P.S.—From the ripe fruit since obtained, the capsule is

more ovate; separating invariably into three valves, only

two to three ovules attaining to maturity; the seeds black,

sub-compressed ovate, plano-convex or with two plain sides, the

third convex, surface rough.

_L. decurrens_ Kellogg. [FIG. 11.]

[Illustration: FIG. 11.]

Stem annual, smooth, somewhat erect, sparingly branched, four

to six inches of their summits racemed (the simple branches

but slightly diverging from a vertical direction) much

decurrent, from one to two feet in height. Leaves alternate,

narrowly lanceolate, one-nerved, sharply acuminate (the

lower-most leaves unknown). Flowers secund, large purplish

blue, unilateral on long much decurrent pedicels, expansion

of the pedicel above the articulation at the base of the

calyx quadrangular; sepals five, ovate-oblong acute, margins

scarious, seven-nerved, rather more than half the length of

the capsule. Petals obovate, cuneate, claw short emarginate or

crenate at the apex, marked by about five deeper blue veins.

Styles five, free to the base, stigmas capitate. Stamens five,

short; anthers oblong, white. Capsule ovate, very abruptly

short pointed, completely ten-celled. Seeds oblong, hilum

slightly narrowed.

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

SILENE L.

_S. Dorrii_ Kellogg. [FIG. 12.]

[Illustration: FIG. 12.]

Stem simple or dichotomous above, minutely velvety glandular

pubescent throughout, upper and cauline leaves lanceolate,

acute or acuminate, sessile or sub-sessile, opposite, erect,

slightly cilliate at base (radical leaves unknown). Flowers

white, very small, sub-solitary on long peduncles; calyx

tubular-campanulate, at length inflated, teeth short, acute

(tipped with purple), tube ten-nerved; petals not crowned,

minute border sub-two-lobed, lamina expanded, claws long and

very slender; stamens ten, longer, at length shorter, filaments

glabrous, anthers sagittate; styles two to three, separate,

recoiled; stigmatose along the entire inner face. Ovary

somewhat globose, apex slightly contracted; compressed seeds

granular, stipe of the capsule very short.

A plant about three to five inches in height.

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

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

environs of San Francisco.

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

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

The gradual elevation and depression of large portions of the

earth’s surface has, within the last few years, been attracting

considerable attention from geologists. It is a vast geological

process of which we are the actual spectators, offering us

the most imposing terrestrial phenomenon of which we can be

cognizant, and at the same time affording us some tangible

idea of the vast periods that have been required for bringing

the surface of the earth to its present shape. It is the

general opinion of geologists that the western shore of our

continent is gradually rising. This has been proved to be the

case as regards the southern portion of the continent; but the

following facts, observed in the neighborhood of this city,

afford undoubted evidence that at least this portion of the

northern continent is being gradually elevated above the level

of the ocean.

On the northern bank of Lobos Creek, a small stream running

from Mountain Lake to the ocean, muscle shells and rolled

pebbles are found at an elevation of from eighty to one hundred

feet above the present level of the ocean, and probably at

the distance of half a mile from the present beach. These

shells and pebbles are exactly analogous to those now being

deposited at the mouth of the creek, and were undoubtedly

placed there when the spots at which they are found formed

the beach of the ocean. The surface of the country is so much

covered by drifting sands, that it is only in spots that

these shore remains show themselves. The deposits first seen

contain remains of shells considerably weathered—lower down

the creek, shells and larger pebbles are seen; still lower

down I found the same materials mixed with smaller pebbles,

and at an elevation of about fifty feet small bands of black

peat earth were found interstratified with the sand and gravel.

These small bands of vegetable earth were evidently formed near

the level of the ocean by the waves throwing up a barrier of

sand which dammed up the waters of the creek, so as to form a

pond in which a layer of vegetable matter was deposited. This

process is going on at the present time, a dam having been

thrown up by the heavy storms of the winter of 1861-1862.

Another evidence of the recent elevation of the country is

seen near the western end of the Puerta Suelo, at a distance

of about eight miles from the city. Here there is a depression

in the hills, extending from the bay to the ocean, and forming

a narrow neck to the peninsula on which San Francisco stands.

Even at present, the distance from the waters of the bay to the

ocean is not more than two or three miles at this point, and

it is evident that at no very distant period this depression

formed a channel of communication between them. Near the

western end of this former channel, and at about a mile inland

from the present sea beach, the skeleton of the head of a whale

is found on the surface of the ground. The specimen measures

about six feet across, and must have belonged to an animal

fifty or sixty feet long. The bones, which are not at all

mineralised, are in a good state of preservation. At the time

they were carried there, there must have been eight or ten feet

of water over the surface, and as the place is at present from

ten to fifteen feet above the level of the ocean, a rise of

twenty-five or thirty feet must have taken place at this spot

since the animal was washed there.

Another locality at which evidence of the gradual elevation of

the land can be obtained is found to the west of Black Point,

where abundant remains of our present bay shells are found at

a considerable elevation above the level of the sea; and, were

not the surface of the country, particularly the lower levels,

so completely covered in by the drifting sands, no doubt many

analogous deposits could be found. To the south and west of

the Mission, and in all the lower levels between there and the

range of hills overlooking the Puerta Suelo, the surface is

covered by these recent post tertiary deposits, through which

the older rocks protrude in many places as isolated masses,

the recent argillaceous sandstone being deposited in nearly

horizontal strata around their base. These sandstones have

given rise, by their decomposition, to the extensive surfaces

of yellow sandy loam seen between the Mission and the Ocean

House. I think the highest of these beds does not attain a

greater elevation than one hundred feet above the present level

of the ocean.

More recent evidence of the gradual elevation of the land is

furnished by the holes made by the marine worms in the rocks

on the shores of the bay, many of these holes being found at

elevations which the highest tides do not at present reach.

On the age of these deposits it is useless at present to

speculate. All that we know for certain is, that geologically

speaking, they are recent; but whether it is five hundred, or

five thousand, or fifty thousand years since the present site

of Mountain Lake was on a level with the ocean, our present

data do not enable us to form an opinion. All that the facts

prove is that this portion of the continent is being gradually

raised en masse.

From observations I have made on the main range of the Sierra,

I am inclined to think that this process of gradual elevation

is not confined to the land bordering the sea coast, but

extends far into the interior. The undisturbed position of the

post tertiary strata on the western slope of the Sierra, would

indicate that the same process of gradual elevation must have

been going on for hundreds of thousands of years, so that the

original beach of the earlier post tertiary ocean is now at

an elevation of four or five thousand feet above the present

level of the sea. Should subsequent observations confirm the

truth of this supposition, this country would afford a more

striking example of the action of existing causes in modifying

the surface of the earth, than is to be found in any other

portion of the globe. It is desirable that some means should be

taken to ascertain and record accurately the present relative

level of the sea and land, as, after a few years, such a

determination might furnish some very useful geological data.

I have no doubt that it will be found that every shock of an

earthquake is accompanied by an elevation of the land.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 6th, 1863.

REGULAR MEETING, JULY 20TH, 1863.

Dr. Ayres in the Chair.

Twelve members present.

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

Donation to the Cabinet: A number of birds and quadrupeds were deposited

by Mr. W. W. Holder.

Donations to the Library:

Ascent of Pike’s Peak by Dr. C. C. Parry. Biennial Report of the Chicago

Historical Society to the Governor of Illinois.

The Corresponding Secretary read a letter from Samuel H. Scudder, Esq.,

to Dr. Behr, from which the following extracts are taken:

“Through the kindness of Mr. Edwards, I have had the

opportunity of looking at your two recent papers on

_Argynnides_ and on _Danais_, and have been much interested

therein. Reading the latter article, I instantly had recalled

to me some statements in regard to localization of the species

at the Sandwich Islands by the sons of one or two American

missionaries long resident there—gentlemen in every way to be

depended on for common accuracy—by those statements I was led

to an opposite conclusion from yours in regard to the means

by which it was introduced; and since I have read your paper

I have met with Dr. Gulick, for some time a missionary at

Ascension Island, one of the Micronesian group, now in America

for his health, from whom I have received some additional

facts. They all concur in stating that this butterfly was

formerly wanting at the Sandwich Islands, and spread over the

Islands just as fast as did the milk-weed upon which they

feed—the two keeping pace with one another. Dr. Gulick makes

some more definite statements; he says that a gentleman in

Hawaii sent him on Ascension Island (2,000 or 3,000 miles

distant) a large box of plants under glass; that when they

reached Ascension Island he found among them the milk-weed,

which was set out with others; in five or six weeks they

reached maturity, and then they discovered upon them the

larvæ of _Danais_ which nearly destroyed them—the natives

have never before seen them and the butterfly was altogether

unknown, indeed, no such large and showy butterfly exists

there. Subsequently and purposely, as an experiment, he took

some seeds to the opposite side of the Island, twenty-five

miles distant, and sowed them, and was absent some four or five

months; when he returned the larvæ were there. A gentleman

and the natives had been put upon the watch by him for the

butterflies but none had been seen, and these larvæ changing

produced the first they had any of them seen.

“It seems to me that the appearance of the larvæ on the

transported plant in its early growth leaves but little room to

doubt that the eggs of the insect were transported also in the

Wardian case.”

Prof. Whitney read the following notice of the large mass of meteoric

iron now in this city, on its way to the Smithsonian Institution:

By a singular coincidence, we have now the pleasure of seeing

in this city the two great masses of meteoric iron which

have been so often spoken of as being at Tucson, in Arizona,

one of which was brought here and presented to the city by

General Carleton, in November last, a notice of which, with an

analysis, has already appeared in our proceedings. This mass

may properly be designated as the “Carleton (Tucson) Meteoric

Iron,” while the one which is destined for the Smithsonian

Institution may be called the “Ainsa (Tucson) Meteoric Iron,”

as it has been rendered accessible for scientific investigation

by Mr. Jesus M. Ainsa, as will be seen by the following

memorandum of the circumstance kindly furnished by his brother,

Mr. James M. Ainsa:

“This aerolite was first discovered by the early Jesuit

Missionaries in the mountains called the ‘Sierra de la Madera,’

near Tucson.

“In 1735, El Capitan de las Provincias del Occidente, Don Juan

Bautista Anza, induced by the accounts of the science-loving

Jesuits, ordered the aerolite to be removed from the mountains,

with the intention of sending it to Spain. However, through the

want of wagon roads and the proper means of conveyance at that

time, to take it to San Blas, then the nearest port of entry,

the attempt was entirely abandoned.

“The aerolite was left at Tucson, where it continued to attract

the attention of the scientific men who visited that country

for more than a hundred years. Since the acquisition of

Arizona by the United States, greater notice has been taken of

this aerolite, it having been mentioned several times in the

official reports of the Government agents.

“By a singular coincidence, Augustin Ainsa, the great-grandson

of Don Juan Bautista Anza, undertook, in 1860, to transport the

aerolite and present it to the Smithsonian Institution. With

great difficulty it was brought as far as the Yñigo hacienda,

where it remained until May, 1863, when Jesus M. Ainsa, in

his late visit to Sonora, brought it to this city, with the

intention of forwarding it to the Smithsonian Institution at

Washington, where it will soon be sent.”

At present the mass in question lies upon the steps of the

Custom House, where it has been most admirably photographed by

Mr. Watkins.[2]

It was said by Mr. Ainsa to weigh 1,600 pounds.

The shape of this meteoric mass is very peculiar; and, at

first, it would hardly be recognized as the identical specimen

figured by Mr. Bartlett at Tucson, especially as this gentleman

estimated its weight at 600 pounds only. Instead of being, as

Mr. Bartlett supposed, a mass supported on two legs, it is,

in reality, a ring of metal, of very irregular dimensions, of

which about one-quarter was buried in the ground, in order to

support it in a convenient position for use as an anvil, when

it was seen by him at Tucson.

The dimensions of this ring are as follows:

Greatest exterior diameter 49 inches.

Least exterior diameter 38 ”

Greatest width of central opening 26½ ”

Least width of central opening 23 ”

Greatest thickness at right angles to plane of ring 10 ”

Width of thickest part of the ring 17½ ”

Width of narrowest part 2¾ ”

The weight of the mass corresponds, taking the specific gravity

at 7.2, with a circle-ring, having an average width of one

foot, and a thickness of a small fraction less than eight

inches—the diameter of the circle represented by the exterior

of the ring being assumed as four feet.

On examining with a magnifying glass a fractured surface of

the mass, it was seen at once to be different in composition

from the Carleton Meteoric Iron, and my conjecture that Prof.

Smith was mistaken in supposing that he analyzed a fragment

from the mass figured by Mr. Bartlett, was confirmed.[3] It is

now almost certain that Messrs. Brush and Smith did analyze

fragments of the same meteoric iron.

The Ainsa Meteoric Iron contains a large per centage of a

white—almost transparent—silicious mineral, having a vitreous

lustre, which may be olivine; but the amount seems larger than

that in the Carleton mass. The Smithsonian Institution will

undoubtedly cause a chemical investigation to be made of this

superb meteoric mass, and it will be interesting to compare its

composition with that of the Carleton meteorite, as the two

were found so near each other that they may be supposed to have

formed portions of the same body, and to have fallen at the

same time.

The photograph was taken by Mr. Watkins, at my request,

partly to be sent abroad as a specimen of the high degree of

perfection which has been attained by this gentleman in this

department of art, and partly that an exact representation

might be secured of this very remarkable body, in case it

should be lost or captured on its way to Washington.

In concluding this notice, the following statement is given of

all that is known of the size and position of the masses of

meteoric iron which have been noticed by various travelers in

Arizona and the adjacent portions of Mexico and New Mexico.

_In the Madera range_, “Sierra de la Madera,” between Tucson

and Tubac, “enormous masses of pure iron, some of which were

transported to Tucson, and for many years were to be seen in

the Plaza of that Presidio.” Francisco Velasco, in W. F. Nye’s

Translation of his work on Sonora, p. 146, published at San

Francisco in 1861.—Two of these masses have been brought to

this city, the one weighing 1,600, the other 632 pounds; the

question arises, how many more are left in the Sierra Madera?

To this, no answer can be given at present.

“At the _Hacienda de Concepcion_, on the road from Chihuahua to

Rio Florida,” a mass of meteoric iron estimated to weigh 3,853

lbs.—Bartlett. The exact locality of this hacienda I have not

been able to ascertain.

“_Ninety miles north-west of Santa Rosa_,” supposed to be

the Santa Rosa in the province of Coahuila, in Mexico, lat.

28°, long. 101° 30’; Ass’t A. Schott, of the Mexican Boundary

Survey, reports a large number of masses of meteoric iron; see

page 34, Part II, of Major Emory’s Report. This statement needs

confirmation.

“_Sancha Estate, some fifty or sixty miles from Santa Rosa, in

the north of Coahuila._” This is the locality of the mass of

meteoric iron, weighing 252 pounds, and now in the collection

of the Smithsonian Institution, figured, described and analyzed

by Professor Smith; see Smithsonian Report for 1855, p. 154,

and Silliman’s Journal, (2) XIX, 160. Professor Smith says,

“various accounts were given of the precise locality, but none

seemed very satisfactory.” It is not unlikely that this mass is

from the same locality mentioned by Mr. Schott.

“_Near the South-western edge of the Balson de Mapimi, on the

route to the Mines of Parral_, there is a meteorite, near the

road, of not less than a ton weight;” on the authority of Mr.

Weidner, of the mines of Freiberg, as stated by Professor Smith

(Smithsonian Report for 1855, page 155), Mapimi is in lon. 103°

30’; lat. 25° 45’ nearly.

“_At the Hacienda of Venagas_, there was (1827) a piece of iron

that would make a cylinder, one yard in length, with a diameter

of ten inches. It was said to have been brought from the

mountains near the Hacienda.” Professor Smith, on the authority

of Dr. Berlandier (Smithsonian Report for 1855, p. 155), makes

the above statement; the exact locality of the Hacienda I have

been unable to ascertain; it is probably nearly in lat. 24°,

lon. 101°.

_La Paz, New Mexico_, near the Colorado River, about lat. 33°

30’. A mass of meteoric iron, weighing 10 pounds, was brought

from that locality, in 1862, by Mr. H. Ehrenberg.

A number of other localities of meteoric iron might be added

from more southern and central portions of Mexico; but as that

is a region to which the attention of Californian explorers

and capitalists has not yet been much directed, it will not be

necessary to cite them here. It is hoped that the circulation

of the above list may be the means of procuring further

information in regard to the masses of iron noticed; and that,

possibly, more of them may be brought to San Francisco.

[2] The mass was shipped on the Panama steamer, which sailed

from San Francisco on the 3d of August.

[3] See page 34, of this volume.

REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 3D, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Present, eleven members.

F. M. Spence, of Victoria, V. I., was elected a Corresponding Member.

Donations to the Cabinet:

Two species of grasses collected in Mariposa County, by Mr. Rowlandson.

Donations to the Library:

The following foreign journals and scientific works were received through

the Smithsonian Institution:

Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. i, Nos.

6 and 7 (1859), 8-19 (1860), 20-31 (1861), Vol. ii, Nos.

1-12 (1862); List of the Fellows for 1861 and 1862; Der

Zoologische Garten, Nos. 1-12, 1862; Bulletins de l’Académie

Royale de Belgique, Tomes ix-xii, 1860, 1861; Mémoires de

l’Académie de Dijon (2) ix, x, 1861; Annuaire de l’Académie

Royale de Belgique, Anneés 27 et 28; Mémoires de la Société

Impériale de Sciences Naturelles de Cherbourg, Tome viii, 1861;

Sitzungsberichte der k. bayr. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu

München, 1861, ii, Heft 1-3, 1862, i, Heft 1-4 1862, ii, 1;

Abhandlungen der Math. Physik. Classe der k. bayr. Akademie der

Wissenschaften, Band ix, Abtheilung 2, München, 1862; Annalen

der Königl. Sternwarte bei München, Band xi, 1862; Nachträge zu

Maly’s Enumeratio plantarum phanerogamicarum imperii Austriaci

universi, von Aug. Neilreich, Wien 1861; Verhandlungen der

k. k. zool.-bot. Gesellschaft in Wien, 1861, Bd xi; Jahrbuch

der k. k. geolog. Reichsanstalt 1861 and 1862, Band xii;

Untersuchungen über die Dichten und Brechungs-exponente,

von Dr. Ad. Weiss und Ed. Weiss; Geognostische Beschreibung

der preuss. Oberlausitz, von E. F. Glocker, Görlitz, 1857;

Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Görlitz,

Band ii, 1860; Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale de St.

Petersburg, Tome iii, No. 12, iv, Nos. 1-9; Schriften der k.

phys.-ökon. Gesellschaft zu Königsberg, Jahrgang 1, Heft 2

(1861), ii, 2, 1862; Die Culturpflanzen Norwegens, von Dr. P.

C. Schübler, Christiana, 1862; Meteorologische Beobachtungen

des Observatoriums zu Christiana i and ii, 1862; Beskrivelse

over Lophogaster typicus, von Dr. M. Sars, Christiana, 1862;

Geologiske undersögelser af Dr. Theodor Kierulf, Christiana,

1862; Zwei Karten zur geognostischen Beschreibung der preuss.

Oberlausitz, von E. P. Glocker; Mittheilungen der Naturf.

Gesellschaft in Bern, 1858, Nos. 408-423, 1859, 424-439,

1860, 440-468; Verhandlungen der Schweizerischen Naturf.

Gesellschaft, 43te Versammlung, Bern, 1859; Correspondenzblatt

des Naturf. Vereins zu Riga, 12ter Iahrgang, 1862; Bericht über

die Thätigkeit der St. Gallischen Naturwissens. Gesellschaft,

1858-1860; Atti della Società elvetica delle Scienze Naturali

riunita in Lugano, 1860, 44th Session; Verhandelingen van

het Bataviaasch Genootschap, Part xxvii, 1860, xxviii, 1860;

Tijdschrift voor indische Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde, Deel vi,

2-7, vii, 1-6, viii, 1-6, ix, 1-6, x, 1-6 (1860); Studien aux

der Natur, von Dr. Ad. Weiss und J. G. Weiss; Fluorescenz der

Farbenstoffe, von Dr. Ad. Weiss.

Mr. Gabb presented the following paper by Mr. Rémond:

Description of Four New Species of Echinodermata, from the Tertiaries of

Contra Costa County.

BY AUGUSTE RÉMOND.

ASTRODAPSIS Conrad.

_A. Whitneyi_ Rémond.

Disk circular, or sub-pentagonal, slightly notched at the

extremity of the ambulacra.

Apex central and elevated; edge depressed.

Ambulacral star symmetrical, prominent near the apex; petals

equal, reaching to the margin of the disk.

Interambulacral spaces much depressed near the edge.

Lower surface slightly and gradually concave; furrows well

marked and straight.

Mouth central, circular; anal aperture small, sub-marginal.

Papillary tubercles somewhat remote, smaller above than

beneath, situated in wide and shallow cells; miliary tubercles

very numerous and crowded, both on the superior and inferior

surfaces.

Greatest diameter 1.8 inches

Smallest diameter 1.65 ”

Height 0.3 ”

Locality: Kirker’s Pass formations. Found in lower pliocene

beds.

The genus astrodapsis, to which I have referred the above

species, was indicated by Mr. Conrad, in the Pacific Railroad

Reports, Vol. VII, Palæontological Report, page 196, without

any generic description.

The genus is closely allied to clypeaster, but differs from it

in having the petals of the ambulacral star extending to the

edge of the disk, opened at the extremity, and in the margin of

the disk being slightly notched at the extremity of each petal.

The inter-ambulacral spaces are depressed. On the under surface

there is a deep groove corresponding to each petal.

My collection, and that of the State Geological Survey.

_A. tumidus_ Rémond.

Disk rounded sub-pentagonal, thick, rounded on the edge, very

slightly notched at the end of the ambulacral areas.

Apex small, central, depressed.

Ambulacral petals symmetrical, very prominent, reaching to the

margin, longitudinally grooved by a median line. The outer

pores of the petals abruptly depressed on each side.

Inferior surface slightly concave.

Mouth central, small, rounded.

Ambulacral furrows straight, well marked.

Anus small, sub-marginal.

Papillary tubercles numerous, especially in the ambulacral

areas, and in the center beneath, not prominent, situated in

comparatively deep and sub-angular cavities.

Greatest diameter 1.34 inches.

Shortest diameter 1.26 ”

Height 0.34 ”

Locality: Kirker’s Pass formations; occurs as the preceding

species; also two miles west of Walnut Creek House.

From the collections of the California Academy of Natural

Sciences, of the State Geological Survey, and my own.

ECHINARACHNIUS van Phels.

_E. Brewerianus_ Rém.

Disk small, oval-elongated, broader behind, rather thin.

Upper surface slightly convex; margin rounded.

Apex posteriorly sub-central.

Petals close, nearly symmetrical, the anterior and posterior

ones the longest, as wide as or even wider than the

inter-ambulacral spaces; ambulacral areas composed of very

narrow plates, widening on the margin.

Inferior surface plane.

Ambulacral furrows not visible in the specimens examined.

Mouth small, central.

Anus very small, sub-marginal.

Papillary tubercles numerous, rounded, somewhat prominent, more

crowded beneath than above.

Length 1.22 inches.

Width 1.06 ”

Height 0.30 ”

Locality: Two miles east of Walnut Creek House; from miocene

beds.

Collection of the State Geological Survey, and mine.

This species is dedicated to Prof. W. H. Brewer, Botanist to

the Survey.

CLYPEASTER Lamark.

_C. Gabbii_ Rém.

Disk rather small, comparatively thick, varying from circular

to sub-pentagonal and irregular sub-oval.

Apex nearly central, sub-elevated; margin rounded; genital

apparatus sub-angular.

Ambulacral star almost symmetrical; petals about equal in

length, elongated, open at their extremities.

Inferior surface flat near the edge, and gently concave in the

center.

Mouth depressed, sub-central.

Ambulacral furrows straight, slightly marked.

Anal aperture very small, marginal.

Tubercles of the upper surface numerous, especially in the

ambulacra, round and prominent.

Greatest diameter 1.16 inches.

Smallest diameter 1.10 ”

Height 0.28 ”

Locality: The C. Gabbii occurs abundantly on the eastern shore

of San Pablo Bay, south of Mare Island, in soft sand-stones of

miocene age.

Collections of the State Geological Survey, and Academy of

Natural Sciences; also Mr. Gabb’s, Mr. F. L. A. Pioche’s, and

mine.

Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:

Description of a New Species of Allium.

BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

ALLIUM L.

_Allium parvum_ Kellogg. [FIG. 13.]

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

Scape short, naked, narrowly ancipital; leaves two, long

linear-lanceolate, acute, apex recurved, plain above, much

attenuated towards the subterranean base, which is somewhat

canaliculate; lamina from five to ten-nerved, margins remotely

subscabrulose; flowers pale, purplish, about eight; umbel

convex, pedicels triangular, thickening upwards, about as

long as the flowers, nerves of the sepals distinctly purple

to the tips; three outer sepals longer and broader, erect,

entire, oblong, somewhat obtuse, carinate; the three inner

linear-lanceolate sub-acute; genitals included, inner stamens

slightly longer, anthers pale, blueish, filaments simple,

expanded at the base; style equal, stigma acute, simple (or

obsoletely lobed); capsule in outline obcordateley trigastric,

embryo granular (mature fruit not observed), appears to be

somewhat substipitate, as seen in the figure, the three cells

somewhat grooved on the back; spathe persistent, two-parted,

ovate, sub-acute, about eleven-nerved, hyaline, and lilac

purple; bulb ovate, oblong, externally loosely coated with

light-colored, smooth-nerved membranaceous tunics. The scape

is often found only an inch above ground, as in the recent

specimens from Mount Davidson by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr. The

leaves are two to three times the length of the scape. Our

figure is from a cultivated specimen furnished by Mr. H. G.

Bloomer, from bulbs sent us some years since by Mr. Andrew A.

Veatch, from Washoe. This is the largest form of it we have yet

seen. The bulbs, however, under culture, are often three or

four times the size here represented. It has none of the garlic

odor so common in this genus.

REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 17TH, 1863.

Dr. Trask in the Chair.

Present, eleven members.

Donations to the Cabinet:

Three boxes of ores from various localities, presented by Dr. Trask. Mr.

Lorquin presented a number of land shells collected on the Philippine

Islands by Mr. Lorquin, senior. A box of shells from the Smithsonian

Institution.

Donations to the Library:

Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van

Wetenschappen; Afdeeling Naturkunde, Parts 10-14, 1860-1862;

Same, Afdeeling Letterkunde, Parts 5-6, 1860-1862; Jaarboek

van de Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam,

1859, 1860, 1861; Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural

Society, Vol. iii, Nos. 1-4, Jan. to April, 1863; Nachrichten

von der Georg-Augusts-Universität und der Königl. Gesells. der

Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 1862, Nr. 1-27.

The above were received through the Smithsonian Institution.

Dr. Cooper read the following paper:

On New or Rare Mollusca Inhabiting the Coast of California.—No. II.

BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.

The following species were collected while exploring for the

State Geological Survey, along the main land and islands

bordering Santa Barbara channel, in May, June, and July last.

Besides those described as new, I obtained additional specimens

of some of those described in 1862, confirming the specific

characters then given, and to some extent establishing the

generic more accurately.

Careful notes and drawings from living specimens furnish the

basis of most of the descriptions, together with examination of

the specimens in alcohol.

With regard to localities, it must be noticed that “Santa

Barbara” and “Santa Barbara Island” are very distinct both in

local characteristics and the groups of animals inhabiting

them. The island is about seventy-five miles from the town,

and thirty-five from the nearest main land. Catalina Island is

twenty-four miles from the main land, and very different in

its molluscous animals from both the main land and the other

islands, being the richest locality on our shores.

I have not been able to compare these species with those from

South America described by D’Orbigny and others; but, like

our other littoral mollusca, they are probably distinct.

I have, however, found the pelagic species _Ommastrephes

giganteus_ D’Orb in large numbers, and “hundreds” of a species

of _Argonauta_ washed ashore last spring as far north as Santa

Cruz Island, as I was informed by Dr. Shaw, who presented

specimens to the State collection.

APLYSIA Linn.

_A. californica_ Cooper. State Collection, species 1045.

Form and external appearance as usual in the genus. Length

fifteen inches, breadth five, height about the same. Color

pale gray or greenish, becoming purplish on the side, folds of

mantle with scattered white specks, from which an irregular

network of brown lines extends over the rest of the body,

interspersed with large brown blotches. Inner surface of mantle

varied with alternating painted bars of white and dark brown

interlocking together. Sole of foot black. Eyes very minute and

black.

_Shell_ contained in the substance of the mantle cartilaginous,

translucent, trapezoidal or hatchet-shaped, margins rounded,

slightly convex above, the nucleus or centre in old specimens

distant from the posterior end or apex. Faint radiating lines

diverging from the nucleus, crossed by an irregular network of

darker lines, all ending abruptly at some distance from the

margin, which has thus a wide, nearly transparent border. An

accessory plate arises on the inner surface from the nucleus,

spatulate in form and slightly raised.

The two younger specimens have the clear border and accessory

plate less developed, and very young ones do not probably show

these characters at all, but resemble the typical _Aplysia_

in the form of the shell. On this account I am unwilling to

constitute it a new genus, but propose to call it a sub-genus

under the name of NEAPLYSIA.

There was no appearance of a multiplication of shells, said

to occur in old specimens of _Aplysia_. Not having any full

description of the internal anatomy of _Aplysia_, I cannot at

present determine whether there are many other differences in

structure.

The stomach was full of large fragments of _Algæ_. I found

three specimens only, on the beach at San Pedro, July 25th,

just after a heavy blow which occurred at the lowest summer

tides. Kept in water for some time, they were very slow and

uninteresting in movements, showing no evidence of any means of

defence except the exudation of a beautiful purple fluid from

the mantle when handled. This fluid, common to the Aplysiæ,

though formerly supposed to be poisonous and indelible,

possesses no such properties, though it may be a defence

against marine animals which attack them.

The figure, taken from a tracing of the shell, and electrotyped

by Dr. A. Kellogg, represent the inner surface of the most

developed specimen, of the natural size.

[Illustration: FIG. 14.]

NAVARCHUS, Cooper, Proc. Cal. Acad. Ap. 1863.

_N. inermis_ Cooper.

Syn. _Strategus inermis_ Cooper, Proc. Cal. Acad. II, 1862, p.

202.

One small specimen, dredged among seaweeds in ten fathoms, near

the eastern shore of the “Isthmus,” Catalina Island, shows no

variation from those obtained at San Diego.

DORIS, Linn.

_D. albopunctata_ Cooper. State Coll. Species 1000.

Form ovate, pointed behind, flattened, surface shining,

minutely rugose. Tentacles club-shaped, retractile, branchial

plume, 6-8 parted, bipinnately divided, situated near the

posterior extremity. Color yellow or orange brown, dorsal

surface thickly speckled with small white dots, each forming a

slightly raised papilla. Beneath paler.

Dredged from a rocky bottom in twenty fathoms, a mile from the

shore at Santa Barbara. Also found on rocks at low water mark

near the north-west end of Catalina Island.

Length about one inch, breadth one-third of an inch.

_Doris montereyensis_ Cooper, Proc. Cal. Acad. II, 1862, p. 204.

Found at Santa Barbara Island on rocks at low water, differing

from the original specimens only in larger size and deeper

color. The tentacles are club-shaped, the branchial 7-8 parted,

bipinnate and from one opening.

_Doris sanguinea_ Cooper, loc. cit. (_Asteronotus._)

Four specimens found with the last, differ from the type only

in having the black spots very small. The tentacles are acute,

cylindro-conic, retractile into a cavity bordered by a toothed

membrane. The branchiæ form an erect chimney-shaped expansion.

I cannot discover the stellate valvular structure of the

branchial opening, which characterises the genus _Asteronotus_,

in these specimens.

_Doris Sandiegensis_ Cooper, loc. cit.

Two found with the last agree exactly with specimens from

San Diego. The tentacles are conical and acute. The

branchial orifice does not present the peculiar characters

of _Actinocyclus_. Although all these species differ to some

extent, they have no characters to distinguish them generically

from the typical _Doris_, unless anatomical or microscopical

examination should reveal them, or the characters of that genus

should be more closely limited.

TRIOPA Johnston, 1838.

_T. catalinæ_ Cooper. State coll. species, 1002.

Form much elongated, narrow, dorsal surface flat, becoming

spatulate posteriously. Head expanded laterally and flattened,

wider than the body, ornamented with 14 ciliæ, equally

distributed around its margin, so as to form nearly a circle.

Tentacles long, conical, retractile. Three pairs of short ciliæ

at equal distances apart between the tentacles and middle of

the body, connected by the sharp edges of the dorsal surface.

Branchial plume five parted, bipinnately divided, expanding to

nearly twice the width of the body, situated a little behind

the middle of the body. Two short ciliæ close together on the

medium line, a little behind the branchiæ. Length 1.50, breadth

0.25 inch. Color yellowish, speckled with white, filaments

vermilion red.

Four specimens found on sea weed among rocks at low water near

north end of Catalina Island, June 16th.

DENDRONOTUS Alder and Hancock, 1845.

_D. iris_ Cooper. State coll. species 959.

Pale purple, varying to orange red, foot narrowly edged with

white, tentacles with white tips and a subterminal orange ring,

branchial processes purple, the smaller ones sometimes olive

near the base. Length of largest specimens 3, breadth 0.50 inch.

Several found on the beach at Santa Barbara, May 5th, having

been washed ashore by an unusually heavy sea, occurring at a

very low stage of the tide. One, also, dredged on seaweed, from

a depth of 28 fathoms, two miles off shore.

This species seems more variable in color than the other

_nudibranchiata_ of this coast, but I saw no reason for

considering them of more than one species. Those washed ashore

being somewhat injured, although still alive, I made no drawing

of them, and the more perfect one dredged was too small for

this purpose.

In the “Mollusca and Shells,” of the U. S. Exploring Expedition

under Commodore Wilkes, Dr. Gould mentions a species of

Dendronotus collected at Puget Sound, but does not name it or

give any clue to its characters, except that the _branchiæ_

have white tips, unlike our specimens. It is very probable,

however, that it belongs to the same species, as so many of the

Mollusca of this coast have an equally wide range.

ÆOLIS Cuvier, 1798.

_Æ. barbarensis_ Cooper. State coll. species 978.

Rose-red, longer tentacles tipped with yellow, branchial

ciliæ simple, in six longitudinal rows, all short, the middle

rows longest and tipped with blue, anterior tentacles two,

above the mouth, dorsal tentacles club-shaped, a white streak

extending from the median line between them to the mouth.

Length nearly an inch.

One specimen dredged on a rocky bottom, in a depth of 16

fathoms, a mile from the shore at Santa Barbara.

Although small, its characters are too different from those

of our other species, when of the same size, to allow us to

consider it the young of any of them.

FLABELLINA Cuvier, 1830.

_F. opalescens_ Cooper.

_Syn._ Æolis, (Flabellina?) opalescens, Cooper—Proc. Cal. Acad.

II, 1862, p. 205.

This species, dredged from the same locality as the last,

presented exactly the same characters as the original specimens

from San Diego. I also found a few of them on the rocky shore

of Santa Barbara Island, differing only in having the branchial

olive, tipped with white.

PHIDANIA Gray, 1850.

_P. iodinea_, Cooper—_Syn._ Æolis (Phidania?), iodinea, Cooper,

loc. cit. sup.

I found one of this species on the beach at Santa Barbara,

agreeing exactly with those from San Diego.

CHIORÆRA Gould, 1855.

_C. leonina_ (?) Gould—Molluscs and Shells, U. S. Expl. Exped.

Wholly translucent, pale yellow, the variations marked only by

a darker shade. Form of head nearly conical, the apex anterior,

forming an angular roof above the oral opening. Bronchial

processes five on each side, larger than represented in Gould’s

figure, imbricated and decumbent. Length 2.75, height 1 inch.

Otherwise as in the description and figure of Gould’s specimen.

A single specimen dredged in 20 fathoms off Santa Barbara, May

15th, differs in the points above mentioned from the northern

animal, but being much smaller, the differences may arise from

immaturity, and I have therefore preferred to retain the same

name for it.

The single specimen which formed the type of the genus was

dredged in Puget Sound, was over five inches long and of

various bright colors, the head subglobose, higher than oral

opening, branchiæ in six pairs, comparatively smaller and

erect, all of which differences may have arisen from more

perfect development, and from having been observed under more

favorable conditions.

From its rarity on our southern coast we may expect to find it

more abundant northward.

Dr. Kellogg read a paper describing a new species of ALSINE, collected by

Mr. Bolander, in the swamp near Mission and Howard and Seventh and Eighth

Streets, San Francisco.

Description of a New Species of Alsine.

BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

ALSINE Wahlenb.

_A. palustre_ Kellogg.

Plant slender, somewhat decumbent at the base, simple or

slightly branching at the summit, glabrous, sulcate on opposite

sides of the stem, sub-flexuous, six inches to a foot in

height. Leaves lance-linear, acute, mucronate, glabrous,

margins scabrous, sub-connate and slightly sheathing at the

membranous base, shorter than the internodes (half to more

than an inch in length). Peduncles slightly compressed,

axillary, solitary, long, naked. Sepals ovate-lanceolate,

acute or subacute, one to three-nerved, green with scarious

margins, about half the length of the petals. Petals white,

oblanceolate, obtuse, entire. Stamens ten, subequal, short.

Styles three; stigmas deeply biparted.

A plant very abundant in swamps in this vicinity, known to us

for the last ten years, but as we find no description which we

recognize, we conclude it must be unknown. Blossoming in July

and August. Specimens by Mr. Bolander.

REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 7th, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Present, seven members.

Donations to Cabinet:

Fishes, crustacea, and shells from the Sandwich Islands, by Andrew

Garrett, Esq.

Donations to the Library:

Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. ix, sigs.

13 and 14, May and June, 1863. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural

Sciences of Philadelphia, for April and May, 1863. Proceedings of the

Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. 3, No. 5, May, 1863. Silliman’s

Journal, July, 1863.

Professor Whitney presented the following paper by Dr. J. G. Cooper:

On a New Genus of Terrestrial Mollusca Inhabiting California.

BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.

BINNEYA Cooper.[4]

_Generic characters._—General form of animal like _Limax_, with

a shell resembling that of _Omalonyx_ or _Lamellaria_.

Body about three times as long as shell, semicylindrical,

obtuse in front, forming an acute angle behind; foot extending

the whole length, somewhat distinct anteriorly, and carinate

behind. Mantle shield-like, covering the back anterior to the

shell for about one-fourth its length, not reflected over

the shell. Eye-peduncles moderate, slender, two short acute

tentacles in front of head. Lingual teeth resembling those of

Helix in form and arrangement.

Shell entirely external, ear-shaped, nearly flat, about

one-third as long as the animal, which it does not half cover

when retracted. Spire flattened, forming two horizontal

volutions, last whorl enormously expanded and slightly arched.

Columella distinct, entire, hiding the interior of the

convolutions.

_Binneya notabilis_ Cooper. State Coll. Species 988.

_Specific characters._—Animal dark lead-colored, with black

reticulations, and a wide brown stripe along the median

line, extending from the mantle to the front of head, about

one-fourth of the total length.

Shell with a pale brown, smooth and shining epidermis,

extending beyond the margin, translucent when young, becoming

thickened by an opaque white deposit on the interior when old.

First whorl or nucleus ornamented with about thirty delicate

parallel revolving ribs, not concealed by the epidermis, and

ending abruptly at the commencement of the transverse lines of

growth in the body whorl.

Length 0.46, breadth 0.34, height 0.12 inch.

This genus resembles _Limax_ in its shield-like mantle, but in

the more essential characters of the lingual teeth, appears to

belong undoubtedly to the _Helicidæ_. It approaches nearest to

the subfamily _Vitrininæ_, in having the mantle in front of the

shell, approaching nearest to the _Daudebardia_ of Europe; but

differs in the form and opacity of the shell, which resembles

some of the _Succininæ_, especially _Omalonyx_ of South

America, etc. It differs from these very much in the form of

the animal, and the shell being wholly external, forming one of

those connecting links which make it difficult or impossible to

divide the _Helicidæ_ into distinct groups.

_Habitat._ So far this animal has been found only in Santa

Barbara Island, one of the group within this State. It there

inhabits but one station, so far as I could discover after

very careful search. That is the head of a ravine facing the

south-east and about two hundred and fifty feet above the sea.

During the wet season there may be a little water springing

from this place, but for at least five months it is not even

damp, while the remainder of the island is entirely destitute

of water. Myriads of _Helix kelletii_ and two other species

(probably new) inhabit it, but during the dry season retire

into a torpid æstivation, not disturbed by the fogs and mists

of summer. The _Binneya_, the rarest of all, and not protected

from drought by its shell, burrows down to the under surface

of thick succulent roots, and contracting to about twice the

size of its shell, covers the rest of its body with a white

mucous secretion, which appears to be impervious to the

moisture within, and dries into a tough leathery shell.[5] When

moistened for a few hours, the animal separates the edge of

this box from that of its true shell, and becomes active.

The figures [Fig. 15] represent three positions of the shell,

the animal æstivating and also crawling.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.]

I found but three alive, and eighteen dead shells.

[4] To all those who have seen the splendid works on the

“Terrestrial Mollusks of the United States,” by the late Dr.

Amos Binney, so ably continued by his son W. G. Binney, the

appropriateness of the name will be at once evident.

[5] In this it resembles the _Testacellæ_ of Europe, which

are otherwise very different.

Dr. Trask presented, in the name of Mr. Garrett, the following paper:

Descriptions of New Species of Fishes.

BY ANDREW GARRETT, OF HONOLULU, S. I.

JULIS Cuv.

_Julis ornatissimus_ Garrett.

D. 9-13; A. 2-13; V. 1-5; P. 12; C. 2, 1, 6, 6, 1, 2.

The body of this _Julis_ is rich green, which gradually passes

into light blue on the breast and belly. The scales on the

green ground are margined with vermillion red, and there is

a slight tinge of the latter color on the abdominal scales.

Four alternate oblique light red and blue vittæ pass from the

middle of the gill-opening, and gradually fade away beneath the

anterior portion of the abdomen. The head, which is emerald

green, is ornamented with vermillion red stripes, which have

their margins shaded off with brilliant blue. The stripes are

disposed as follows: one traverses the upper line of profile,

two extend from the upper lip to the eye, one follows the lower

line of the head, passing up the hinder margin of the gill

covers; two horizontal ones on the cheek, and, posteriously

to the eye they assume reticulations. Irides golden yellow,

with shades of light red; cornea dusky green. The dorsal, anal

and caudal fins are carmine red, margined with pale blue. The

former with a basal row of large spots, and an intramarginal

band, dark green. Two similar bands mark the outer half of

the anal fin, and spots of the same color may be observed on

the caudal. The ventrals are pale, straw-yellow, with blue,

anterior margins. Pectorals have a pale, yellow tinge at their

base.

The greatest depth of the body, as compared to the entire

length of the fish, is about one to four. The scales are rather

large. The head constitutes a little less than a fourth of the

total length. In addition to the usual teeth which characterize

the genus, we observe a spiniform tooth projecting obliquely

forward from the posterior portion of the branches of the

upper jaw. The caudal fin is posteriorly rounded off, and the

ventrals are long and pointed.

Length, 4½ inches.

Habitat, Sandwich Islands.

REMARKS.—We have observed only a single example of this very

rare and beautiful fish, which was captured at the island of

Hawaii in 1856. Its peculiar markings will readily distinguish

it from any of the numerous species inhabiting our coasts. In

shape and markings of the head it resembles _Julis pæcila_,

figured in the Zoology of the Voyage of the “Blossom,” but the

colors of the body and fins are widely different.

CHIRONECTES Cuv.

_Chironectes rubro-fuscus_ Garrett.

D. 3-13; A. 9; V. 6; P. 11; C. 9.

A single example of this species now before me has been

preserved in spirits several years. It is in fine condition,

though the colors are much faded. The general shape is

oblong-oval, and much compressed. The thickness at the base

of the head enters about five and a half times in the total

length. The whole surface is covered with crowded minute hispid

asperities, and very small, remote, cutaneous, tuft-like

appendages. The head, as viewed in profile, is irregularly

rounded, the chin forming the anterior end, being slightly

in advance of the mouth. The eyes are exceedingly small,

elliptically oval in shape, their greatest diameter being only

three-twentieths of an inch. Their distance from the margin

of the upper jaw is five times their own length. The mouth is

vertical. On the top of the snout, midway between the eyes

and the end of the upper jaw, is a long setaceous appendage,

articulated to a tubercle, and tufted at the end. On the

cranium there are two stout, curved processes, which project

posteriorly, the hind one the largest, and both enveloped in

the integuments. The dorsal fin takes its origin at a point

corresponding to the middle of the total length of the fish,

caudal exclusive. Its height equals the length of its own base.

The caudal trunk and fin are slightly oblique to the horizontal

axis of the body. The anal fin is small and rounded off along

its outer margin. The rays in all the fins have their ends

slightly prolonged in little fleshy points. The color, as noted

from the living fish, is dark red, with irregular, cloud-like

markings and spots, dusky gray. Everywhere maculated with

small, irregular, dusky spots, which are the most numerous on

the belly. A few deep black maculations on the vertical fins

and scattering ones on the body. The interior of the mouth and

tongue are mottled with red and white. Irides pale flesh color;

cornea black. The smooth inner surfaces of the pectoral and

ventral fins are intensely red.

Length, 8½ inches.

Habitat, Sandwich Islands.

REMARKS.—This fine large species is very rare. As compared with

the _C. leprosus_ from the same location, it is much larger,

more compressed, the eyes much smaller and the ground color is

quite different. In the _leporina_ the eyes are less than twice

their own diameter distant from the anterior margin of the

upper jaw. In our fish they are five diameters distant from the

same point.

CHÆTODON L.

_Chætodon multicinctus_ Garrett.

D. 13-24; A. 3-19; V. 1-5; P. 14; C. 3, 1, 8, 7, 1, 2.

Form oval. The head enters about four and a half times in the

total length. The upper line of profile from the snout to the

dorsal fin is nearly straight, rising at an angle of 60°.

The snout is short. The eye is large, circular, its diameter

one-third of the length of the head, and placed just midway

between the opercular corner and the end of the snout. The

preopercular margin exhibits a few small dentations. The scales

are moderate size.

The dorsal and anal fins are posteriorly rounded off. The

hinder margin of the caudal is truncate. The anterior soft ray

of the ventrals is slightly prolonged beyond the margin of the

fin.

Color creamy-yellow. The sides are marked with five vertical,

yellowish-brown, diffuse stripes, the two anterior ones

terminate on the side of the belly, and the others at the base

of the anal fin. There is a slight indication of a sixth one

along the basal half of the soft portion of the dorsal fin.

Each scale is marked with a faint, yellowish-brown dot. A

yellow line starts from a point above the base of the ventral,

follows the line of the belly, and unites with a black one

which traverses the anal fin. A blue black spot in front of

the dorsal fin gradually passes into the ocular fascia, the

latter being brown above and yellow beneath the eye. Irides

chrome-yellow. Upper lip brown. A vertical black stripe, shaded

off anteriorly with vermillion, marks the middle of the caudal

trunk. The dorsal spines and filaments are orange-yellow, the

inter-radial membrane is colorless. The soft portion of the

dorsal and anal are ochre-yellow along their middle-third, the

former with a broad yellow and the latter with a pale greenish

margin. The two colors on either fin separated by a narrow

black and white line. The caudal is colorless, with a basal

vertical luniform bar, its convex margin anterior. The ventrals

are whitish, and the pectorals colorless.

Length, 3½ inches.

Habitat, Sandwich Islands.

REMARKS.—Two examples of this species were procured in Honolulu

market.

OPHISURUS Lac.

_Ophisurus Californiensis_ Garrett.

This _Ophisurus_ is more robust than usual in species of this

genus. The head is large, swollen beneath, and comprises about

one-twelfth of the entire length. The depth, taken at the

origin of the anal fin, enters about twenty-eight times in the

total length, or twice in the length of the head. The pectorals

are large, elliptical in shape, their tips reaching posteriorly

nearly as far as the origin of the dorsal fin. The dorsal and

anal fins are well developed, the latter passing over a base

considerably more than half the length of the fish.

The color in spirits is brown, paler on the lower half of

the head, and cinereous along the throat and belly. A dorsal

row of large, roundish, brownish-black spots extends from

the occipital region to the end of the tail; the spots being

intersected by the fin, and the two anterior ones are saddle

shaped. A second row, disposed alternately to the first,

occupies the upper half of the flanks. The head is irregularly

maculated, the spots becoming paler beneath. The fins are

light, brownish-grey; the dorsal and anal with a narrow darker

margin, which is articulated with dark brown.

Length, 19½ inches.

Habitat, Lower California.

REMARKS.—The specimen described above, was captured at

Margarita Bay, by Mr. White, of the whaler Rambler, to whom I

am indebted for a valuable collection of objects of natural

history.

Dr. Ayres remarked that he had recently received from Tomales Bay

specimens of an ichthyic type, new to this coast, and probably new to

science. The species is closely allied to _Scomberesox_, though the

jaws are but moderately elongated. It is judged worthy of record, even

previous to any description, since no fish of that group has hitherto

been found in the waters of California. The specimens exhibited to the

Academy were from five to eight inches in length. He also gave notice

of the acquisition of a specimen of Thrasher, taken in the Bay of San

Francisco. The species is a very close representative of the Atlantic

form _Alopias vulpes_, differing, however, in the proportions of the

dorsal and anal fins, and in the position of the branchial apertures;

the tail constitutes decidedly more than half of the entire length. The

specimen is about five feet in length.

Dr. Ayres presented a specimen of Barnacles, found floating at sea in

lat. 33° 8´ N., lon. 129° 35´ W., by Capt. Geo. Goodrum of San Francisco.

They were of the _Anatifa_ type, but exhibited the remarkable feature

of being attached, not to some extraneous substance, as a fragment of

wreck, for instance, but to a spherical, fleshy receptacle, apparently a

portion of their own system. This receptacle was of a light, yellowish

color, about the size of a small orange, which it somewhat resembled in

aspect. To it were attached, by the usual flexible pedicles, about a

dozen Barnacles, allied to _Anatifa_, as above indicated, but differing

from it in the breadth of the dorsal plate, and in the projection of a

strong keel at the base of both dorsal and lateral plates. When this

specimen was procured, myriads like it covered the sea for miles in the

track of the vessel. Barnacles aggregated in this manner of growth do not

appear to have been hitherto reported.

REGULAR MEETING, October 5th, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Seven members present.

A donation to the cabinet of several species of fishes from the Sandwich

Islands was received from Mr. Andrew Garrett.

Donation to the Library:

Fragmenta Phytographiæ Australiæ, by Ferdinand Mueller, Vol. III, from

the author.

Mr. Bolander stated that he had recently collected two grasses believed

not to have been before found on this coast, though common in the

Atlantic States, viz.: _Paspalum distichum_ (L.) along the shores of

Clear Lake, covering large patches of ground, and _Leersia oryzoides_

(Swartz), along Cache Creek, of much larger size than he had met with in

the East. He believed _Gastridium australe_, which covers almost every

dry hill in the interior, to be indigenous.

Dr. Behr made some remarks on the date of introduction of some foreign

plants, now becoming very common in this vicinity, which he intends to

make the subject of a future article.

[Illustration: FIG. 16.

MIRABILIS CALIFORNICA. Var. _villosa_ Kellogg.

[For description see page 10 of this volume.]]

REGULAR MEETING, October 19th, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Six members present.

Dr. Ferdinand Mueller was elected an Honorary member. Frederick Wideman,

of Sinaloa, Alex. Drauphing of San Sebastian, and S. W. Morrell, of

Mazatlan, were elected Corresponding members.

Dr. Cooper exhibited specimens of _Lagomys princeps_, the “Little Chief

Hare,” from the summits of the Sierra Nevada. He remarked that this rare

animal lived about the limits of perpetual snow, and was so rarely seen

that residents for several years near its resorts had never seen it.

He found it quite common in a very limited district, though difficult

to obtain, from its extreme shyness. Though before found in the Rocky

Mountains near South Pass, and Salt Lake, where it is called “Coney,”

this was the first record of its occurrence so far to the west and south.

REGULAR MEETING, November 2d, 1863.

President in the Chair.

Twelve members present.

Mr. W. G. Binney, of Burlington, N. J., George N. Lawrence, of New York,

and William Cooper, of New York, were elected Corresponding members.

Mr. Lorquin presented two species of California Jays for the Cabinet.

Donations to the Library:

Annuaire de l’Académie Royale de Belgique, 1863. Bulletin de

l’Académie Royale de Belgique, tomes XIII, XIV. On time boundaries in

Geological History, by James D. Dana. On the higher subdivision in the

classification of Mammals, by James D. Dana. On Cephalization, and on

Megasthenes, and Microsthenes in classification, by James D. Dana.

Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Dublin, sessions of

1860-62. Memoir on California Mosses by Leo Lesquereux.

Dr. Cooper presented the following paper:

On new Genera and Species of California Fishes—No. I.

BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.

The fishes described in the following articles were collected

by me for the State Geological Survey, along the Southern Coast

of this State and among the adjoining islands. While it is

possible that some of them may have been described in works not

now accessible to us, the probabilities are entirely in favor

of their being new, as we have very recent lists of all the

species described as inhabitants of this Coast since the report

on fishes collected by the Pacific Rail Road Surveys.

For much information and assistance in their determination, I

am indebted to Dr. W. O. Ayres, and also to Dr. George Hewston,

for the use of books not contained in any public library in the

city.

The outline illustrations, reduced from accurate measurements,

were electrotyped and presented by our industrious

collaborator, Dr. Kellogg.

The colors described are in all cases those of the living fish.

DEKAYA, n. g.[6]

_Generic characters._—General shape elongated and fusiform,

head small and short, premaxillaries slightly protractile, eye

large, situated above the level of mouth, profile moderately

sloping, snout broad and obtuse.

Preoperculum serrated behind, operculum with one obtuse spine;

branchiostegal rays five on each side. Opercular openings

connected below.

Front rows of teeth on premaxillaries small, conical, acute,

and slightly recurved; those of upper jaw largest, their size

decreasing from the middle towards each angle, where there are

one or two large canines; those below hidden by the upper jaw.

Behind this row in both jaws, a band of velvet teeth in about

six irregular rows near the symphysis, but ending entirely

near the middle of each ramus. Tongue and vomer toothless.

Pharyngeal bones and branchial arches densely crowded with

large velvet teeth.

Infraorbital bone short, curving up under posterior border of

orbit, and not connected with the operculum.

Nostrils double, anterior opening smaller, lips rather thick

and fleshy.

Scales small, numerous, oblong, subquadrangular, finely

pectinated, covering the whole body and head as far as front of

orbit, but leaving a bare space around the eye.

Fins scaleless, as well as caudal rays. Dorsal and anal fins

very long at base; spinous rays few. Lateral line normal.

DEKAYA ANOMALA, Cooper, n. sp., State coll. No. 618. [FIG. 17.]

[Illustration: FIG. 17.]

_Specific characters._—Length of head contained five times in

total length. Distance from end of snout to orbit one-third

the length of head, and greater than width of orbit. Height

of head just behind orbit about equal to distance from tip of

snout to edge of preoperculum; breadth one-third to one-half of

its length. Skin on occiput elevated from the bone by a thick

layer of fat, not by any bony expansions.

Height of pectoral fin less than length of head; its width

about one-third of its height, middle rays longest.

Dorsal arising above pectoral joint, its length one-third that

of the fish; first spine one-ninth the length of the fin;

the other spines lengthening to the commencement of the soft

portion, of which the longest ray is one-fifth the length of

the fin, and the last ray one-fifteenth; the entire fin having

a gradually arching outline.

Caudal moderately broad, deeply forked, and acutely pointed;

the upper lobe slightly the largest.

Anal similar in form to dorsal, arising opposite its

eighth soft ray and prolonged a little farther back. It is

three-fifths as long as dorsal, its height about one-fourth its

length, the first (spinous) ray and the last each half as long

as the longest.

Ventrals four-fifths the height of pectorals, arising

immediately behind them; their width one-third of their length.

D. VII, 23-2, C 3-1-6-6-1-3, A I-2-21-2, P 6-1-11, V, I-1-1-3.

Scales 175, 13/32-10/10.

_Colors._—Pale silvery brown, white below; an obscure row of

brown spots and mottlings on sides; fins and tail olive near

base; iris dark brown and gilt.

_Remarks._—This fish seems to be a very aberrant form of the

Percoid family, having many of the characters of other orders.

Its general form and dentition are those of some Sciaenoids,

while its entire dorsal, opercular armature and only five

branchiostegals separate it both from them and the Percoids.

The very long anal is another character found in few if any

members of these families. I can find nothing in the pharyngeal

bones to indicate its affinities, these being closely like

those of both the above families as shown in _Seriphus politus_

and _Paralabrax clathratus_, which on comparison have them

almost exactly similar.

The genus _Heterognathodon_, of Bleeker, has several of the

most peculiar characters of this one; but not having a full

description of it, I cannot compare them. There are generic

differences at least, and the habitat is widely different,

being the East Indies. Richardson places it with other aberrant

genera in the family _Theraponidae_—(_Datninae_, of Swainson,)

which is probably a mixture of several.

The outline figure represents the fish one-third the natural

size; 22 inches.

This fish is caught rather plentifully in autumn at Catalina

Island, where I obtained the one here described, in October,

1861. During my late visit there, in June and July, none would

bite, and I have not yet obtained any duplicates. It is called

by the very vague name of “White-fish.”

The figure being made from a skin may be a little inaccurate in

proportions; but I hope to be able to present a better one in

the Report of the Geological Survey.

This white-fish is not remarkable for excellence as food.

AYRESIA, n. g.[7]

_Generic characters._—Form elongated, suboval; the outline

more curved above than below. Scales large, finely pectinated,

completely covering the body and head, except in front of

orbit; smaller on head, and becoming very small where they

extend over parts of the fins and tail.

Teeth numerous, acute, entire, the anterior row largest; those

below larger than above, and flattened posteriorly. A few

smaller ones crowded behind these near symphysis. Pharyngeals

villiform.

Premaxillars protractile, the upper arched, twice as high as

wide, the lower shutting within it.

Preoperculum entire, a very small obtuse spine at angle of

operculum.

Pectorals rather long and pointed. Caudal deeply forked, the

lobes acute. Dorsal long, anal moderate.

Differs from _Pomacentrus_ (Lacepede) chiefly in a more arched

dorsal outline, armed operculum and unarmed preoperculum,

pointed fins and tail, proportions of fins.

The dorsal outline appears to become much more convex with age,

chiefly from deposit of fat on the occiput, as is the case

in some Labroids, as for instance, _L. pulcher_ (Ayres) and

_Julis modestus_ (Girard), the latter also growing higher in

proportion to its length throughout. The dotted line represents

the dorsal outline of a specimen one-fourth larger than that

figured, but otherwise closely like it.

AYRESIA PUNCTIPINNIS, Cooper, n. sp., State coll. No. 596.

[FIG. 18.]

[Illustration: FIG. 18.]

_Specific characters._—Head forming less than a fourth of total

length (0.18), eyes less than one-third the length of head, and

less than its own diameter from end of snout, height of head

behind orbit about equal to its length. Greatest thickness of

body about one-eighth of total length.

Height of pectoral equal to one-fourth the distance from snout

to fork of tail (0.21). Dorsal commencing above pectoral joint,

its spinous portion nearly one-third of its total length, and

one-sixth of its height, the first spine shortest. Soft rays

becoming three times as high, forming an obtuse point behind;

the last ray about as long as the spines (the first dorsal

spine should be one-fourth longer than in the figure). Caudal

peduncle slightly contracted, shorter than caudal rays. Fork of

tail extending half-way to its base, the upper lobe longest,

being one-fifth of the total length. Anal commencing beneath

the tenth dorsal spine, and ending a little anterior to end

of soft dorsal, its base less than one-sixth of total length

(0.17).

Br. V-V D.XIII, 6-1-6, C. 3-1-6 6-1-3, A.II-11, V. I-8, P-19.

Scales 30 3/8 4/9 3/3 lat. line ant. 19.

_Color._—Bluish or greenish-black; sides, paler, sometimes

coppery, fins smoky, the dorsal and caudal spotted with black,

iris bronzed brown. Beneath whitish in young, all the hues

darker in the old fish. Some are also spotted on the body

posteriorly.

In the winter of 1861-2, I caught several in San Diego Bay,

which bit freely at the usual baits. I did not hear any

peculiar name applied, but they are confounded with “Perch,”

which they little resemble. Also found at San Pedro.

A larger one, taken in a net at Santa Barbara Island, in May,

1863, has the different characters supposed to indicate an

older fish, and is much fatter; its head is also shorter in

proportion, but as I find a similar difference in specimens of

_Girella nigricans_ Ayres, as well as in the Labroids before

mentioned, I must consider these as sexual differences, or in

part depending on age and condition. They do not differ more

than some specimens of _Embiotoca jacksoni_ from each other,

and agree closely in the number of spines and rays of their

fins.

ORCYNUS, Cuvier, 1819.

ORCYNUS PACIFICUS, Cooper, n. sp., State collection, species

1033. [FIG. 19.]

[Illustration: FIG. 19.]

_Specific characters._—General profile elliptical, height of

body nearly one-quarter its length, breadth about half the

height.

Head laterally compressed, somewhat flattened on top, the nose

horizontally rounded, but laterally pointed. Base of tail

vertically compressed, one-third broader than it is high. Head

half the length of body, its height behind orbit equal to half

its length. Diameter of orbit one-sixth the length of head, its

form obliquely oval. Jaws equal, gape of mouth one-third the

length of head.

Pectoral fin, arising at middle of vertical of side, nearly

half the total length, its width at base one-eighth of its

length, but suddenly narrowing to one-fifteenth, which width it

retains nearly to the end, its outer third curving gradually

downward, and becoming pointed. First dorsal commencing

directly above pectoral, its length nearly one-fourth of total

length, and its height in front two-fifths of its length.

Spines rapidly decreasing in length from the first to the

eighth, the next six about equal, and a third of the first, the

last one very short. Second dorsal immediately behind the first

and a little higher, triangular, nearly one-third higher than

long, its base lengthened posteriorly, and one-third the length

of the first dorsal. Finlets eight above and eight below,

acutely triangular, those near the middle a little larger.

Caudal large, its lobes equal, their length three times their

width, and one-third that of the pectoral; posterior outline

arcuately concave, with slightly widened lobes near the middle.

Anal opposite end of second dorsal, similar to it in form, but

smaller, and about twice as high as long, its position half way

between the ventrals and caudal. Its first spine is only about

one-third as long as the second, which is two-thirds the height

of fin; both concealed by the skin.

Ventrals arising opposite second dorsal spine, about twice as

high as wide, their inner margin with a small pointed lobe.

Cartilaginous ridge on side of caudal peduncle moderate,

highest anteriorly, its length half that of caudal lobe. Two

slight oblique ridges behind the median ridge.

Lateral line imperceptible in front of fourth dorsal spine,

parallel with outline of back. No scales on head. Thoracic

corselet of very large consolidated scales above pectoral,

bordered by six rows of large distinct scales, which grow

smaller from before backwards. Scales underneath ventrals and

around other fins, similarly consolidated, and depressed under

pectoral and ventral. Rest of scales nearly uniform in size.

Teeth numerous, very small, in one row, the palatine dense and

velvety. Rays of second dorsal and anal fins nearly hidden by

adipose skin.

Br. VI-VI D.XIV-12-|-8, P 32, V, I-8 A.II-8,-|-8

C.11-1-6-6-1-12.

_Colors._—Above blackish, sides steel-blue, below silvery

white, fins smoky, iris brown, finlets yellow edged with blue.

The largest I saw measured thirty-three inches to fork of tail,

and weighed twenty-five pounds.

Numerous in summer among the islands off the southern coast

of this State, and is said to occur as far north as San Luis

Obispo. It affords excellent sport, being caught by trolling

while sailing very rapidly, biting voraciously at a white rag.

It is in my opinion the best fish for the table that is caught

on this coast, but it is said to be sometimes poisonous.

It belongs to the typical _Orcynus_ of Cuvier, distinguished

from _Thynnus_, by the very long pectoral, eight pairs of

finlets, small corselet, etc. The type of _Orcynus_ (Scomber

alatunga, Linn., or O. alalonga, Duhamel), is called “Ala

longa” (Long-wing) in the Mediterranean and resembles this

species closely, but is figured as less high and with a smaller

pectoral fin.

This species is one of several confounded by sailors under

the Spanish names of Albicore and Bonito. The English name

Tunny is applied to an allied species on the coast of Europe,

the _Thynnus vulgaris_, Cuv., and to its near representative

the _T. secundi-dorsalis_, Storer, of the eastern American

coast. These, however, are evidently of a different genus, and

as _Thynnus_ is preoccupied in insects, the name _Orcynus_,

applied by Gill to the same type, may perhaps be retained,

although _founded on a mistake_. _O. coretta_, Cuv. and Val.,

probably represents our species in the Gulf of Mexico.

[6] Named in memory of the distinguished author of the

Zoological portions of the “Natural History of New York,”

Dr. James E. Dekay.

[7] The name of Dr. W. O. Ayres, is well known in connection

with Ichthyology, especially that of California.

REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 16TH, 1863.

Dr. Kellogg in the Chair.

Six members present.

Dr. Cooper read a letter from Mr. A. S. Taylor, now of Santa Barbara,

complaining that his name had been omitted from the list of corresponding

members, though he was elected several years since. It was resolved that

his name be restored, having been omitted on account of his new address

being unknown to the Secretary.

Mr. Bolander read the following article:

Enumeration of Shrubs and Trees growing in the vicinity of the mouth of

San Francisco Bay.

BY HENRY N. BOLANDER.

The territory in question is divided naturally into three parts:

1. The northern part of the peninsula of San Francisco, with an

undulating and hilly surface, consists of drifting sand, with a

small per centage of humus mingled with it.

2. The Oakland Hills, running N. 54° W. mag., from the Bay of

San Pablo to San Leandro, a distance of twenty-three miles,

with the adjacent slopes and valleys. Heavy clayey soil

predominates; but where shrubs and trees grow it is mostly a

loose, light, and slightly sandy soil.

3. That part of Marin County between San Rafael, the head of

Tomales Bay and Bolinas Bay, forming a triangle, with a hilly

surface, the ridges running N. 54° W. mag. Soil a heavy clay,

in the valleys and on bare hills; or a light, slightly sandy

loam among shrubs and trees.

In all parts a metamorphic sand-stone underlies the soil.

_Berberis (Mahonia) Aquifolium_ Pursh.

A low evergreen shrub, three to four feet high, not gregarious;

in clay soil on the hill sides; rare.

_Dendromecon rigidum_ Benth.

A shrub with slender upright branchlets, four to six feet high,

rare; on white sand-stone, Oakland hills, third range eastward,

not gregarious.

_Rhus diversiloba_ Torr. and Gray. POISON OAK.

Everywhere, deciduous, exceedingly variable, three to eight

feet high.

_Negundo Aceroides_ Mœnch. BOX-ELDER.

A medium sized tree, twenty to thirty feet high; common among

the Oakland hills, on banks of creeks.

_Acer macrophyllum_ Pursh. LARGE-LEAVED MAPLE.

Common on the banks of Walnut Creek, N.W. of Mount Diablo;

fifty to seventy feet high, and two to five feet in diameter,

in light sandy soil.

_Æsculus Californica_ Nutt. HORSE-CHESTNUT.

Mostly a shrub, seldom a medium sized tree, largest on the

banks of creeks and moist hill sides; grows commonly in groups.

Common.

_Euonymus Occidentalis_ Nutt. SPINDLE-TREE.

A shrub seven to fifteen feet high, with slender upright

branches; in swampy places, near the head of Tomales Bay; rare.

_Frangula Californica_ Gray. CALIFORNIA BUCKTHORN.

Very common, variable, four to ten feet high; evergreen,

gregarious, in clayey soil.

_Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_ Esch. CALIFORNIA LILAC.

Very common, and variable in size, sometimes handsome trees;

exceedingly gregarious, forming dense chaparral, on the

northern and eastern slopes of hills and mountains; evergreen.

Much cultivated on account of the profusion of its fragrant

flowers, and the various shapes that may be given it by

trimming.

_Ceanothus rigidus_ Nutt.

Low, straggling, four to six feet high, less gregarious than

the former; on the white sand-stone hills, east of Oakland.

_Ceanothus ——._

A small shrub, three to four feet high, with very small

glandular leaves; mostly single or in groups, on Mount Tamal

Pais at 2,700 feet elevation.

_Lupinus albifrons_ Benth. SILVER-LEAVED LUPINE.

Very common in almost pure sandy soil, oblong in outline, two

to six feet high; growing mostly single, evergreen.

_Lupinus macrocarpus_ Hook. and Arn. YELLOW LUPINE.

Large, spreading, oval in outline, evergreen, with large

fragrant flowers; gregarious in moist gravelly places along the

shore of the bay, and in depressions, or banks of runs, where

the soil partakes of a clayey nature.

_Pickeringia montana_ Nutt.

Large, spreading, four to seven feet high; evergreen, and

gregarious on the Oakland white sand-stone hills.

_Cerasus Ilicifolia_ Nutt. CALIFORNIA CHERRY, or PLUM.

A small tree, eight to fifteen feet high, with thick, shining,

spinously serrate, evergreen leaves; fruit of a yellowish pink

color, with a thin pulpy external portion. Hill sides on the

peninsula of San Francisco, growing mostly in groups; rare.

_Cerasus serotina_ Ehrh. BLACK WILD-CHERRY.

A group of three or four small trees, eight to twelve feet

high, near a road in the Oakland hills. Undoubtedly introduced

from the Atlantic States.

_Cerasus emarginata?_ Dougl.

A small shrub, three to four feet high, with very slender

reddish and white dotted branchlets, and deciduous leaves;

rare. Tamal Pais, 2,700 feet elevation.

_Nuttallia Cerasiformis_ Torr. and Gray.

Oblong in outline, four to six feet high, deciduous; common on

the northern slopes of hills, in clayey soil. Along the bay and

Oakland hills.

_Spiræa Opulifolia_ Linn. NINE-BARK.

Large, spreading, eight to fifteen feet high; common on the

banks of creeks among the Oakland hills.

_Spiraea Ariæfolia_ Smith.

Common on banks of creeks and northern slopes of hills, Oakland.

_Cercocarpus parvifolius_ Nutt.

Rare, on the hills in Marin County. Its spirally-tailed seeds

give the shrub an appearance as if in full blossom.

_Adenostema fasciculata_ Hook. and Arn.

Oblong in outline, four to five feet high; very gregarious,

forming extensive dense chaparral on the southern and western

slopes of the Oakland bills; evergreen.

_Rubus Nutkanus_ Lindl. THIMBLE-BERRY. _Rubus velutinus_ Hook.

and Arn. _Rubus macropetalus_ Dougl. BLACKBERRY.

Northern slopes of hills, Oakland and Marin County.

_Rosa blanda_ Ait. WILD ROSE.

Very common on the banks of creeks, forming thickets. Oakland

hills and Walnut Creek.

_Rosa gymnocarpa_ Nutt.

Hill sides, Oakland. A small but beautiful species, rather rare.

_Photinia Arbutifolia_ Lindl.

A handsome evergreen tree of medium size, in sandy soil. Common

everywhere in the vicinity of water and springs.

_Amelanchier Canadensis. Var. Alnifolia_ Torr. and Gray.

SERVICE-BERRY.

Northern slopes, four to twelve feet high; in clayey soil, at

Mission Dolores and Oakland hills.

_Ribes divaricatum_ Dougl. BLACK GOOSEBERRY. _Ribes glutinosum_

Benth. RED GOOSEBERRY. _Ribes malvaceum_ Smith. BLACK CURRANT.

Banks of creeks and northern slopes.

_Whipplea modesta_ Torr.

In loose, light soil, in the Redwoods; one to two feet high,

rare.

_Cornus pubescens_ Nutt. SOFT-LEAVED DOGWOOD.

Large, spreading, ten to fifteen feet high. Banks of creeks,

Oakland hills.

_Lonicera involucrata_ Banks. TWIN-BERRY.

Large, with slender upright branches, ten to fifteen feet high.

Borders of creeks and swamps, Bay of San Francisco, Oakland,

Marin County.

_Lonicera Californica_ Torr. and Gray; _et var. hispidula_.

HONEYSUCKLE.

Slender, climbing; borders of streams. _L. hispidula_, on the

out-croppings of white sand-stone, Oakland hills.

_Symphoricarpus racemosus_ Michx. SNOW-BERRY.

Forming thickets in depressions on the Oakland hills, at

2,000 feet elevation, and along streams in the valleys. Clay

soil—three to four feet high.

_Sambucus glauca_ Nutt. ELDER. _Sambucus pubens_ Michx.

RED-BERRIED ELDER.

Dry hill sides and borders of wet places. _S. glauca_, often

tree-like and twenty feet high. Oakland, Marin County.

_Aplopappus Laricifolius_ Gray.

A low fastigiate-branched shrub, one to three feet high; very

common in drift-sand on the peninsula of San Francisco.

_Linosyris ——?_

A beautiful little shrub, three to five feet high, with upright

branches and long linear leaves, densely set. Branchlets and

leaves covered by a resinous exudation. In glades on the

northern slopes of Tamal Pais, 1,500 to 2,000 feet elevation.

_Grindelia ——?_

A low shrub, two to six feet high, bordering the channels in

the salt marshes at Oakland and San Rafael.

_Baccharis consanguinea_ D. C.

_B. pilularis D. C. et B. glomeruliflora Hooker_, seem to be

identical. It is an exceedingly varying shrub; on sandy soil,

low, creeping, with numerous fastigiate branchlets, the flowers

mostly pistillate, and the heads less crowded; on clayey soil,

especially on the banks of creeks, it is often fifteen feet

high, quite tree-like, oblong in outline, the flowers mostly

staminate, and the heads very much crowded. All forms are

subject to excrescences, but especially those growing in a

sandy soil. Evergreen.

_Bahia Artemisiæfolia_ Less.

Ovate in outline, two to three feet high, evergreen; common on

northern slopes, shores of the bay, and Oakland hills.

_Artemisia filifolia_ Torr. WORMWOOD.

Large root-stocks with numerous slender branches, three to four

feet high. Occupying almost invariably the southern slopes in

common with Diplacus glutinosus. Both plants, on account of the

leaden color of their leaves and branches, give the southern

slopes that barren appearance, contrasting so strongly with the

vegetation of the northern slopes.

_Artemisia pachystachya_ D. C.

Sandy soil, three to four feet high. Peninsula of San Francisco.

_Vaccinium ovatum_ Pursh. EVERGREEN HUCKLEBERRY.

A beautiful shrub, five to ten feet high, with slender upright

branches; berries delicious. In light sandy soil, on the

eastern slopes of Oakland hills.

_Arbutus Menziesii_ Pursh. Madroña.

Evergreen, twenty to thirty feet high, on the northern and

eastern slopes of the Oakland hills, but more common and

generally larger and finer on the hill sides near San Rafael.

_Arctostaphylos tomentosa_ Dougl. Mansañita.

Low, straggling, evergreen, and gregarious on the out-croppings

of white sandstone in the Oakland hills.

_Arctostaphylos pungens_ H. B. K. Mansañita.

Obovate in outline, ten to fifteen feet high; scattered.

_Gaultheria Shallon_ Pursh. MARIS. SALLAL.

Low, creeping, evergreen, covering large tracts of land among

the hills of Marin County. Berries eatable.

_Azalea occidentalis_ Torr. and Gray.

On the banks of creeks in Marin County. Quite common; five to

twelve feet high.

_Diplacus glutinosus_ Nutt.

Southern and western slopes. Resinous, eight feet high; common.

_Sphacele calycina_ Benth.

Mostly gregarious, five to eight feet high. Near the coast,

Marin County; eastern slopes near San Mateo.

_Eriodiction Californicum_ Benth.

Very glutinous, two to four feet high—evergreen. Dry hill

sides, Tamal Pais.

_Solanum umbelliferum_ Esch.

A slender evergreen shrub, two to four feet high on the bluffs

of the bay.

_Fraxinus Oregana_ Nutt. OREGON ASH.

On the banks of creeks, Marin County; twenty to thirty feet

high.

_Oreodaphne Californica_ Nées. SPICE BUSH, MOUNTAIN LAUREL,

BALM OF HEAVEN.

Often a large tree in moist localities, forty to fifty feet

high, sometimes three to six feet in diameter; used for

ship-building.

_Dirca palustris_ Linn. LEATHERWOOD.

Very common on the eastern slopes of the Oakland hills, where

its flowers make it very conspicuous in spring; two to four

feet high.

_Croton (Hendecandra) procumbens_ Hook and Arn.

A very low shrub, common on the peninsula of San Francisco, in

almost pure sandy soil.

_Garrya elliptica_ Lindl.

Mostly a shrub with slender branches, but sometimes a

small-sized tree; evergreen, gregarious, in sandy soil in this

city, and on the eastern slope of the Oakland hills.

_Platanus racemosa_ Nutt. SYCAMORE.

Banks of San Leandro Creek, Oakland hills.

_Alnus viridis_ D. C.

A large tree on the banks of creeks, Oakland hills.

_Myrica Californica_ Cham. and Schl. WAX MYRTLE.

Mostly a medium sized tree, in moist localities and on the

eastern slopes of Oakland hills.

_Juglans rupestris_ Engelm. Var. _major_ Torr. WALNUT.

A beautiful large tree, forty to sixty feet high and two to

four feet in diameter, with rather smooth bark and dense,

graceful foliage; it may well vie with its Eastern congeners.

Banks of Walnut Creek east of the Oakland hills.

_Castanea chrysophylla_ Dougl. CALIFORNIA CHINQUAPIN.

A low, straggling evergreen and gregarious shrub, occurring

only on the outcroppings of the white sandstone in the Oakland

hills.

_Quercus densiflora_ Hook and Arn.

Tamal Pais and Redwoods of Marin County.

_Quercus agrifolia_ Nées. LIVE OAK.

A shrub as well as a large tree; everywhere in moderately moist

situations.

_Quercus tinctoria var. Californica_ Torr. BLACK OAK.

Hill sides, Marin County.