting this to be the correct view,
the mass analyzed contains 10.07 per cent. of olivine, and by
the addition of the oxygen of the protoxyd of iron the analysis
adds up 99.69 instead of 99.08.

The variable composition of Schreibersite in different
specimens of meteoric iron, and the peculiar character of the
insoluble residue of this meteorite, together with the small
amount of material in my possession, rendered it impracticable
to determine the exact amount of this substance contained in
the specimen.

The composition of this meteorite corresponds very closely
with another meteoric-iron from Tucson, discovered by Mr.
Bartlett, and described by Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, in the
_American Journal of Science_, vol. XIX, page 161. Dr. Smith’s
analysis gives Iron 85.54, Nickel 8.55, Cobalt 0.61, Copper
0.03, Phosphorus 0.12, Chromic-oxyd 0.21, Magnesia 2.04, Silica
3.02, Alumina, trace = 100.18. He considers it to correspond to
Nickeliferous Iron 93.81, Chrome Iron 0.41, Schreibersite 0.84,
Olivine 5.06 = 100.18. By an evident inadvertence Dr. Smith
adds the magnesia and silica together, and gives the sum as
olivine; these substances are obviously not in the proportions
to form the silicate 3 R O, Si O₃, and if we consider the
silicate to be olivine, we must reckon the excess of silica
as combined with protoxyd of iron. To do this, we must deduct
2.78 from the amount of metallic iron (equal to 2.58 protoxyd
of iron), necessary to be combined with the silica and magnesia
to give the olivine formula. The amount of olivine contained
in the Bartlett meteoric-iron will then be 8.64 per cent. Thus
the two masses of iron will be seen to agree very nearly in
composition, the only trifling difference being, that Dr. Smith
has determined quantitatively the small amount of chromium
contained in the Bartlett meteorite, while I have found a
little lime and traces of sulphur and chlorine in the specimen
you sent to me. The specific gravity I have stated to be 7.39;
this was taken on about 12.5 grammes of the iron, and probably
is somewhat higher than the portion which I analyzed, as the
two surfaces of the larger mass had been rubbed down, and as
thus a considerable portion of the exposed silicate would be
mechanically removed, it would make the density correspondingly
higher.

I regret that I had not more of this interesting meteorite at
my command, in order to have determined more definitely and
satisfactorily the character of the insoluble residue. I shall
be glad to make a further investigation of this point if you
will supply me with more material.

Very respectfully yours,

GEO. J. BRUSH.

After reading the above letter, Professor Whitney added some remarks on the form and locality of the meteoric iron analyzed by Professor Brush, stating the circumstances under which it came in possession of the city of San Francisco.

On the twenty-fourth of November, 1862, the Board of Supervisors of this city received, through Mayor Teschemacher, a letter from General George Wright, commanding the Department of the Pacific, stating that he had received a mass of meteoric iron from General Carleton, commanding the “Column from California,” and which mass he, in accordance with General Carleton’s request, placed at the disposal of the city authorities.

General Carleton’s letter is here appended:

HEAD QUARTERS COLUMN FROM CALIFORNIA,
Tucson, Arizona, June 30th, 1862.

_TO GENERAL GEORGE WRIGHT, U. S. Army, Commander Dep. of the
Pacific, San Francisco, Cal._

MY DEAR GENERAL:—Soon after my arrival at this place I sent
by a train to Fort Yuma, to be shipped to your address at San
Francisco, a very large and beautiful AEROLITE, which I found
here and which I had heard and read of for many years. In
_Bartlett’s Explorations_, vol. 2, page 297, it is described
as follows: “In the afternoon,” July 18th, 1853, “I called to
take leave of General Blanco, and at the same time examine
a remarkable _meteorite_, which is used for an anvil in a
blacksmith’s shop. This mass resembles native iron, and weighs
about six hundred pounds. Its greatest length is five feet. Its
exterior is quite smooth, while the lower part which projects
from the larger leg is very jagged and rough. It was found
about twenty miles distant on the road towards Tubac and about
eight miles from the road.”

I desire that you present this aerolite to the City of San
Francisco, to be placed upon the PLAZA, there to remain for the
inspection of the people and for examination by the youth of
the city forever. It will be a durable memento of the march of
the _Column from California_.

I am, General, sincerely and respectfully,

Your friend and servant,

JAMES H. CARLETON,
_Brigadier General U. S. A._

Soon after this mass of meteoric iron came into the possession of the city, I obtained permission from the Board of Supervisors to have sawn from it a small piece for analysis and for distribution to a few of the principal public institutions in this country and Europe having collections of aerolites; this has been done, and also a fine photograph of it taken by Mr. C. E. Watkins, of which copies will be forwarded, with the specimens of the mass itself, as convenient opportunity offers.

The piece intended for analytical examination was sent to Professor Brush of Yale College, and a letter has just been received from him giving the results, which will be found in the preceding pages, and which may appropriately be followed by a few remarks on the size and general appearance of the mass, with such other facts in regard to it as may be of general interest.

The weight of the mass of which the analysis is given above
was six hundred and thirty-two pounds, when it arrived in this
city, and about two pounds have been since cut from it.

Its shape is irregular, but in general it is that of a
flattened elongated slab, having a length of four feet one inch
and an average breadth of about eighteen inches; its thickness
is irregular, varying from two to five inches. It has evidently
been long used as an anvil, having been partly buried in the
ground in an upright position, having a flat face of about
four inches square on the top, with two holes drilled in the
projecting edge for adding to the convenience of its use as a
blacksmith’s anvil.

The mass is now placed in the Mayor’s office, it having been
deemed inadvisable to expose it on the Plaza, as desired by
the donor, on account of its liability to rust in the damp
atmosphere of San Francisco, and the difficulty of securing it
from injury by careless or mischievous handling.

Professor Brush remarks that “the composition of this meteorite
corresponds very closely with that of _another_ meteoric
iron from Tucson” discovered by Mr. Bartlett and analyzed by
Professor J. Lawrence Smith. A comparison of the analyses of
Professors Brush and Smith and a reference to Mr. Bartlett’s
work seem to render it highly probable, to say the least, that
the two analyses were of pieces cut from the same mass.

In this connection I will add to General Carleton’s quotation
from Mr. Bartlett’s book a few lines which complete what is
said in regard to the meteorites seen by him at Tucson. Mr.
Bartlett adds, after stating that the mass was found about
twenty miles distant towards Tubac and about eight miles from
the road, “where we were told are many larger masses. The
annexed drawing gives the appearance of this singular mass.
There is another large mass within the garrison grounds, of
which I did not take a sketch. With much labor Dr. Webb broke
off a fragment of this meteorite, for the purpose of analysis.”

The wood cut which Mr. Bartlett gives of the meteoric iron,
which he notices as having been used as an anvil, shows at
once, as does also the description, that, contrary to General
Carleton’s idea, this mass and the one which is now in San
Francisco, are not the same. The mass figured by Mr. Bartlett
is of a very peculiar shape, well adapting it to use as a
common blacksmith’s anvil, as it has a broad, flat top, and is
supported by two legs.

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable
to suppose that the mass forwarded by General Carleton is the
one spoken of by Mr. Bartlett as “another larger mass,” and of
which no drawing was made; while, on the other hand, a piece
was taken for analysis. This piece is almost certainly the one
analyzed by Dr. Smith, and hence the close agreement in the two
analyses—this chemist, however, not having apparently made so
complete a separation of the nickel as Prof. Brush has done.
Still it is possible, of course, that different portions of the
mass may differ slightly in composition.

Dr. Blake read the following paper:

Infusoria from the Moving Sands in the Neighborhood of San Francisco.

BY JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F.R.C.S.

The infusoria to which I would call the attention of the
Society, were collected from the sands in the neighborhood of
Point Lobos. These sands form a moving surface, which in dry
weather is drifted by the prevailing winds from the shore of
the ocean landwards, and are entirely devoid of any signs of
vegetation for some distance from the shore. On walking over
these sands when a strong north-west wind was blowing, a wind
that does not bring up any fresh sand from the ocean beach at
that part of the sand field, I noticed a number of small sized
bodies projecting above the surface of the sand as it was being
carried onwards by the wind. A closer examination showed that
these bodies were formed of particles of sand, agglutinated
together by some substance which rendered them almost black,
and where dried possessing considerable tenacity. Some of
these bodies projected as much as an inch and a half above
the surface of the sand, with which however they all remained
connected, forming generally small ridges. On examining a
portion of this agglutinated sand under the microscope, the
water with which I had moistened it was found to be full of
infusoria, which commenced moving about as soon as the sand
was moistened, although it had been quite dry for some days
before being examined. These infusoria probably belong to the
genus Monas, but they are so extremely minute that it was
impossible to resolve them; they were, in fact, the smallest
living infusoria I had ever examined. With a quarter-inch
object glass of Powell and Lelands, they appeared as small
globular moving bodies, although occasionally a movement would
present one of them with apparently a narrow edge. Nothing
much more definite could be made out with the microscope
of my friend, Dr. Trask, when using an eighth object glass
of Smith and Beck, as they could not be resolved into any
form sufficiently definite to classify them. They appeared
mostly as globular bodies moving about slowly, and presenting
sometimes a longer axis, one end being larger than the other,
and offering the appearance as if there was a semi-transparent
mass attached to the larger end. The size was estimated at
from a fifteenth to the twenty-thousandth of an inch. After a
careful examination I was unable to detect any vegetable or
organic nucleus which might have served as a nidus for these
masses of infusoria. They would seem to become developed in the
pure sand, or at least in the sand as it was blown up from the
beach, after the salt had been washed out of it by the rain.
[I would remark that it had been raining some days before I
collected them.] Subsequent researches have shown that these
infusoria are very generally diffused through the sands that
form our drifting sand-hills around the city; and on examining
some sand taken at a depth of fourteen feet from the surface,
where the hills were being cut through, I found it full of
well developed infusoria on placing it under the microscope
a few minutes after it had been collected, so that there can
be no doubt but that these infusoria were present in the sand
at the time it was collected, where they had probably been in
a torpid state for ages. It is possible that they might have
been carried there by the infiltrating water during the rains;
but I am inclined to think that they had been torpid there, as
the circumstances in which they were placed were not favorable
for propagation except by fission, a process that cannot be
carried on indefinitely, even in these lower organisms. In
fact, these infusoria, taken from the deep sands, copulated
most extensively the moment they were placed in water. I am
not aware that analogous observations have been made as to the
office of these lower infusoria in fixing the moving sands, and
thus initiating that series of changes by which they eventually
become clothed with verdure; the first germs of organic life
being generally supposed to be established by the lower
vegetable organisms.

Dr. Kellogg presented the following paper:

Description of Two New Species of Plants.

BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

CONYZA Less.

_C. salicena_ Kellogg. [FIG. 6.]

Stem fruticose, erect, three to four feet in height; branches
subglabrous or slightly puberulent, angular; leaves lanceolate,
short petiolate, cuneate, base entire, triplinerved, apex
acute with few remote teeth on the upper third, lamina
fleshy, varnished, subglabrous, minute glands scattering,
slightly puberulent chiefly beneath (two to three inches in
length, about half an inch in breadth), panicle subcorymbose;
heads pedicellate, mostly subtended by linear nerved bracts;
involucral scales ovate-oblong, sub-acute, scarious, margins
irregularly cut-toothed or somewhat erose, cut-ciliate; achenia
pubescent; pappus equal, white, scabrous; florets, teeth
villous on the tips and back, tube short; anthers not caudate;
receptacle convex, naked, punctate.

This plant is closely allied to the South American _C.
triplinerva_, but differs in the shrubby character of
the stem—the leaves also are not “ovate-lanceolate,” but
lanceolate, and somewhat glandular, and like the branches
puberulent—the heads are subtended by bracts, the involucral
scales are not “linear lanceolate,” but ovate-oblong and
sub-acute, etc. The white pappus is not short, but equal if not
longer than the florets—the achenia are not “glabrous,” etc.
Found at Clayton, Contra Costa County.

COLLINSIA Nutt.

_C. divaricata_ Kellogg. [FIG. 7.]

Stem erect, divaricately branching, one to three inches high,
pubescent, interspersed with a few short glandular hairs.
Cotyledons oval or oblong obtuse, entire, petioles as long as
the lamina; middle cauline leaves on shorter petioles, ciliate
at the base or subsessile, ovate or oblong sub-acute, entire
at the base, coarsely three to five-toothed, nerves obsolete,
all pubescent above, glabrous below; superior pairs, sessile,
lanceolate, acute, entire.

Flowers small, axillary, and solitary on long divaricate
ascending peduncles, articulated at the base by a swelled
joint, purplish pink alike throughout, twice the length of the
calyx, upper lobes broadest, margins crenulate, saccate base
of the tube much compressed above, glabrous within, throat
constricted, the external expansion purple spotted above,
filaments hirsute, stigma minutely bilobed. The obconical
expanding calyx narrowed and slightly depressed above at the
base, and correspondingly swelled below, segments ovate acute,
fleshy, glabrous; margins minutely ciliate, somewhat unequal,
or three larger and two smaller; capsule globose, pink and
purple spotted above, seeded. Flowering in March and April.

This very minute species—often barely an inch or more in
height—had hitherto escaped our observation, until little
friend George Bloomer discovered it, while on a trip with us
to the hills in this vicinity. The whole plant at length often
assumes a scarlet or purplish hue. It certainly is not the _C.
violacea_ of D. C. and appears quite as distinct as any species
known to us.

Mr. Bolander made some remarks on the peculiar growth of _Carex decidua_, in Marin County, not on the borders of the creeks, but in the middle of them. He also spoke of _Hierochloa fragrans_ R. S., as a remarkably fragrant plant, and as furnishing beautiful grass for lawns.

REGULAR MEETING, MAY 18TH, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Nine members present.

Messrs. W. S. Sullivant, and Leo Lesquereux, of Columbus, Ohio, were elected Corresponding Members, and Rev. T. Starr King a Resident Member.

Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:

Specimens of copper ore from the Mammoth Lode, Del Norte County, by Dr. Trask.

REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 1ST, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Ten members present, and Dr. Hillebrand, of Honolulu, by invitation.

Dr. Kellogg presented the following paper:

Description of a New Species of Hosackia.

BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

HOSACKIA Dougl.

_H. argentea_ Kellogg. [FIG. 8.]

Appressed satiny pubescent throughout, prostrate, much
branching from a perennial crown.

Leaves short, very densely set or crowded along the lower stem,
leaflets three, very small, rounded, and scarcely mucronate;
the upper leaves larger, leaflets four (only one of the lower
pair developed), obovate obtuse, very abruptly mucronate-acute;
stipules red, minute and gland-like, glabrous. Peduncles twice
the length of the leaves; umbels six to ten-flowered, bract of
a single sessile obovate leaf (a few separate pink glands or
embryoid stipules often present).

Flowers orange yellow throughout; keel obtuse, wings and
banner equal; teeth of the calyx about one-third its length,
acuminate, embryo legume terete, appressed pubescent,
two-seeded; mature fruit unknown.

From Kern River, pendent from rocky cliffs. The Society is
indebted to Mrs. Hutchings for this new and very beautiful
species.

Dr. Ayres presented a paper by Dr. T. M. Logan, of Sacramento, on the Physics, Hygiene, and Thermology of the Sacramento River, which was read and referred to the Publishing Committee.

REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 15TH, 1863.

Dr. Ayres in the Chair.

Six members present.

Donations to the Cabinet:

Insects from seeds imported from Germany, by Mr. Bevans; plants from Sonoma, by Dr. Behr.

Donations to the Library:

Annual Report of the Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zoology for 1862. American Journal of Science for May, 1863, from the Editor.

Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:

Description of a New Species of Mentzelia.

BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

MENTZELIA L.

_M. pectinata_ Kellogg. [FIG. 9.]

Rough, with a white minutely-barbed pubescence throughout;
stem four to six inches high; simple, or slightly branched at
the summit; greenish, or a little blanched at the base; leaves
pinnatifid, lower petiolate, the upper sessile, three-nerved;
flowers of a shining golden color, with a lustrous metallic
hue, shading from a deep, vivid orange to a burnt carmine
center; stamens very numerous, all filiform, scarcely half the
length of the petals; anthers white; style longer, spirally
twisted above at the divisible portion; petals five, spreading,
obcordate or obovate cuneate at the base. Flowers from
three-fourths to one inch in diameter, clustered at the summit
by the short branches; short pedicellate (the uppermost often
sessile or sub-sessile); two or three linear-subulate bracts
above the pedicel at the base of the capsule; capsule thickened
upwards from a sharp base; calyx segments lance-subulate acute.

Root ligneous.

Found by Mrs. Hutchings on the mountains above Visalia.

REGULAR MEETING, JULY 6TH, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Twelve members present.

Professor George Thurber, of New York City, and F. W. Putnam, Esq., of Cambridge, Mass., were elected Corresponding Members.

Donations to the Library were received as follows:

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for October-December, 1862. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, Vol. II, No. 1. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. IX, Signatures 11 and 12.

Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:

Description of Three New Plants.

BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

LINUM L.

_L. trisepalum_ Kellogg. [FIG. 10.]

Stem suffruticose; base flexuous, smooth, cinnamon brown,
numerously branched above; branches green, slender, erect,
subsimple, stellate pubescent from minute scabrous elevations,
and also simply short pubescent; plant sub-triangular
throughout. Leaves erect, sub-appressed, small, linear, obtuse,
slightly narrowed at the base into a very short petiole,
alternate. Flowers small, yellow, in sub-terminal racemoid
panicles; pedicels as long, or twice the length of the flowers;
calyx bi-bracteate (appendaged?); bracts minute (about half the
length of the sepals), linear, foliaceous (rudimentary sepals);
proper sepals three, nerveless, ovate, acute (or sub-acute),
imbricated margins glabrous, as long as the capsule. Petals
obovate, sub-cuneate, scarcely twice the length of the sepals;
stamens ten (yellow), shorter than the calyx; styles one,
short; stigmas three, or united the entire length; capsule
spheroid obtuse, sub-triangular, three-valved, each valve
two-seeded, false dissepiment incomplete.

A small shrubby species, six inches to [Transcriber’s Note:
the second measurement was omitted] in height, found by Mr.
Bolander on the White Hills back of Oakland.

P.S.—From the ripe fruit since obtained, the capsule is
more ovate; separating invariably into three valves, only
two to three ovules attaining to maturity; the seeds black,
sub-compressed ovate, plano-convex or with two plain sides, the
third convex, surface rough.

_L. decurrens_ Kellogg. [FIG. 11.]

Stem annual, smooth, somewhat erect, sparingly branched, four
to six inches of their summits racemed (the simple branches
but slightly diverging from a vertical direction) much
decurrent, from one to two feet in height. Leaves alternate,
narrowly lanceolate, one-nerved, sharply acuminate (the
lower-most leaves unknown). Flowers secund, large purplish
blue, unilateral on long much decurrent pedicels, expansion
of the pedicel above the articulation at the base of the
calyx quadrangular; sepals five, ovate-oblong acute, margins
scarious, seven-nerved, rather more than half the length of
the capsule. Petals obovate, cuneate, claw short emarginate or
crenate at the apex, marked by about five deeper blue veins.
Styles five, free to the base, stigmas capitate. Stamens five,
short; anthers oblong, white. Capsule ovate, very abruptly
short pointed, completely ten-celled. Seeds oblong, hilum
slightly narrowed.

Found by Mrs. Thayer on the head waters of Feather River.

SILENE L.

_S. Dorrii_ Kellogg. [FIG. 12.]

Stem simple or dichotomous above, minutely velvety glandular
pubescent throughout, upper and cauline leaves lanceolate,
acute or acuminate, sessile or sub-sessile, opposite, erect,
slightly cilliate at base (radical leaves unknown). Flowers
white, very small, sub-solitary on long peduncles; calyx
tubular-campanulate, at length inflated, teeth short, acute
(tipped with purple), tube ten-nerved; petals not crowned,
minute border sub-two-lobed, lamina expanded, claws long and
very slender; stamens ten, longer, at length shorter, filaments
glabrous, anthers sagittate; styles two to three, separate,
recoiled; stigmatose along the entire inner face. Ovary
somewhat globose, apex slightly contracted; compressed seeds
granular, stipe of the capsule very short.

A plant about three to five inches in height.

Collected by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr in Nevada Territory.

Dr. James Blake read a paper on the gradual elevation of the land in the environs of San Francisco.

On the Gradual Elevation of the Land in the Environs of San Francisco.

BY JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F.R.C.S.

The gradual elevation and depression of large portions of the
earth’s surface has, within the last few years, been attracting
considerable attention from geologists. It is a vast geological
process of which we are the actual spectators, offering us
the most imposing terrestrial phenomenon of which we can be
cognizant, and at the same time affording us some tangible
idea of the vast periods that have been required for bringing
the surface of the earth to its present shape. It is the
general opinion of geologists that the western shore of our
continent is gradually rising. This has been proved to be the
case as regards the southern portion of the continent; but the
following facts, observed in the neighborhood of this city,
afford undoubted evidence that at least this portion of the
northern continent is being gradually elevated above the level
of the ocean.

On the northern bank of Lobos Creek, a small stream running
from Mountain Lake to the ocean, muscle shells and rolled
pebbles are found at an elevation of from eighty to one hundred
feet above the present level of the ocean, and probably at
the distance of half a mile from the present beach. These
shells and pebbles are exactly analogous to those now being
deposited at the mouth of the creek, and were undoubtedly
placed there when the spots at which they are found formed
the beach of the ocean. The surface of the country is so much
covered by drifting sands, that it is only in spots that
these shore remains show themselves. The deposits first seen
contain remains of shells considerably weathered—lower down
the creek, shells and larger pebbles are seen; still lower
down I found the same materials mixed with smaller pebbles,
and at an elevation of about fifty feet small bands of black
peat earth were found interstratified with the sand and gravel.
These small bands of vegetable earth were evidently formed near
the level of the ocean by the waves throwing up a barrier of
sand which dammed up the waters of the creek, so as to form a
pond in which a layer of vegetable matter was deposited. This
process is going on at the present time, a dam having been
thrown up by the heavy storms of the winter of 1861-1862.

Another evidence of the recent elevation of the country is
seen near the western end of the Puerta Suelo, at a distance
of about eight miles from the city. Here there is a depression
in the hills, extending from the bay to the ocean, and forming
a narrow neck to the peninsula on which San Francisco stands.
Even at present, the distance from the waters of the bay to the
ocean is not more than two or three miles at this point, and
it is evident that at no very distant period this depression
formed a channel of communication between them. Near the
western end of this former channel, and at about a mile inland
from the present sea beach, the skeleton of the head of a whale
is found on the surface of the ground. The specimen measures
about six feet across, and must have belonged to an animal
fifty or sixty feet long. The bones, which are not at all
mineralised, are in a good state of preservation. At the time
they were carried there, there must have been eight or ten feet
of water over the surface, and as the place is at present from
ten to fifteen feet above the level of the ocean, a rise of
twenty-five or thirty feet must have taken place at this spot
since the animal was washed there.

Another locality at which evidence of the gradual elevation of
the land can be obtained is found to the west of Black Point,
where abundant remains of our present bay shells are found at
a considerable elevation above the level of the sea; and, were
not the surface of the country, particularly the lower levels,
so completely covered in by the drifting sands, no doubt many
analogous deposits could be found. To the south and west of
the Mission, and in all the lower levels between there and the
range of hills overlooking the Puerta Suelo, the surface is
covered by these recent post tertiary deposits, through which
the older rocks protrude in many places as isolated masses,
the recent argillaceous sandstone being deposited in nearly
horizontal strata around their base. These sandstones have
given rise, by their decomposition, to the extensive surfaces
of yellow sandy loam seen between the Mission and the Ocean
House. I think the highest of these beds does not attain a
greater elevation than one hundred feet above the present level
of the ocean.

More recent evidence of the gradual elevation of the land is
furnished by the holes made by the marine worms in the rocks
on the shores of the bay, many of these holes being found at
elevations which the highest tides do not at present reach.

On the age of these deposits it is useless at present to
speculate. All that we know for certain is, that geologically
speaking, they are recent; but whether it is five hundred, or
five thousand, or fifty thousand years since the present site
of Mountain Lake was on a level with the ocean, our present
data do not enable us to form an opinion. All that the facts
prove is that this portion of the continent is being gradually
raised en masse.

From observations I have made on the main range of the Sierra,
I am inclined to think that this process of gradual elevation
is not confined to the land bordering the sea coast, but
extends far into the interior. The undisturbed position of the
post tertiary strata on the western slope of the Sierra, would
indicate that the same process of gradual elevation must have
been going on for hundreds of thousands of years, so that the
original beach of the earlier post tertiary ocean is now at
an elevation of four or five thousand feet above the present
level of the sea. Should subsequent observations confirm the
truth of this supposition, this country would afford a more
striking example of the action of existing causes in modifying
the surface of the earth, than is to be found in any other
portion of the globe. It is desirable that some means should be
taken to ascertain and record accurately the present relative
level of the sea and land, as, after a few years, such a
determination might furnish some very useful geological data.
I have no doubt that it will be found that every shock of an
earthquake is accompanied by an elevation of the land.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 6th, 1863.

REGULAR MEETING, JULY 20TH, 1863.

Dr. Ayres in the Chair.

Twelve members present.

J. B. Bayerque, Esq., was elected a Life Member.

Donation to the Cabinet: A number of birds and quadrupeds were deposited by Mr. W. W. Holder.

Donations to the Library:

Ascent of Pike’s Peak by Dr. C. C. Parry. Biennial Report of the Chicago Historical Society to the Governor of Illinois.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter from Samuel H. Scudder, Esq., to Dr. Behr, from which the following extracts are taken:

“Through the kindness of Mr. Edwards, I have had the
opportunity of looking at your two recent papers on
_Argynnides_ and on _Danais_, and have been much interested
therein. Reading the latter article, I instantly had recalled
to me some statements in regard to localization of the species
at the Sandwich Islands by the sons of one or two American
missionaries long resident there—gentlemen in every way to be
depended on for common accuracy—by those statements I was led
to an opposite conclusion from yours in regard to the means
by which it was introduced; and since I have read your paper
I have met with Dr. Gulick, for some time a missionary at
Ascension Island, one of the Micronesian group, now in America
for his health, from whom I have received some additional
facts. They all concur in stating that this butterfly was
formerly wanting at the Sandwich Islands, and spread over the
Islands just as fast as did the milk-weed upon which they
feed—the two keeping pace with one another. Dr. Gulick makes
some more definite statements; he says that a gentleman in
Hawaii sent him on Ascension Island (2,000 or 3,000 miles
distant) a large box of plants under glass; that when they
reached Ascension Island he found among them the milk-weed,
which was set out with others; in five or six weeks they
reached maturity, and then they discovered upon them the
larvæ of _Danais_ which nearly destroyed them—the natives
have never before seen them and the butterfly was altogether
unknown, indeed, no such large and showy butterfly exists
there. Subsequently and purposely, as an experiment, he took
some seeds to the opposite side of the Island, twenty-five
miles distant, and sowed them, and was absent some four or five
months; when he returned the larvæ were there. A gentleman
and the natives had been put upon the watch by him for the
butterflies but none had been seen, and these larvæ changing
produced the first they had any of them seen.

“It seems to me that the appearance of the larvæ on the
transported plant in its early growth leaves but little room to
doubt that the eggs of the insect were transported also in the
Wardian case.”

Prof. Whitney read the following notice of the large mass of meteoric iron now in this city, on its way to the Smithsonian Institution: