BY PHILIP P. CARPENTER, B. A., PH. D., OF WARRINGTON, ENG.
Genus CORBULA, Lam. (Auct.)
_Corbula luteola_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 587.
C. t. “_C. biradiatæ_,” formâ simulante, sed multo minore;
haud obesâ, transversâ, luteo-cinereâ, dorsum versum interdum
obscure biradiatâ; angulo plus minusve carinato, postice
definito; antice rotundatâ, expansâ; concentrice crebre sed
obtuse lirulatâ; umbonibus obtusis; intus, dentibus minoribus;
linea pallii angulatâ, haud sinuatâ; cicatricibus adductoribus
callosis; margine t. adultâ postice altero alterum amplectante.
Long. 0·42, lat. 0·28, alt. 0·16.
_Hab._ San Diego, San Pedro, 50, alive, at low water.
Genus PLECTODON.[16] Cpr.
Testa tenuis, scaber, rostrata, haud inflata: margo dorsalis
sub umbones intus nexa, dentem cardinalem formans: dentes
laterales longi, laminati: cartilago fossâ minutâ, sub umbones
celatâ, dente laterali postico contiguâ, sita: sinus pallii
parvus.
_Plectodon scaber_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1062.
Pl. t. _ledæ_-formi, tenui, subdiaphanâ, pallidâ; totâ
superficie minute pustulosâ; marginibus dorsalibus rectis,
ad angulum 150°; antice et ventraliter productâ, marginibus
excurvatis; postice valde rostratâ, truncatâ: intus, margine
sub umbones interrupto; plicâ ex apice oblique usque ad
marginem dorsalem anticum excurrente; dentibus lateralibus
laminatis, extantibus, postico longiore; cicatricibus
adductoribus parvis, subrotundatis, ad extremitates dentium
lateralium sitis; sinu palii lato, haud impresso.
Long. 0·62, lat. 0·34, alt. 0·20.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, two right valves, 40-60 fms, Cp.
This very distinct genus has the aspect of Theora, and
appears allied to Neæra. It is probable that the cartilage
was strengthened by an ossicle. The great peculiarity is the
twisting-in of the dorsal margin, which ascends the umbo in a
very loose spiral.
Genus MACOMA, Leach.
_Macoma indentata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 365.
M. t. “M. sectæ” simili; sed postice valde rostratâ, sinu inter
plicam et regionem ventralem valde expansam indentato.
Long. 2·20, lat. 1·40, alt. 0·56.
_Hab._ San Pedro, (young, living, _Palmer_;) large dead valves,
_Cooper_.
Differs from _M. umbonella_, Lam., in its _secta_-like
post-ligamental wing. This being rubbed off in the large dead
valves, the shell has the aspect of a very distinct species.
GENUS ŒDALINA, CPR.
_Œdalia_, Cpr., Brit. Ass. Rep., 1864. (pre-occup.)
Subgenus COOPERELLA, Cpr.
_Œdalina_; cartilagine fossâ semi-internâ, ligamento externo
contiguâ, sitâ; dentibus cardinalibus laminatis, haud bifidis,
sen uno bifido.
Dedicated to the memory of Judge Cooper, of Hoboken, N.J.,
author of the Report on the Mollusca of the Pacific Railway
Expeditions.
_Cooperella scintillæformis_, Cpr. n. sp. State Collection, No.
533 a.
C. t. tenuissimâ, subdiaphanâ, latiore; forma “_Scintilæ
Cummingii_” simulante; extus argenteo-iridescente, striulis
incrementi exillimis interdum uudatâ; parte posticâ paullum
majore rotundatâ; intus, valvâ dextrâ dent. ii. laminatis,
arcuatim divergentibus, extantibus, quorum anticus major,
ventraliter sulcatus; v. sinistr. iii., quorum ant. et post.
laminati, arcuati, centralis triangularis, bifidus; fossâ
cartilaginali parvâ, semi-internâ, sub umbones angustiores,
satis prominentes, sitâ; laminâ ligamentali nullâ, nymphis
longioribus; sinu pallii oblongo, lato; lineâ pallii anticâ
minus declivi.
Long. 0·60, lat. 0·48, alt. 0·32.
_Hab._ San Diego; San Pedro, 2 dredged in 8-20 fms. _Cooper_.
Genus SEMELE, Schum.
_Semele incungrua_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1061.
S. t. formâ et indole “S. pulchræ” simili, sed sculpturâ
diversâ; transversâ, tenuii, subplanatâ, umbonibus
prominentibus; pallide carneâ, radiis intensioribus ornatâ;
totâ superficie minute et creberrime radiatim striulatâ;
marginibus dorsalibus postico rectiore, antico parum
incurvato; reliquis regulariter excurvatis, parte anticâ
diagonaliter valde productâ; v. sinistr. liris crebris
subacutis concentricis, antice sæpe irregulariter interruptis,
postice circiter quaternis solum conspicuis, extantibus; v.
dextr. liris pancioribus, acutis, antice vix interruptis,
postice alternantibus, extantibus: intus; dent, card. parvis,
fossâ cartilaginali angustâ elongatâ; dent. lat., v. dextrâ,
elongatis, regione cardinali purpureo tinctis; cicatr. adduct.
subrotundatis; sinu pallii maximo, ovali, ascendente, per
quintas inter sex totius interstitii partes porrecto; colore
secundum paginam externam tinctà et radiatà.
Long. 0·58, lat. 0·40, alt. 0·16.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara, 16 fm. 1 valve; Catalina Island, 40-60
fm., not uncommon; _Cooper_.
Genus? VENUS, _Ln._ Subgenus PSEPHIS, Cpr. 1864.
_Psephis salmonea_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1068.
Ps. t. Parvâ, subinflatâ, subæquilaterali, subtrigonâ; colore
salmoneo; extus nitidâ minutissime et creberrime concentrice
striatâ; margine ventrali excurvato; dorsalibus antico et
postico subrectis: intus, dent. card. iii.-iii., quorum utrãque
valvâ anticus porrectus, quasi lateralis, centrales parvi; v.
dextr. dente postico in marginem sulcatum decurrente; cicatr.
adduct. satis conspicuis, subrotundatis; lineâ pallii satis
internâ, vix obsolete sinuatâ.
Long. 0·12, lat. 0·11, alt. 0·06.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 30-40 fm., rare.; _Cooper_.
Placed under Psephis by analogy; whether the animal be
ovoviviparous has not yet been ascertained.
Genus ASTARTE, J. Sby.
_Astarte fluctuata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1060.
A. t. valde planatâ, ovoideâ, costis concentricis valde
distantibus, angustis, undulatis, ornatâ; marg. dors. post.
subrecto, ant. concavo, lunulâ longâ, parum impressâ; ventr.
satis rotundato; ant. valde rotundato; post. subquadrato;
intus, v. dextr., laminâ cardinali planatâ; dent. card. i.
inter fossas ant. parvam, post. triangularem, extante; dent.
lat. ant. acutiore, satis elongato, post. nullo; cicatr.
adduct. ovalibus, posticâ callo definitâ; margine haud crenato;
sulco ligamenti externi elongato.
Long. 0·33, lat. 0·26, 0·10.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 30-40 fm. _Cooper_.
Only dead right valves having been found, it is not known
whether this species be an Astarte (according to Messrs. Adams
and Hanley) or an abnormal Crassatella. It scarcely differs
from the young of _Astarte omalia_, from the Coralline Crag.
Genus CARDIUM, Ln. Subg. FULVIA, Gray, 1847, [or Lævicardium?
Sw., 1840.]
_Cardium (? modestum, var) centifilosum_, Cpr. State Collection
381.
C. t. parvâ, tenuissimâ, inflatâ, subquadratim rotundatâ;
umbonibus angustis, tumidioribus; marginibus, dorsalibus
subalatis, antico et ventrali æqualiter rotundatis, postico
vix truncato; totâ superficie, (nisi umbonibus et dorsum
versus utroque latere lævibus,) tenue liratâ; liris circ.
centum, quoad magnitudinem extantibus, angustis; interstitiis
subæqualibus, subquadratis, interdum punctato-decus satis;
parte posticâ à lineâ definitâ, lirulis minus conspicuis,
laminis concentricis extantibus, crebrioribus eleganter
exasperata; intus, dent. card. validioribus, lat.
subdistantibus; cic. adduct. ovalibus, haud impressis.
Long. 0·51, lat. 0·48, alt. 0·34.
_Hab._ (_modestum._) Quelpart Island, China Seas, and Japan;
_A. Adams_.
(_Centifilosum_.) Monterey, 20 fms. alive; Santa Barbara 1,
Catalina Island, 40 fm. _Cooper_.
Rounder than C. modestum, _Ad. & Rve._, with fewer and sharper
ribs; but the Eastern shells vary, and Mr. Adams considers them
conspecific.
Genus LEPTON, Turton.
_Lepton meroëum_, Cpr. n. s.
L. t. parvâ, subplanatâ, Meroæ-formi; transversâ, marginibus
omnino excurvatis; antice valde productâ; umbonibus acutis,
prominentibus; dent. card. (v. sinistr.) uno, celato; lat. ant.
prominente, post. subobsoleto; fossâ cartilaginali angusta;
cic. adduct. remotis.
Long. 0·11, lat. 0·08, alt. 0·03.
_Hab._ San Diego, 1 broken valve among shell washings. _Cooper_.
Genus PRISTIPHORA, Cpr.[17] n. g.
Syn. _Pristes_, Cpr. Rep. Brit. Ass. 1864, (pre-occupied.)
Testa “_Tellimyæ Adamsiorum_” similis; dentibus cardinalibus
nullis; lateralibus utrâque valvâ conspicuis, postice
elongatis, antice curtioribus, cardinem versus transversim
sulcatis; fossâ cartilaginali inter eos sitâ.
_Pristiphora oblonga_, Cpr. n. s.
P. t. oblongâ, parvâ, subquadratâ, valde inæquilaterali; parte
anticâ fere nullâ; marginibus, dorsalibus subrectis, fere
rectangulatis, ventrali parum excurvato, postico rotundato;
umbonibus antice flectis; lunulâ parvâ, concavâ: intus, v.
sinistr., dent. lat. post. per totam longitudinem dorsalem
decurrente, parte cardinali acutâ, alte transversim sulcatâ;
ant. secundum lunulam incurvato curto, serrato; cicatr. adduct.
sub fines dentium sitis.
Long. 0·14, lat. 0·10, alt. 0·06.
_Hab._ San Diego; 1 worn valve among shell washings. _Cooper_.
Genus LEDA, Schumacher.
_Leda hamata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 984.
L. t. “_L. caudatæ_” simili, sed valde hamatâ; planatâ, valde
inæquilaterali; umbonibus angustioribus, lævibus, ad trientem
sitis; marginibus, dors. post. maxime incurvato, ant. parum,
ventr. valde excurvatis; parte posticâ valde rostratâ, rostro
biangulato, curvato, angustiore, biangulatâ; sulcis et costis
validis, concentricis, supra rostrum continuis, dorsum versus
postice obsoletis.
Long. 0·37, lat. 0·10, alt. 0·10.
Genus ACANTHOCHITES, Risso? (Leach, 1826).
_Acanthochites avicula_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1072.
A. t. “_A. arragonitei_” formâ magnitudine, pallio, et indole
simillimâ; sed sculpturâ et laminis terminalibus diversâ; jugo
longitudinaliter sulculis circ. vi. instructis, interstitiis
quasi planato-squamosis, umbonibus latis; areis diagonalibus
haud definitis; lateribus, squamis (quoad magnitudinem)
maximis, planatis, ovalibus ornatis, seriebus indistinctis
divergentibus instructis; mucrone parvo, antice sito; colore
livido et olivaceo-fusco varie tincto; laminis insertionis
valv. lat. ut in _A. arragonite_; anticâ, fissuris v.
Long. 0·16, lat. 0·10.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 10-20 fm., rare; _Cooper_.
Genus ACANTHOPLEURA, Guilding.
_Acanthopleura fluxa_, _Cpr._? n. s.
A. t. “_A. scabræ_” simili, sed latiore, pallidiore; viridi,
rubro-aurantio conspersâ; valvis rectangulatis; suturis
marginalibus haud conspicuis; areis diagonalibus satis
distinctis; radiis obtusis fluxis ii., alterâ diagonali,
alterâ suturali; totâ superficie conspicue granulosâ, granulis
acutioribus præsertim albidis; jugo obtuso, vix vallato:
laminis insertionis ut in A. scabrâ instructis.
Long. 0·60, lat. 0·40, div. 110°.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara Island, _Cooper_.
Foot, in the only dried specimen seen, extremely thin, flat,
and narrow.
Genus ISCHNOCHITON, Gray.
_Ischnochiton veredentiens_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No.
518 _a_ (bis).
I. t. parvâ, albidâ, rosaceo tinctâ; valvis gothice arcuatis,
jugo subacuto; totâ superficie minute granulosâ; areis
lateralibus conspicue definitis, minoribus, costis diagonali
et suturali validis instructis, bullis valde expressis
munitis; valv. term. costulis subobsoletis radiantibus; areis
centralibus clathris longitudinalibus utroque latere circ.
viii. distantibus, expressis, subgranulosis, supra jugum
obsoletis; interstitiis â costulis subradiantibus decussatis;
umbonibus conspicuis; marginibus umbonalibus à costis
bulliferis valde indentatis, dentibus viii.-x. jugum versus
obsoletis, marginibus haud intortis; mucrone submediano, vix
extante; marginibus lobatis eleganter à clathris pectinatis:
intus, sinu maximo, planato, interdum serrato; laminis
insertionis acutis, late unifissatis, valv. term. circ.
viii-fissatis, subgrundis conspicuis; limbo pallii squamis
majoribus, planatis, tenuibus, vix striatis.
Long. 0·25, lat. 0·10, div. 90°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 20-30 fm., _Cooper_.
Subgenus LEPIDOPLEURUS, Risso.
Isch. squamis magnis, ut in Chitone (_Lophyro_) instructis,
striatis.
_Lepidopleurus pectinatus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No.
1073.
L. t. “_L. Mertensii_” simili, sed omnino olivaceo; areis
diagonalibus radiis plerumque iv. dense tuberculiferis,
radioque altero suturali tuberculis inflexis, margines
valvarum pectinantibus; costis transversis crebris validis;
costulis longitudinalibus acutis distantibus superantibus,
quarum margines suturas anticas pectinant; valv. term. ut in
areis diag. sculptis, seriebus tuberculorum creberrimis; totâ
superficie minutissime tuberculatâ: intus, valvis centralibus
unifissatis, terminalibus xi.-xv.-fissatis: scalis pallii
irregularibus, confertis, minutissime longitudinaliter striatis.
Long. 0·85, lat. 0·50, div. 110°.
Variat: interdum aurantio nebulosâ.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, Santa Barbara Island, beach, _Cooper_.
_Lepidopleurus scabricostatus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection,
No. 1071 c.
L. t. parvâ, aurantiâ, elevatâ; valvis gothice arcuatis, jugo
acuto; totâ superficie conspicue et creberrime granulata:
areis lateralibus majoribus, conspicue definitis; seriebus
granulorum majorum iii. radiantibus, subobsoletis; umbonibus
haud conspicuis; marginibus umbonalibus colore intensiore
pseudodentatis, parum intortis; areis centralibus seriebus
costularum angustarum subobsoletarum longitudinalibus, valde
distantibus, granulis majoribus instructis; valv. term.,
costulis granulosis similibus radiantibus; mucrone vix
mediano, parum conspicuo: intus, lobis suturalibus separatis,
sinu maximo, planato; laminis insertionis lat. unifissatis,
term. x.-xii.-fissatis, subobtusis; subgrundis modicis,
subconspicuis: limbo pallii latiore, squamis imbricatis,
elongatis, transversim striatis, crebris ornatâ.
Long. 0·30; lat. 0·17; div. 100°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island; 10-20 fm., _Cooper_.
Subgenus TRACHYDERMON,[18] Cpr.
Ischnochiton: squamis pallii minimis, confertis.
_Trachydermon Gothicus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, 518_a_.
Tr. t. parvâ valde elevatâ, viridi, rosaceo et olivaceo
eleganter tinctâ; valvis gothice arcuatis, jugo acuto; areis
lateralibus parvis, arcuatim distincte definitis, granulosis;
umbonibus prominentibus; marginibus umbonalibus colore
tessellatis, intortis; areis centralibus longitudinaliter
costatis, costis rotundatis, crebris, haud valde expressis,
interstitiis parvis, vix interdum decussatis; valv. term. ut in
ar. lat. sculptis, posticâ mucrone mediano, subelevato: intus,
lobis suturalibus haud separatis, medio latissime sinuatis;
laminis insertionis, lat. unifissatis, term. viii.-x.-fissatis,
obtusis, subgrundis haud elevatis: limbo pallii minutissime
squamuloso, granulis confertissimis, subrotundatis, lævibus;
circa marginem pilulis suberectis.
Long. 0·20, lat. 0·10; div. 80°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 8-20 fm., _Cooper_.
Genus LEPTOCHITON, Gray.
_Leptochiton nexus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, 1071a.
L. t. parvâ, albocinereâ, valvice gothis arcuatis; areis
lateralibus vix definitis; totâ superficie squamulis
subquadratis seriatim ornata; seriebus ar. centr.
longitudinalibus, ar. lat. et valv. term. radiantibus,
creberrimis, haud interruptis; jugo elevato, sub-acuto;
umbonibus inconspicuis; marginibus umbonalibus vix inflectis,
lateralibus vix à squamulis serrulatis; mucrone conspicuo,
mediano: intus, laminis centralibus valde lobatis, sinu
maximo, planato; lam. insertionis obsoletis: pallio, squamulis
paleatis, striatis, confertis instructo; pilis elatioribus
aciculinis, crystallinis, huc et illuc et circa marginem ornato.
Long. 0·30, lat. 0·18; div. 90°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 10-20 fm., _Cooper_.
The appearance of this northern genus among the Mopaliæ and
Ischnochitons is very remarkable; as is the character of the
mantle-margin.
Genus NACELLA, Schumacher.
_Nacella (? palleacea, var.) triangularis_, Cpr. State Coll.
No. 416_c_.
N. t. “_N. palleacea_” simili, sed multo minus elongatâ; apice
elato, marginibus rectangulatim divergentibus; albidâ, maculis
fuscis perpaucis ornatâ; striulis subobsoletis.
Long. 0·28, lat. 0·12, alt. 0·18, div. 90°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 4 dredged dead, _Cooper_.
Probably a distinct species. The solitary shell sent by Dr.
Cooper is shaped like a right-angled triangle, with five large
brown spots near the base.
_? Nacella subspiralis_, Cpr.? n. s. State Collection, 416b.
? N. t. parvâ, carneâ, lævi, tenuissimâ; vertice “_Emarginulæ_”
simulante, subspirali, sed apice patelloideo, adunco; t.
adultâ valde elevatâ; margine laterali antico subrecto, apice
projiciente, valde remoto; postico maxime fornicato; aperturæ
margine antice et postice prolongato.
Long. 0·26, lat. 0·19, alt. 0·20, div. 80°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 10-20 fm., 4 dead, _Cooper_.
This may be the young of the long-lost _Patella calyptra_,
Mart. It may be a _Scutellina_. Even the genus cannot be
predicated from the shell alone.
Genus ACMÆA, Eschholtz.
_Acmæa (? pileolus, var.) rosacea_, Cpr.
A. t. parvâ, conicâ, tenui, lævi; t. jun. pallide rosaceâ,
elegantissime maculis albis et fuscis subradiatim sparsis; t.
adulta strigis fusco-rosaceis et albidis pictâ; apice elevato,
parum antico; intus rosaceo.
Long. 0·20, lat. 0·16, alt. 0·08, div. 100°.
_Hab._ San Diego, 1 sp. jun. (_Palmer_): Monterey, 1 dead sp.
_Cooper_.
The absence of striæ, very thin texture, and regularly conical
growth, distinguish this shell from _A. patina_, a rare
variety of which has a pinkish tinge. Specimens in Mus. Cuming
are marked “_pileolus_, Midd.,” but do not accord with the
diagnosis. It is almost exactly like Herm[19] specimens of _A.
virginea_. Col. Jewett’s similar shells, marked “Panama,” were
perhaps West Indian.
Genus SCURRIA (?), Gray.
_Scurria (?) funiculata_, Cpr. (?) n. s. State Collection, No.
466_d_.
? Sc. t. parvâ, albidâ, regulariter conicâ, apice acuto,
elevato, parum antrorsum sito; liris validis, rotundatis,
interdum vix nodulosis, irregulariter, huc et illuc duplo
vel tripliciter dispositis; margine à costis extus undato;
cicatrice haud conspicuo.
Long. 0·50, lat. 0·38, alt. 0·26, div. 80°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 6 dredged dead, _Cooper_.
So different from the most strongly marked young specimens of
_Sc. mitra_ that I presume it to be distinct. The genus depends
on the animal, which has not yet been seen.
Genus PUNCTURELLA, Lowe.
_Puncturella Cooperi_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection No. 1029.
P. t. “_P. galeatæ_,” fere exacte simulante; sed laminâ internâ
solidâ, planatâ, haud antice sinuatâ, haud suffultâ.
Long. 0·30, lat. 0·21, alt. 0·24, div. 70°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, not rare, 40 to 20 fms., _Cooper_,
alive.
Outside like _P. noachina_; but with the lamina like _P.
cucullata_, without eye-holes. The latter species is extremely
variable in sculpture, but never so fine as this; and the shape
is less conical.
Genus GIBBULA, Leach.
_Gibbula optabilis_, Cpr. n. s.
G. t. parvâ, pulcherrimâ, subconicâ; lurida, fusco-purpureo
maculatâ; anfr. v. subquadratis, suturis distinctis; carinis
principalibus in spirâ ii., aliâ intercalante; carinâ fortiori
peripheriali, et lirulis circ. vi. basalibus, regulariter
colore punctatis; lirâ posticâ subobsolete suturam attingente;
aliis minoribus intercalantibus; interstitiis ubique tenerrime
et creberrime decussatis; basi subtumente, ad carinam
peripherialem fere rectangulato; aperturâ subquadratâ,
columellâ parum arcuata; umbilico magno, infundibuliformi,
angulato; liris ii. intus spiraliter ascendentibus.
Long. 0·19, long. spir. 0·10, lat. 0·19, div. 80°.
_Hab._ San Pedro, _Palmer_, one specimen.
Genus CALLIOSTOMA, Swainson.
The names _Calliostoma_ and _Ziziphinus_ having been published
in the same year, I have no hesitation in preferring the
generic to the specific.
_Calliostoma supragranosum_, Cpr. n. s.
C. t. parvâ; anfr. v. tumentibus; liris acutis cincta, quarum
mediæ læves, posticæ granosæ, basales ix. minores.
_Hab._ San Diego; _Cooper_.
The single specimen sent differs as above from the young of the
next species.
_Calliostoma gemmulatum_, Cpr. Br. Assoc. Rep. 1863, pp. 612,
653.
Syn. _C. formosum_, Cpr. Proc. Cal. Ac. 1864, 155: non Forbes.
While the sheets of the Report were passing through the
press, it was found that the name had been preoccupied by
Forbes. As it happened the Californian sheet was being printed
simultaneously, and there was no time to make the alteration.
Genus ETHALIA, Adams.
_Ethalia supravallata_, Cpr. n. s.
E. t. parvâ, albidâ, nitente, subdiaphanâ, planatâ; anfr.
nucl. ii. et dimidio, lævis, diaphanis; norm. uno et dimidio,
rotundatis; postice carinâ valde extante, et fossâ concavâ
contiguâ suturam tenus, supra spiram vix planatam ascendente;
in medio basis rotundatæ carinâ alterâ plus minusve extante;
inter eas, circa peripheriam, lirulis radiantibus minimis,
haud expressis, sub lente vix conspicuis; regione umbilicari
parum concavo; aperturâ circulari; labro à carinis angulato;
columellâ, valde callosâ, porrecta; callositate pyriformi
regionem umbilicarem circumambiente.
Long. 0·03, long, spir. 0. (?) lat. 0·45, div. 180°.
_Hab._ San Diego, _Cooper_, shell-washings.
Typical among the Vitrinelloid _Ethaliæ_ described in Maz.
Cat., Nos. 310, 318. Remarkable for the small number of turns
in the mature shell as compared with the nucleus.
_Ethalia var. invallata_, Cpr.
E. t. “_E. supravallatæ_,” aliter exacte simili; sed vallo
spirali omnino carente; basi angulatâ, haud carinatâ.
_Hab._ San Diego, shell-washings, _Cooper_.
These shells would certainly have been regarded as distinct,
but for one specimen which began smoothly, yet after a fracture
suddenly commenced a (not prominent) keel: an instructive
lesson on variations in sculpture.
Genus GALERUS, Humphreys.
_Galerus contortus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 369.
G. t. parvâ, tenui, albidâ; vertice nucleoso planato, extante,
minimo, anfr. uno et dimidio planorbi-formibus, apice
conspicuo; dein conoideâ, elevata, solute spirali, suturis
impressis; superficie rudi, laminis incrementi interdum
conspicuis; laminâ internâ.
Long. 0·26, lat. 0·24, alt. 0·15, div. 80°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 20-40 fm.; Santa Barbara, 16-20 fm.; Catalina
Island, 30-40 fm.; _Cooper_.
The vertex stands out like a tiny Planorbis, and is more minute
than in any species I have examined.
Genus CÆCUM, Fleming.
_Cæcum crebricinctum_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 388.
C. (_Anellum_) t., quoad genus, magnâ, tereti, solidiore,
rufofusca, interdum radiis intensioribus longitudinalibus
ornatâ; annulis gracillimis, creberrimis, rotundatis, haud
elevatis circ. lxxx. cinctâ; interstitiis nullis; sculpturâ
longitudinali nullâ; aperturâ acutâ, vix contractâ, vix
declivi; septo subungulato, submucronato; margine laterali
recto; apice acuto, ad angulum circ. 45°, maxime elevato;
operculo vix concavo, lirâ spirali elevatâ.
Long. 0·14, lat. 0·04.
_Hab._ San Diego, 8-10 fms., 12; Monterey, 20 fms., 20, some
alive; Santa Barbara, 20 fms., 3, _Cooper_.
Has the aspect, but not the sculpture, of an Elephantulum.
_Cœcum Cooperi_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 667a.
C. (_Anellum_) t. parvâ, satis tereti, albâ; annulis crebris
acutioribus, angustis, circ. xxxiv.-xxxviii., interstitiis
subconcavis; septo subungulato; apice obtuso, haud elevato,
margine laterali recto; aperturâ declivi, parum contracto et
postice expanso; operculo?
Long. 0·09, lat. 0·025.
_Hab._ San Diego and Catalina Island, 8-10 fms., 18, _Cooper_.
Known from similar Mazatlan species by the very numerous but
separated and somewhat sharp ribs.
Genus TURRITELLA, Lamarck.
_Turritella Cooperi_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 564.
T. t. valde tereti, tenuiore, cinereâ, rufofusco tinctâ; anf.
plurimis, angustis, subplanatis, suturis distinctis; liris ii.
et striulis crebris spiraliter ornatâ; basi angulatâ; aperturâ
subquadratâ; labro valde sinuato.
Long. 1·80, long. spir. 1·50, lat. 0·45.
_Hab._ San Pedro, 60; San Diego, 16 dead on beach; Santa
Barbara, 4 dead, in 16-20 fms. _Cooper_.
As I have seen no complete list of the very numerous fossil
species of this genus, it appears allowable, rather than risk a
synonym, to name this graceful shell after its discoverer.
Genus? MESALIA, Gray.
_? Mesalia tenuisculpta_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 666
_a_.
? M. t. tenui, regulariter turritâ, fusco-cinereâ; anfr. nucl.
lævibus, normalibus, apice acuto; norm. viii. rotundatis,
suturis impressis; lirulis spiralibus; haud extantibus, plus
minusve distantibus, irregularibus cinctâ quarum anfr. primis
duæ anticæ majores; lirulis circa basim rotundatam obtusis,
subregularibus; rugulis incrementi irregularibus, interdum
decussantibus; aperturâ subrotundatâ, peritremati haud
continuâ; labro acuto, postice flexuoso; labio tenui.
Long. 0·28, long. spir. 0·18, lat. 0·10, div. 15°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; 4-6 fms., 15, alive. _Cooper_.
Intermediate in character between _Mesalia_ and _Fenella_.
Genus ISAPIS, H. & A. Adams.
_Isapis obtusa_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 682.
I. t. “_I. fenestratæ_” indole simili, sed magis elongatâ,
subnitente, pallide rosacea; vertice nucleoso decliviter
immerso, celato; anfr. norm. postice subplanatis, suturis
obtusis; costis tumentibus rotundatis circ. vii., suturas et
umbilicum minorem versus obsoletis, plus minusve extantibus;
interstitiis parvis, irregularibus, haud decussatis;
peritremati continuo, labro tenui, secundum costas variantes
undulato; labio medio calloso.
Long. 0·23, long. spir. 0·09, lat. 0·16, div. 60°.
_Hab._ S. Diego, 10 fm.; Sta. Barbara, 20 fm.; _Cooper_.
The fortunate discovery of some perfect young specimens
displays a nucleus so like _Odostomia_ that, despite the
resemblance of the shell to _Fossarus_, which has a tuberoid
nucleus, it most probably belongs to _Pyramidellidæ_.
Genus RISSOINA, D’Orbigny.
_Rissoina interfossa_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 387,
_b_.
R. t. satis magnâ, crassâ, albâ, satis turritâ, conspicue
sculptâ; marginibus spiræ rectis, vertice mamillato; anfr.
nucl. ?.. [detritis]; norm. vii. tumidis, angulatis, suturis
angulatim impressis; carinis spiralibus validis, in spirâ
ii.; alterâ posticâ interdum intercalante; anfr. ultimo
duabus quoque peripherialibus, quintâ axim circumeunte;
costis radiantibus validis, extantibus, circ. xiv., ad
suturas contiguis, liris regularibus spiram ascendentibus, ad
intersectiones carinarum nodulosis, ad peripheriam continuis;
interstitiis quadratis, alte infossatis; aperturâ ovatâ.
Long. 0·26, long. spir. 0·18, lat. 0·10; div. 28°.
_Hab._ Catalina Is. 8-10 fm. 4; San Diego 1; Monterey, (var.)
_Cooper_.
Genus RISSOA, Freminville.
_Rissoa acutelirata_, Cpr. n. s.
R. t. tenui, satis turritâ, rufocinereâ, marginibus spiræ
parum excurvatis; anfr. nucl. iii. normalibus lævibus, vertice
parum mamillato; norm. iii. subrotundatis, suturis valde
impressis; liris radiantibus circ. xviii. acutis, distantibus,
ad peripheriam evanidis; lirulis acutis spiralibus distantibus
circ. xv., quarum vi. in spirâ monstrantur, liris radiantibus
et interstitiis latis, undatis, eleganter superantibus, haud
nodulosis; basi rotundatâ, haud umbilicatâ; aperturâ ovatâ,
peritremati continuo.
Long. 0·09, long. spir. 0·05, lat. 0·05, div. 35°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; 1 sp. and fragment in shell-washings. _Cooper_.
Genus FENELLA, H. & A. Adams.
_Fenella pupoidea_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 389.
F. t. _Truncatellæformi_, sed apice haud decollato; colore
maxime variante; seu unicolori, albido, cinereo, viridescente,
rufofusco, seu splendide rubro; seu varie fusco maculato;
anfr. nucl. iii. lævibus, globosis, vertice mamillato; norm.
v. rotundatis, fere æqualibus, plus minusve solutis, suturis
subimpressis; totâ superficie tenue spiraliter striatâ;
striis in spirâ majoribus, circ. viii. distantibus, minoribus
creberrimis intercalantibus; circa basim rotundatam circ. x.
majoribus, contiguis, minoribus paucis; aperturâ circulari,
peritremati continuo, solido, ad suturam parum callosam
appresso; umbilico nullo.
Long. 0·23, long. spir. 0·16, lat. 0·09, div. 12°.
_Hab._ Monterey, 20 fm. 45, dead. _Cooper._
Genus AMPHITHALAMUS,[20] Cpr.
Testa _Rissoidea_; nucleo magno; apertura labio producto, labro
subpostice juncto, subito in adultâ contracta.
_Type._ _Amphithalamus inclusus_, Cpr. Br. Assoc. Rep. 1863, p.
656; Ann. Nat. Hist. Jan. 1865.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara, _Jewett_; S. Diego, in shell-washings.
_Cooper._
_? Amphithalamus lacunatus_, Cpr. n. s.
? A. t. adolescente “_A. incluso_” simili; nucleo similiter
minutissime et confertissime spiraliter et radiatim striulato;
sed majore, latiore, anfr. subplanatis; basi late lacunatâ,
haud carinatâ; adultâ ?..
Long. 0·06, long. spir. 0·03, lat. 0·03, div. 50°.
_Hab._ San Pedro. _Cooper._
Two dead specimens in the shell-washings of Dr. Palmer’s
consignment to the Smithsonian Institute might have been
passed over as the young of _Barleeia subtenuis_, but for
the possession of exactly the same remarkable nucleus as _A.
inclusus_. It is presumed, therefore, that they are congeneric;
if so, the adult has not been seen.
Genus DIALA, H. & A. Adams.
_Diala acuta_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 390.
D. t. parvâ, turrito-conicâ, cerinâ, politâ, nitente; anfr.
nucl. ii. naticoideis, vertice mamillato, apice indistincto;
norm. v., omnino planatis, suturis indistinctis; peripheriâ
acute angulatâ, vix carinatâ; basi omnino planatâ; aperturâ
subquadratâ; peritremati continuo; labro postice paullum
contracto; labio appresso; columellâ antice angulatâ, vix
sinuatâ.
Long. 0·15, long. spir. 0·09, lat. 0·07, div. 29°.
_Hab._ Catalina Is. 8-10 fm.; on beach to Monterey. _Cooper._
_Diala marmorea_, Cpr. n. s.
D. t. solidâ, exacte conicâ, læviâ, nitente; subdiaphane
pallidâ, rufo maculatâ; anfr. nucl. rotundatis, planorbeis,
sub-oblique sitis, apice celato; norm. vi. planatis, suturis
indistinctis; basi planatâ, sub-angulatâ; aperturâ ovali,
peritremati continuo, haud varicoso.
Long. 0·17, long. spir. 0·11, lat. 0·08, div. 31°.
_Hab._ Monterey, S. Pedro; _Cooper_. Lower California, off
Haliotis. _Rowell._
The description is written from a single perfect specimen
in Mr. Rowell’s collection, and some fragments from the
shell-washings of Dr. Cooper’s.
Genus STYLIFERINA, A. Adams.
_Styliferina turrita_, Cpr. n. s.
St. t. minimâ, albidâ, solidiore, lævi, turritâ; anfr. nud.
iii. subnaticoideis, apice mamillato; norm. v. planatis,
angustis, suturis parum impressis; basi subito rotundatâ,
haud umbilicatâ; aperturâ subrotundatâ; labro postice parum
contracto.
Long. 0·06, long. spir. 0·04, lat. 0·02, div. 20°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro. _Cooper._
A single specimen of this tiny shell was found in the
shell-washings of Dr. Palmer’s consignment. The mouth is
unfortunately choked up with a grain of coarse sand which I
have not been able to extract.
Genus? JEFFREYSIA, Alder.
_? Jeffreysia translucens_, Cpr. n. s.
? J. t. “_Barleeiæ subtenui_” simili, sed tenuiore, tumidiore;
corneâ, pallide fulvâ, lævi, nitente, satis diaphanâ; anfr.
nucl. normalibus, apice submamillato; norm. iv. subconvexis,
suturis distinctis; basi rotundatâ, haud umbilicatâ; aperturâ
ovatâ, peritremati vix continuo; labro acuto; labio appresso,
regione umbilicari parum calloso.
Long. 0·08, long. spir. 0·045, lat. 0·06, div. 55°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; in shell-washings. _Cooper._
Only one specimen having been seen, without animal or even
operculum, the genus is doubtful. In its slight labial deposit
it resembles _“Litiopa” dubiosa_, C. B. Adams.
Genus CYTHNA, A. Adams.
_Cythna albida_, Cpr. n. s.
C. t. minutâ, albidâ, lævi, diaphanâ, latâ; anfr. nucl.
normalibus, vertice mamillato; norm. iii. tumidis, rotundatis,
rapide augentibus, suturis valde impressis; basi rotundatâ,
valde umbilicatâ; umbilico subangulato; aperturâ subrotundatâ;
peritremati continuo, acuto, t. adultâ nonnunquam à pariete
separato.
Long. 0·03, long. spir. 0·015, lat. 0·025, div. 80°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro; in shell-washings. _Cooper._
Known from _C. tumens_, Maz. Cat. No. 421, by the non-keeling
of the umbilicus.
Genus CHRYSALLIDA, Cpr.
_Chrysallida pumila_, Cpr. n. s.
Chr. t. minutâ, angustâ, albâ; vert. nucl. subito immerso,
dimidium truncationis tegente; marginibus spiræ parum
excurvatis; anfr. norm. iv. planatis, suturis vix distinctis;
clathris radiantibus rectis, validis, planatis, circ.
xx., marginibus spiræ utroque latere parallelis, sæpius
attingentibus, circa basim elongatam, rotundatam continuis;
interstitiis lirulis acutis distantibus, haud extantibus, circ.
x. decussatis, quarum iv. v. in spirâ monstrantur; aperturâ
ovali, peritremati vix continuo; plicâ parietem tenus acutâ,
haud celatâ, declivi.
Long. 0·06, long. spir. 0·03, lat. 0·025, div. 12°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro. _Cooper._
One specimen and a few fragments were found in the
shell-washings of Dr. Palmer’s consignment. Differs from _Chr.
ovulum_, in its slender shape and delicate spiral sculpture.
_Chrysallida cincta_, Cpr. n. s.
Chr. t. satis regulari, albâ, marginibus spiræ vix excurvatis;
vert. nucl. parvo, celato, dimidium truncationis vix superante;
anfr. norm. iv. parum excurvatis, suturis distinctis; costis
spiralibus obtusis circ. x, cinctâ, quarum iv. in spirâ
monstrantur; costis iii. posticis radiatim subgranulosis,
seriebus circ. xv., marginibus spiræ utrinque parallelis, supra
quartam subobsoletis; interstitiis latis, delicatim decussatis;
basi satis prolongatâ; columellâ antice valde effusâ; plicâ
parvâ, medianâ.
Long. 0·11, long. spir. 0·07, lat. 0·05, div. 35°.
_Hab._ Santa Barbara group of islands. _Cooper._
The solitary specimen is probably immature. Intermediate
between _Chrysallida_ proper and _Mumiola_.
Genus CHEMNITZIA, D’Orbigny.
_Chemnitzia chocolata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 428.
Ch. t. “_C. tridentatæ_” magnitudine et indole simili; sed
teretiore, dense castaneâ, fasciis pallidioribus sub epidermide
adhærente ornatâ; anfr. primis gracillimis; vert. nucl. anfr.
iii, helicoideis, valde decliviter sito, marginibus spiræ
rectis, angustis, haud superante; anfr. norm. xii. planatis,
primis tumidioribus, suturis impressis; costis circ. xxviii.
rotundatis, validis, circa basim prolongatam haud subito
evanidis, anfr. ult. sæpe obsoletis; interstitiis haud
æquantibus, haud undatis, haud sulcatis; totâ superficie sub
lente minutissime et creberrime spiraliter striulatâ; aperturâ
ovali, columellâ parum contortâ, labro intus tenui, haud
dentato.
Long. 0·55, long. spir. 0·43, lat. 0·13, div. 17°.
_Hab._ S. Pedro, S. Diego, Monterey; rare. _Cooper._
One specimen, in Dr. Palmer’s consignment, is known from _Ch.
tridentata_ by the very effuse spire, prolonged base, and
crowded ribs without waved sculpture between.
_Chemnitzia subcuspidata_, Cpr. State Collection, No. 670, _a_.
Ch. t. parvâ, minus tereti, cerinâ seu purpureo-fuscâ; anfr.
nud. ii. et dimidio, valde decliviter sitis, marginibus spiræ
parum excurvatis superantibus; norm. viii. planatis, suturis
excavatis; costis radiantibus circ. xviii. acutis, circa
basim prolongatam vix continuis, ad suturas valde elevatis,
subcuspidatis; interstitiis latioribus, undulatis; sulcis
spiralibus creberrimis, altis, in spirâ circ. x., costas vix
secantibus, circa basim impressis; peritremati vix continuo,
labio distincto; columellâ vix tortâ.
Long. 0·23, long. spir. 0·16, lat. 0·06, div. 25°.
_Hab._ S. Diego; 25 dredged in shoal water. _Cooper._
Differs from the figure of _Ch. tenuicula_ (which represents a
shell with more numerous ribs than the diagnosis) in its more
distant ribs with broader interstices; closer and deeper spiral
sculpture; impressed sutures; and especially by the elegant
murication of the tops of the ribs, with projecting, curved
lines between. This is best seen in the young shells, when the
ribs are distinct over the base.
Genus EULIMA, Risso.
_Eulima (? var.) compacta_, Cpr.
Eu. t. “_Eu. micanti_,” jun. simili, sed multo minus tereti;
marginibus spiræ parum excurvatis; anfr. nucl. ?.., [detritis],
norm. vii.; basi et aperturâ elongatis; labro parum sinuato.
Long. 0·25, long. spir. 0·15, lat. 0·09, div. 22°.
_Hab._ San Pedro; _Cooper_.
A single dead shell was found in Dr. Palmer’s consignment.
_Eulima (? var.) rutila_, Cpr.
Eu. t. “_Eu. micanti_” jun. simili, sed magis tereti; valde
nitente, rosaceo et livido tinctâ; anfr. nucl. ut in “_Eu.
micante_;” norm. x. elongatis, gracillimis; basi et aperturâ
valde prolongatis; columellâ magis tortâ; labro valde sinuato,
supra suturam retrorsum calloso; labio angusto.
Long. 0·26, long. spir. 0·19, lat. 0·07, div. 20°.
_Hab._ Monterey; _Cooper_.
Closely allied to _Leiostraca producta_, Cpr. Maz. Cat. No.
551, but displays no varices. The Eulimidæ are very difficult
to distinguish, from a few shells alone.
Genus SCALARIA, _Lam._
_Scalaria bellastriata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 393,
_b_.
S. t. curtâ tenuissimâ, albidâ; anfr. vii. valde tumentibus,
haud nisi per costas attingentibus; costis circ. xvii. acutis
extantibus, reflexis, haud semper in spirâ attingentibus,
postice angulatis, parum spinosis; interstitiis circa spiram
basimque dense spiraliter lirulatis, lirulis rotundatis, super
varicum angulum obsoletis; aperturâ ovatâ, umbilico magno.
Long. 0·78, long. spir. 0·55, lat. 0·38; div. 40°.
_Hab._ Monterey, a fragment; San Diego, 1; San Pedro, 3;
_Cooper_.
So different in sculpture from _S. pretiosa_ and other species
with which it agrees in shape, that there will be no difficulty
in recognizing perfect specimens.
_Scalaria subcoronata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 393,
_a_.
S. t. compactâ, haud elevatâ, albâ; anfr. x. rotundatis, parum
attingentibus; costis circ. xiii. acutissimis, expansis, vix
reflexis, postice attingentibus, lineis margini spiræ dextro
parallelis spiram, ascendentibus, t. adolesc. postice vix
coronatis, adultâ simplicibus; aperturâ subcirculari, umbilico
nullo; sculpturâ spirali nullà.
Long. 0·45, long. spir. 0·29, lat. 0·22, div. 38°.
_Hab._ Monterey; _Cooper_.
Like _S. communis_, jun., but with the upper whorls slightly
coronated.
_Scalaria crebricostata_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, 393.
S. t. gracili, tenui, albâ; anfr. x. rotundatis, haud
attingentibus; costis circ. xv., acutis, reflexis, vix
attingentibus, lineis irregulariter spiralibus ascendentibus;
costis juxta suturam eleganter coronatis; sculpturâ spirali,
nisi striulis interdum exillimis, nullâ; aperturâ rotundatâ;
umbilico nullo; operculo normali, dense corneo.
Long. 0·70; long. spir. 0·52, lat. 0·18, div. 26°
_Hab._ Monterey, San Pedro, _Cooper_, common.
= “Scalaria, unique” Mus. Cum. No. 32.
Somewhat resembles _S. tenuis_, Sby., but is not so turrited.
Genus OPALIA, H. & A. Adams.
_Opalia spongiosa_, Cpr. n. s.
O. t. turritâ, parvâ, albidâ, marginibus spiræ rectis; anfr.
ix. subplanatis, suturis impressis; costis undulantibus circ.
xiii., plerumque (nisi ad suturas crenulatas) obsoletis; totà
superficie lineis punctorum creberrimis, spiralibus, punctis
creberrimis, minutis, altissimis; circa basim imperforatam
costa anticâ latissimâ, spirali; aperturâ ovatâ, valde callosâ;
operculo aurantiaco, paucispirali.
Long. 0·36, long. spir. 0·26, lat. 0·12, div. 20°.
_Hab._ Monterey, _Cooper_. From shell washings.
The solitary specimen has the general aspect of _O. granulosa_
on a very small scale.
_Opalia retiporosa_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1014.
O. t. “_O. bullatæ_” formâ simulante, sed sculpturâ
omnino diversâ; anfr. nucl. ?... (decollatis); norm. vii.
subrotundatis, suturis impressis; costis radiantibus
rotundatis, subarcuatis, haud varicosis, circ. xiv., super
suturas tenue continuis; anfr. ult. seriebus nodulorum
spiralibus irregularibus, vice costarum, instructâ, peripheriâ
tuberculosâ; totâ superficie retiporosâ, interstitiis alte
interpunctatis, punctulis minutissimis, confertissimis; basi
vix costatâ, à serie nodulorum angulatâ; aperturâ rotundatâ;
peritremati continuo, varicoso; labro haud sinuato; operculo?
paucispirali.
Long. 0·28, long. spir. 0·20; lat. 0·10; div. 20°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island; 3 dead in 40 fm.; _Cooper_.
The texture has a rotten appearance; yet one of the specimens
was stained with purple, and contained the dried remains of the
animal, with its operculum. In the endeavor to extract this,
the shell gave way.
Genus NASSA, _Lam._
_Nassa insculpta_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 1008.
N. t. satis elevatâ, compactâ, tenuiore, elegantissimâ,
marginibus spiræ subrectis; albescente, rufo-carneo varie
maculatâ; anfr. nucl. iv. lævibus, normaliter augentibus, apice
minuto, satis extante; norm. v. subrotundatis, suturis satis
impressis; aperturâ subrotundatâ, canali acute reflexâ; totâ
superficie sulculis æquidistantibus, quarum x. anfr. penult.
apparent, insculptâ; anfr. norm. ii. primis costulis quoque
radiantibus circ. xvi. haud expressis ornatâ; labro rotundato,
extus varicoso, intus sulcidentato; labio valde calloso, supra
basim seu parietem expanso, haud extante, intus ruguloso.
Long. 0·80, long. spir. 0·43, lat. 0·46, div. 45°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 30-40 fm.; 15 mostly alive, but few
mature; animal white; _Cooper_.
This singularly beautiful species probably belongs to the
section _Zeuxis_, H. & A. Adams. The callus is slightly
reflexed in the best specimen.
Genus AMYCLA, H. & A. Adams, 1858. (auctum.)
_? Amycla chrysalloidea_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 613.
? A. t. parvà, eleganter effusâ, marginibus spiræ utrinque
excurvatis; albidâ, rufofusco concinne punctatâ seu tinctâ;
interdum strigâ albida subsuturali, rufofusco tesselatâ; anfr.
nucl. iii. lævibus, haud tumidis, apice declivi; norm. v., t.
adolescente planatis, dein tumidioribus, suturis distinctis;
totâ superficie elegantissime tenuiter sulcatâ, sulcis
æquidistantibus, anfr. penult. circ. xx.; aperturâ flexuosâ
subpyriformi; canali oblique sinistrorsum truncatâ, axi quasi
umbilicatâ; labro intus acuto, postice sinuato, deorsum quasi
tumidiore, intus vii-dentato; columellâ tortâ; labio antice
rugis paucioribus interdum munito.
Long. 0·37, long. spir. 0·22; lat. 0·14; div. 25°.
_Hab._ San Pedro, 1 on beach; San Diego, 30, some alive in 8
fms. on sand, in upper part of bay. _Cooper._
This is one of the most beautiful, but (without a knowledge of
either animal, or operculum) most puzzling of the small shells
of California. It has relations with _Euryta_, _Truncaria_,
_Metula_, and _Daphnella_.
Genus ANACHIS, H. & A. Adams.
_Anachis subturrita_, Cpr. n. s.
A. t. minuta, angusta, Rissoinoideâ, pallide purpureofuscâ,
albido maculosâ; anfr. nucl. ? (decollatis); norm. v.
subplanatis, suturis distinctis; costulis radiantibus circ. xx.
angustis, vix extantibus, parum flexuosis; sculpturâ spirali
nullâ; aperturâ quadratâ; labro acuto deorsum tumente, postice
sinuato; labio conspicuo; columellâ tortâ, truncatâ.
Long. 0·13, long. spir. 0·09, lat. 0·05, div. 30°.
_Hab._ San Diego, _Cooper_. From shell washings.
The only specimen seen of this tiny species is not quite
mature, and has formed no labral teeth.
Genus TROPHON, Montfort.
_Trophon triangulatus_, Cpr. n. s. State Collection, No. 580,
_a_.
T. t. parvâ, tenui, albâ, postice latâ, antice attenuatâ;
anfr. nucl. ii. minutis, lævibus, attenuatis, vertice declivi,
celato; norm. (t. adolescente) iv. subtriangulatis, postice
tabulatis, axi fere rectangulatis; suturis acute impressis;
antice rapidissime angustatis, canali longâ, arcuatâ; varicibus
circ. vii. laminalis, acutis, ad angulum in spinam apertam
compressis, spinis radiantibus, parum superne arcuatis; lineâ
seu angulo obsoleto peripheriali, suturam continuante; aperturâ
pyriformi; labro antice haud indentato.
Long. 0·35, long. spir. 0·15, lat. 0·15, div. 70°.
_Hab._ Catalina Island, 60 fm.; 4 alive, of equal size,
_Cooper_.
Resembles the young of _Murex centrifuga_, Hds., and is related
to _Trophon muricatus_, Hds.
Besides the above species, which were entirely new to science,
the fresh and perfect specimens collected by Dr. Cooper, on the
Survey, from authentic localities have enabled me to make out
and complete the diagnoses of many species first found indeed
by other naturalists, but in such poor condition, or with such
uncertainty of habitat, that it would have been unsafe to have
ventured on their description.
[16] From the Greek, for _twisted tooth_.
[17] From the Greek for _a sawyer_; from the serration of the
teeth, which is unique in the family.
[18] From the Greek for _rough skin_.
[19] A small island in the British Channel.
[20] From the Greek for _chamber on both sides_.
REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Seven members present.
Mr. P. M. Randall was elected a resident member.
Donation to the Cabinet: Specimen of _Aplodontia leporina_, shot near
Lake Tahoe, by Mr. J. M. M’Donald.
REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 2D, 1865.
Mr. Fisk in the chair.
Seven members present.
Donations to the Library: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society,
Vol. IV, No. 12—Correspondenzblatt des Naturf. Vereins zu Riga, 14te
Jahrgang. Mittheilungen aus dem Osterlande 1 Sept. 1-4, 1860-1864;
Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar, 1862; Ofversigt of
K. V. Ak. Förhandlingar, 1-10, 1863; Meteorologiska Iaktagelser, 1862;
Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, Tome V,
Nos. 2-9; VI; 1-12. Bulletin de l’Académie de St. Petersbourg, Tome V,
3-8; VI, 1-5; VII, 1-2; Verhandlingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap,
Deel XXIX, 1862. Tijdschrift voor indesche Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde,
Deel XI, 4th Serie, Deel III, Afl. 1-6; Sitzungsberichte der K. bay. Ak.
der Wissenschaften, zu München, 1863, II, Heft 2-4; 1864, I, Heft 1-4,
Supp. 5; 1864, II; Heft 1-2. Annalen der K. Sternwarte bei München, Band
XIII, Supplementband, IV. Botanisk Reise of Axel Blytt, 1864. Beretning
af G. P. Sars, 1864. Meteorologische Beobachtungen auf Christiania’s
Observatorium, Lieferung 1-4. Monatsberichte der k. preuss. Ak. der
Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1864. Journal d’Agriculture, 1862. Mémoires de
l’Académie imp. de Dijon, Ser 2, Tomes 10, 11, 1862, 1863. Société imp.
des Sciences Naturelles de Cherbourg, Tomes IX, X.
The above-named volumes were presented by the different societies named,
through the Smithsonian Institution.
Mr. Stearns announced that _Helix infumata_ had been found as far south
as Cape Mendocino.
REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 16TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Five members present.
The following paper was presented by Mr. Bolander.
Remarks on California Trees.
BY HENRY N. BOLANDER.
NOTE.—Localities given with two !! I have not visited myself. I
would also further remark that I am by no means sure of having
correctly determined the two oaks—_Quercus Douglasii_ and
_Garryana_.
It may not be altogether amiss to offer some observations on
the distribution and value, as specimens, of some of our trees
which I have met with on my various trips over a portion of
this State.
1. _Pinus Sabiniana_, Dougl. (Digger Pine.)
Invariably disposed over south-hillsides of the interior,
occupying the driest expositions—Mount Diablo! Russian River
Valley! Geysers! Auburn and Forest Hill! San José Valley! Near
Mission San Antonio!! Mountains east of San Diego!!
As to its value there are a great many contradictory assertions
made by farmers; some assert it yields an excellent wood for
yokes and similar objects, while others denounce it as entirely
useless.
2. _Pinus Lambertiana_, Dougl. (Sugar Pine.)
Pine Mountains near Geysers! Near Cloverdale! Forest Hill!
Mountains east of San Diego!! Generally with _Pinus ponderosa_
in groves, occupying the damper localities.
3. _Pinus ponderosa_, Dougl. (Yellow Pine.)
Russian River Valley! south of Clear Lake! Geysers! Auburn and
Forest Hill! San José Valley! Blue Mountains!! (Mr. Dunn) Rocky
Mountains!! New Mexico!!
4. _Pinus insignis_. Dougl. (Monterey Pine.)
Monterey! Carmelo Valley!
This species covers many thousand acres of land near and by
Monterey and Carmelo, forming quite an extensive forest along
the coast between these two places. Height, sixty to one
hundred feet, and one to three feet diameter; outline very
irregular, consisting often of only a few rigid spreading
branches; foliage dense and of a vivid green color; cones
persistent, often from ten to nineteen whorls; bark very thick
and rimose. Wood extremely resinous and rather coarse-grained;
excellent for street planks, bridges, and floors. At present it
is no more in the market as lumber; the good timber has been
all cut, and the saw-mill removed.
Considering that there is, besides this species, only _Pinus
muricata_ growing in that forest, which could not be confounded
with the species in question—it is certainly most singular
to meet with so many synonyms for it. _Pinus radiata_, Don.;
_Pinus Sinclairii_ and _Pinus tuberculata_, provided this
last should not prove to be a good species. It is the more
astonishing since trees and cones are of great conformity
throughout the entire forest.
5. _Pinus tuberculata_, Don.
Santa Cruz! Ukiah! Oakland hills! Forest Hill! Eureka!!
In all these localities, it is a small tree, from twenty to
thirty feet high, and from six to fourteen inches in diameter.
It retains its lowest branches, which spread generally very
much, often horizontally. The foliage seems to me less dense
and less vivid-green, than that of the preceding. Young
trees raised here, side by side, show the same differential
characters. The cones from all these different localities are
very uniform, and differ essentially from those of _Pinus
insignis_ at Monterey. The seeds, however, resemble each
other very much. Both species grow near the coast, but on
different soil. _Pinus insignis_, on a soil produced by the
disintegration of a bituminous slate and granite; _Pinus
tuberculata_, in all the above-mentioned localities, on a
soil derived from metamorphosed sandstone. Should these two
species be definitely united, after a thorough investigation,
they would afford a most striking example of the influence
of a different soil. It is certainly singular to find such a
well-characterized form restricted to one locality only. This
fact, however, would not stand isolated with us here; _Abies
bracteata_, we find similarly confined to one locality only in
California. Isolation is more or less a characteristic feature
with all our trees, and there is probably no country where the
influences of soil, climate, and exposition are so well and
abruptly marked and unmistakably defined.
6. _Pinus muricata_, Don.
Monterey! Mendocino City!
In a moist depression at Monterey, I found a small group of
this species, averaging about fifteen feet in height, and five
to six inches in diameter. Bark reddish and nearly smooth;
branches almost at a right angle with the main axis and
generally from five to seven in a whorl; leaves of a darker
vivid green, and more succulent and longer, than those of
_Pinus insignis_, of which there were trees of the same size by
the side of it; cones from three to seven, in a whorl very much
aggregated and clustered. I counted seventeen whorls on a tree
fifteen feet high. The lower portion of the trunk was clad with
dead leaves.
At the same distance (about two miles) from the ocean, and
scarcely a mile from the above-mentioned depression, I found
another group (mixed with _Cupressus macrocarpa_) in a deeper
but drier locality. Here the tree was altogether of a different
aspect, inferior in all its parts. This very transition
suggested strongly, that this pine and the one previously seen
on the plains near Mendocino City, on a similar soil, might be
of the same species.
Near Mendocino City, on the so-called plains, I found in great
abundance a small pine tree, which I refer for the present to
this species.
Height, five to twenty feet, but the greater number averaged
only from five to fifteen feet. Only one tree which I noticed
which was fifty-five inches in circumference, and twenty to
twenty-five feet in height. It had a flattish top with the
branches very much imbricated and so completely covered with
cones, that it was really difficult to discover its foliage.
But this tree was very exceptional, compared with the mass of
little trees covering the plains. These had in general upright
branches with numerous and slender branchlets; leaves shorter,
denser, and of a darker green than _Pinus contorta_? which
grows with it and is a larger tree altogether; bark reddish,
very thin, exhaling a strong resinous odor, and but slightly
rimose; cones two to four inches long (curved when long) and
scarcely an inch thick, mostly in pairs, but sometimes in
threes, reflexed. I counted fifteen sets of cones on a tree
fifteen feet high.
7. _Pinus contorta_, Dougl.?
Head of Tomales Bay! Mendocino City!
Its manner of growth resembles that of _Pinus insignis_ very
much. It attains the same height, has the same irregular
spreading branches, the same thick rimose bark and very
resinous wood. The leaves are invariably in pairs and slightly
silvery on the lower surface. The cones are scarcely two inches
long with mostly reflex pedicles (umbo) on the slightly gibbous
side and persistent for a great number of years.
From the River Albin to Mendocino City, it grows quite near
the coast on a fertile and undulating plain, gently descending
towards the ocean. At Mendocino City I found it to extend all
over the plains about eight miles eastward.
Whether this species is identical with _Pinus contorta_ or
not I am unable to decide. Observations made by Mr. Geo. Wm.
Dunn, on his recent travels through the Blue and Siskiyou
mountains, have rather a tendency to show that _Pinus contorta_
is altogether a different tree. I can state, however, most
positively that this species cannot be confounded with _Pinus
muricata_. Both species are two-leaved, but in every other
respect they differ widely. The object of these remarks is
only to point out the different species, met in my travels,
and not to decide which name should have precedence. Murray’s
discussion on the distribution of our Pines, in his “Notes
on California Trees,” has not “struck” me as being so very
correct. Endlicher, in his Synopsis Coniferarum, makes _Pinus
muricata_ a Taeda, which is also incorrect; it is a true
Pinaster. It remains to decide only, whether the species at
Mendocino City is _P. contorta_, or _P. Murrayana_, Balf.
8. _Libocedrus decurrens_, Torr. (California White Cedar.)
Forest Hill! (forming quite a large woods there). Rancheria
Creek! Mendocino County. East of Salinas River, Monterey
County. Dr. Canfield. East of San Diego!!
On the banks of Rancheria Creek, in the south-western part of
Mendocino County, I found a small colony of this handsome tree.
The largest were about forty to sixty feet high and two to
three feet in diameter. Judging from the young after-growth,
the tree seems likely to spread. I was informed that this
is the only place in the county where it is to be found. In
the latter part of September (1865) the tree had its aments
strongly developed. Cones decidedly pendulous.
9. _Cupressus macrocarpa_, Hartw. (Monterey Cypress.)
Monterey! Tamal Pais (2,700 feet)! Mendocino City! and
south-east of Clear Lake!
This species seems to be extremely variable. At Monterey, about
two miles from the coast, I saw, upon exposed granite rocks,
but slightly disintegrated, specimens only six inches high,
bearing perfect cones. Going westward, at the same distance
from the ocean, I found specimens in a depression associated
with _Pinus muricata_, from ten to fifteen feet high, full with
cones; and extending my walk to Cypress Point, a distance of
three to four miles, I was surprised to find a large grove of
this species, containing mostly large trees of great beauty
and perfection. The average height may be from forty to sixty
feet, and as they were (right at the point) almost all alike in
thickness, I measured but three, finding their circumference
to be one hundred and nineteen, one hundred and four, and one
hundred and twenty inches, about four feet above the ground.
At this point these trees are almost daily enveloped in a
dense fog. Their branches are very densely imbricated and
depressed, retaining the moisture to such an extent that the
thick clusters of cones are quite mouldy. Between the cones and
little dense branchlets settles a great deal of rubbish, which
is almost dripping wet. It is undoubtedly owing to this very
fact that so many seeds of this species, collected there, prove
abortive.
Seeing so great a variation at Monterey, I do not hesitate to
refer all specimens, seen at the other localities mentioned
above, to this species at present.
On the plain near Mendocino City, that species exhibited about
the same gradations, although not so strikingly as at Monterey.
10. _Torreya Californica_, Torr. (California Nutmeg.)
Paper Mill! Marin County. Ukiah! Mendocino City! Forest Hill!
Generally dispersed, only at Ukiah I found quite a group of
this species. Wood valuable.
11. _Taxus brevifolia_, Nutt. (California Yew-Tree.)
Devil’s Cañon, near Forest Hill! A handsome tree, twenty to
thirty feet high, with extremely slender and drooping branches.
Dispersed but plenty.
Wood valuable.
12. _Quercus agrifolia_, Nées. (Live Oak.)
Oakland! Banks of Sacramento River! Clear Lake! Russian River
Valley! Anderson Valley! Monterey!
Foliage extremely variable. On river banks and in expositions
close to the coast, where it is almost daily enveloped in
fogs, this species exhibits quite a uniformity; the figure of
_Quercus oxyadenia_ in Sitgreaves’ Report represents this form
of it very well. In the valleys of the interior the shape of
the leaves of one and the same tree is very different. Some
have entire margins, while others have them pretty deeply
dentated, often one side is entire and the other dentate.
Some trees occur of which the young shoots have the leaves
“coarsely sinuate-toothed, or obliquely sinuate-toothed;
teeth very sharply acute with a broad base, cuspidate-awned,”
and thus agree with Dr. Kellogg’s _Quercus Morehus_—while
the older branches have much smaller and entire leaves. In
Anderson Valley I saw several trees whose entire foliage agrees
admirably with Dr. Kellogg’s. Had I not seen that tree on the
shore of Borax Lake exhibiting both forms, I should be inclined
to call it a good species. The cups of the acorns of these
trees have the scales long and loosely imbricated, and the
acorn is almost entirely immerged; but this is also the case
with those of some trees that have a far different foliage.
Thus far I have not been able to find good, distinctive,
reliable characters. There are transitions in all parts, even
on the same tree. As the tree has the habit of growing in
groups, one might suppose that trees of one group, at least,
should show a uniformity in botanical characters; this is not
so: just the very extremes may be found in one and the same
group. This phenomenon I observed throughout the whole length
of Anderson Valley, a distance of some eighteen miles. On dry
gravelly hillsides in the interior this tree presents still
another form: _Quercus Wislizeni_, Englm.
The acorns ripen annually and differ also essentially in shape
and size. Soil, climate, and exposition, offer in this case
no satisfactory explanation for so great a variation in one
species. Should it not be attributed to intrinsic peculiarities?
13. _Quercus Garryana_, Hook. (White Oak.)
On dry easterly hillsides and in valleys on a poor buff-colored
clay. Santa Rosa Valley! Clear Lake! Searsville! Anderson
Valley! San José Valley!
Exposition and soil agree in all these localities.
The bark of this tree is rather thin, whitish, and less
coarsely rimose than any other of the Californian oaks. It is
always a flat-topped, middle-sized tree, apparently of a very
slow, almost stunted, growth. The whitish bark of trunk and
branches, the glaucous foliage, and the light-green color of
the acorns, which it yields, however, quite sparingly, give
this tree, compared with other oaks especially, quite a pale
and hoary appearance.
Farmers consider the fine-grained wood of this oak very
valuable for many farming implements. It ranks highest among
our oaks.
14. _Quercus Douglasii_, Hook. (Pale Oak.)
Anderson Valley!
The general aspect and habit of this tree resembles very much
that of _Quercus lobata_, with which it grows in the low, flat
portions of Anderson Valley. Its branchlets, however, are
short, rigid, and erect, while those of _Qu. lobata_ are mostly
drooping. In fall, when laden with acorns, it presents a very
striking difference by having its rather pale acorns densely
aggregated and clustered at the extremities of the branchlets,
resting, as it were, on the dark-green leaves. At a distance
it may be mistaken for a full-bearing apple tree. It increases
rapidly in number in Anderson Valley from south to north,
outnumbering almost every other oak at the lower end of the
valley. Its wood ranks next to that of _Quercus Douglasii_.
15. _Quercus lobata_, Nées. (Burr-Oak.)
The most common and largest oak in all the valleys of
the interior of California. Thus far, I never found it
on a hillside. It is this mighty oak, with its peculiar,
gracefully-drooping branchlets, that gives character to the
landscape of the Californian valleys. It is especially noted
for its very long acorns; but they do not always attain that
large size, and are never so conspicuously arranged as those
of _Qu. Garryana_; they are usually in pairs. It may also be
stated that this tree forms, on an average, about the longest
trunk of Californian foliaceous trees. The acorns of this
species form a principal part of the food of the Indians. On
the Coast Range they seem to give, however, preference to those
of _Quercus Sonomensis_. The wood ranks next to that of the
preceding species.
These above-mentioned three species of oaks, belonging to
the section of white oaks, are surely distinct. I met with
no transitions thus far. They may be distinguished at a
distance; every farmer distinguishes them, for there is quite a
difference in the quality of the wood.
16. _Quercus Sonomensis_, Benth. (Black Oak.)
San Diego!! Anderson Valley! Auburn!
Eastern and northern hillsides in the Coast Ranges. It also
occupies the more easterly-situated flats, among the redwoods,
wherever they are too dry for redwood. Very seldom it is found
in the valley; and when found, it occupies that portion of it
which is adjacent to the hillsides, where there is generally
a gravelly soil. It is always a middle-sized tree, having
mostly numerous erect branches arranged like those of _Acer
saccharinum_. In fall it sheds its leaves, which become
buff-colored, before any other of our deciduous oaks. The wood
of this tree is of a poor quality; used for fuel only.
17. _Quercus chrysolepis_, Liebm. (Drooping Live Oak.)
The most rare of all our oaks; it bears acorns but seldom,
and even then very sparingly. I have not been able to satisfy
myself whether they are biannual or not, but I am rather
inclined to believe they are. Northern slopes near Cloverdale!
in Anderson Valley! and near Forest Hill! Tree 30-40 feet high,
with a rather smooth whitish bark, and mostly long, slender,
drooping branches; evergreen. Of the quality of its wood I
could not learn anything from settlers. The tree being rare,
and occupying always moist slopes along gulches, it is not
often cut down.
18. _Quercus densiflora_, Hook. (Chestnut Oak.)
Along the Coast Range, associated with the redwood, increasing
northwards; from Santa Cruz to Mendocino City, at least, it
occurs only in or close by the redwoods. This tree attains
rather a large height in dense woods, and is then but sparingly
branched. Leaves and acorns very considerable. Its wood is
absolutely useless; it is very coarse grained, and like the
redwood wet like a sponge when cut; it is extremely perishable.
At Mendocino City log-men call it Water Oak.
19. _Castanea chrysophylla_, Dougl. (Chestnut.)
On the Oakland hills this species is but 3-6 feet high;
blooms about the fourth of July, like the Eastern _Castanea
vesca_, and bears perfect fruit. On the so-called plains at
Mendocino City, however, it is a large tree, averaging from
50-125 feet in height, and 2-3 feet in diameter. Those trees
were completely covered with blossoms on the twenty-third of
September, 1865; settlers say they never found its fruit. Here,
on the Oakland hills, it grows only on the outcropping of a
white friable slate, destitute of all vegetable remains; at the
Mendocino plains it is found to grow on a cemented gravel, upon
which the water rests for some months after the rainy season.
The supply of an aerial moisture during the dry season is in
favor of the Oakland hills, judging by the lichenose vegetation
of the two localities.
20. _Sequoia sempervirens_, Endl. (Redwood.)
This mighty tree belongs exclusively to the foggy regions of
the Coast Ranges and the underlying metamorphic sandstone,
for wherever either of these conditions is wanting, this tree
does not exist. From the northern boundary line of the State
down to the head of Tomales Bay it forms a continual forest,
increasing in width northward. At Tomales Bay the chain is
interrupted by a small bed of lime-rock. The interruption
extending from the lower foot-hills of Tamalpais down to
Belmont, is undoubtedly owing to the lowness of the hills. A
connecting link is found, however, on the Oakland hills. That
grove of redwoods, now almost entirely destroyed, affords the
strongest evidences of the dependency of that species on the
prevalence of heavy mists. From Belmont to a few miles below
Santa Cruz is another narrow continuous chain, occupying
mainly the leesides of the most western ranges and the deeper
gulches eastward. From near the mouth of Salinas River to the
head of Carmelo Valley, another long interruption is caused
by a bituminous slate. The absence of redwood in this long
interval can hardly be ascribed to any other cause, for it is
known that Monterey and the adjacent regions are subject to
heavier fogs than Santa Cruz. _Pinus insignis_ and _Cupressus
macrocarpa_ occupy here those portions naturally belonging to
the redwood and _Tsuga Douglasii_. Further south, from the head
of Carmelo Valley to San Luis Obispo, the most southern limit,
redwood occurs but sparingly, forming nowhere extensive groves.
Associated with the redwood we find _Tsuga Douglasii_, a tree
of a wide range, _Torreya Californica_, _Arbutus Menziesii_,
_Quercus densiflora_, and in Mendocino County _Abies grandis_
Dougl. There are also some shrubs and herbaceous plants truly
characteristic to them, the shrubs increasing as underwood
northward, belong mostly to the Ericaceous family. It is a
noteworthy fact that the arborescent growth of the leeside
of the first range of hills generally consists, almost
exclusively, of _Tsuga Douglasii_, and that this tree forms the
outskirt east and particularly westward. In Mendocino County
_Abies grandis_ unites with it for the same cause; there both
trees form a dense belt, facing the ocean, and are encroaching
fast on the redwood. In fact, the western portion of those
redwoods show this encroachment most strikingly by a total
absence of young redwood, and a dense, almost impenetrable,
undergrowth of the two-mentioned species. The order of things
is, however, reversed wherever the redwood has been cut.
Its roots are imperishable, and as soon as the tree is cut
they sprout and cover the soil rapidly to the exclusion of
every other species—none being of so rapid a growth. The
indestructibility of the roots prevents the clearing of such
land; even large trunks cut down cover themselves, within
two or three years, so completely with sprouts that they are
hardly seen. The entire after growth now found on the Oakland
hills, is owing solely to the indestructibility of its roots
and stumps. The tenacity of life in this species, which is
rather of rare occurrence in coniferous trees, shows itself
also in the resistance it offers to fire, so frequent in
those woods. Trees that have been bereft completely of their
branches by fire, covered themselves in a few years entirely
with young sprouts, giving the trunks the appearance of a
pillar, or remind one of those old trunks covered with _Rhus
toxicodendron_ in the East. Fire is destructive to the young
trees only; after they have obtained a thickness of two or
three feet they are not liable to perish.
Another great beneficial feature in this species is the great
power it possesses in condensing fogs and mists. A heavy fog
is always turned into a rain, wetting the soil and supplying
springs with water during the dry season. Springs in and near
the redwoods are never in want of a good supply of water, and
crops on the Coast Ranges are not liable to fail. The year
of 1864 has proved my assertion beyond doubt; this fact is
generally known—a great deal of land has been taken up since.
It is my firm conviction that if the redwoods are destroyed—and
they necessarily will be, if not protected by a wise action
of our Government—California will become a desert, in the
true sense of the word. In their safety depends the future
welfare of the State; they are our safeguard. It remains to
be seen whether we shall be benefited or not by the horrible
experience such countries as Asia Minor, Greece, Spain, and
France have made, by having barbarously destroyed their woods
and forests. But with us here it is even of a more serious
nature; wise governments would be able to replace them in those
countries, but no power on earth can restore the woods of
California when once completely destroyed!
REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 6TH, 1865.
Dr. Kellogg in the chair.
Eight members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Specimen of _Pinus ponderosa_, _Abies
Douglasii_, _Taxus brevifolia_, _Larix occidentalis_, _Pteris aquilina_,
and _Abies Menziesii_; presented by Mr. Dunn.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 4TH, 1865.
President in the chair.
Seven members present, and Mr. W. H. Dall as a visitor.
Major Edward Preiss and Count Oswald Thun were elected Corresponding
Members.
Mr. Bolander made some remarks on a wild California Grape (_Vitis
Californica_) growing near Oakland.
Professor Whitney gave an account of the explorations of Professor
Pumpelly in Japan and China. An elaborate memoir, by this gentleman,
containing a full account of his very important geological discoveries,
will appear in the second volume of the Memoirs of the National Academy
of Sciences.
Mr. Dall made some observations on the progress of the Russian American
Overland Telegraph Expedition, and gave an interesting description of the
region which had been traversed by the party.
REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 18TH, 1865.
Dr. Kellogg in the chair.
Six members present.
Dr. Ferdinand Stoliczka, Palæontologist to the Geological Survey of
India, was elected a Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet: One box of shells and two of fishes, collected
at Tahiti, by Mr. Andrew Garrett.
The following papers were presented.
Notice of a peculiar Astringent Gum or Coloring Substance in the Cones of
the Sequoia gigantea.
BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE.
I am not aware that any notice has yet been taken by scientific
chemists of a peculiar substance, apparently a gum, which
accompanies the seeds of the great trees, and may be shaken
out of the dried cones. About twenty cones yielded me an ounce
of the material. It does not adhere to either the seeds or the
cone, but appears to have shrunk from both in drying. It falls
out in loose broken grains with brilliant conchoidal fractured
surfaces, and looks a little like dried blood. The color is
purplish-red, nearly black by reflected light, and a brilliant
carmine-red by transmitted.
The taste is strongly astringent, and suggests tannin; it is
somewhat bitter, and is similar also to that of very strong
black tea. It softens and becomes gummy between the teeth. It
dissolves completely in water and in ordinary alcohol, giving
a brilliant claret-colored solution which gradually darkens by
exposure to the air. The addition of carbonate of soda darkens
the solution and lime-water turns it black, giving a black
scaly precipitate. Dilute sulphuric acid reddens the solution
and causes a red precipitate.
It is in many respects similar to the _kino_ of the shops,
but has a brighter colored powder and streaks. The kino that
I have seen has a brownish-red streak; this substance gives a
purplish-red.
The reactions with alkalies and acids in respect to color are
similar to those of green redwood boards, which may be stained
as dark as rosewood by alkalies and red by acids.
This substance may be found to have some peculiar value in
pharmacy, or as a coloring matter for tinctures or wine. I hope
that this notice will induce a thorough investigation of its
nature and properties. If it proves to be new, I suggest that
it shall be known as _Sequonin_.
Ammonites in the Auriferous Slates of California.
BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE.
Ammonites occur in the gold-bearing slates of Bear Valley,
Mariposa County, in addition to belemnites and other fossils
already noted. The specimen I have seen is a cast, somewhat
distorted by pressure, but apparently similar to the species
from the slates on the American River, which I brought to the
notice of the academy last year.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 8TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Twelve members present.
The Curator of Conchology and the Librarian made verbal reports.
The academy then proceeded to the election of officers for the year, and
the following persons were chosen.
PRESIDENT.
LEANDER RANSOM.
VICE PRESIDENTS.
R. E. C. STEARNS.
W. O. AYRES, M.D.
TREASURER.
SAMUEL HUBBARD.
RECORDING SEC’Y.
T. H. BLOOMER.
CORRESPONDING SEC’Y.
HENRY N. BOLANDER.
LIBRARIAN.
J. D. WHITNEY.
CURATORS.
H. S. HANKS MINERALOGY.
E. F. LORQUIN ZOOLOGY.
H. N. BOLANDER BOTANY.
R. E. C. STEARNS CONCHOLOGY.
W. M. GABB PALÆONTOLOGY.
H. BEHR, M.D. ENTOMOLOGY.
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
MESSRS. HUBBARD, STEARNS, AND FISK.
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION.
MESSRS. WHITNEY, MINNS, AND STEARNS.
Donations to the Library: American Journal of Science, September, 1865,
from the editors. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York,
Vol. VIII, Nos. 2-5. Journal de Conchyliogie, (3) V, 1, 2. Sea-Side
Studies in Natural History, from Alex. Agassiz. Proceedings of the
Boston Society of Natural History, 1864, Sheet 1. Astronomical and
Meteorological Observations made at the U. S. Naval Observatory during
the year 1863. Check List of the Fossils of California and Nevada, by W.
M. Gabb.
The following biographical sketch of Thomas Bridges was read by Mr. Dall.
Memorial Sketch of Thomas Bridges, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.S., and Member of
the Cala. Acad. Sci.
BY W. H. DALL, ACTING DIRECTOR SCI. CORPS, W. U. T. EX.
Mr. Bridges was born at Lilly in Hertfordshire, England, on the
twenty-second of May, 1807.
At an early age he became interested in Natural History, and
when about nineteen or twenty—having previously studied for
some three years under Sir William Hooker, at Kew Gardens—he
sailed for Valparaiso. He remained here or passed the time in
some of the adjoining provinces, from 1827 to 1844, when he
returned to England on a short visit. On again reaching South
America, he undertook the explorations in Bolivia, so well
known to naturalists, through their magnificent results. During
the course of this journey, in June, 1845, he discovered and
obtained seeds of the great South American Water Lily, the
_Victoria Regia_, Lindley. Although the plant had previously
been detected, to Mr. Bridges belonged the honor of first
introducing it into the old world, by transporting seeds which
subsequently germinated at Kew.
In 1846, he returned to England, where for many months he
was prostrated by severe illness contracted in his arduous
explorations.
In 1847, he was married to Miss Mary Benson, of Bristol,
England, a niece of the eminent collector, the late Hugh
Cuming. Soon after he proceeded again to Valparaiso.
In 1851, he visited and explored the island of Juan Fernandez.
In the report of Lieut. Herndon, U. S. N., on his explorations
of the Amazon, he acknowledges his obligations to Mr. Bridges,
for invaluable information furnished, in regard to the
head-waters of that river.
In 1855, he proceeded to Panama, remaining there some six
months; and from thence to England, subsequently to France, and
finally to California, where he arrived in November, 1856.
About 1857, he went to British Columbia, and remained nearly
two years, collecting and exploring. In the winter of 1858,
his family, hitherto in Europe, rejoined him. Since then San
Francisco has been his home, though travelling in many parts of
California.
In April, 1865, he undertook his ill-starred journey to
Nicaragua. His explorations here were limited principally to
the lake country, where he passed some five months exploring
the dense and tangled jungles of the vicinity; ascending the
volcanoes of Mombacho and Ometepec, and visiting Leon and
Granada. In June, he met at San Juan del Sur, our well-known
botanist, Dr. Torry, on his way to San Francisco. These two
kindred spirits passed several pleasant days together.
He left Nicaragua on the steamship Moses Taylor, Capt Blethen,
on the third of September, 1865, apparently in perfect
health. On the fifth, the effects of the insidious malaria
of the country were evident. On the ninth, he died; being
fifty-eight years old. On the seventeenth, the body arrived in
San Francisco, and was afterwards interred at Lone Mountain
Cemetery. He leaves a widow, two daughters, and three sons.
Mr. Bridges was of a singularly retiring and modest
disposition, and very few publications of his own remain to
attest his devotion to Natural Science. But works in every
branch of study, particularly of Professor Lindley, and Sir
William Hooker, in the department of Botany, bear abundant
evidence of his untiring industry and unusual success.
That he died a martyr to his love for Natural History, there is
no room for doubt; and his most appropriate memorials are the
magnificent evergreens now adorning, through his agency, the
groves and avenues of the old world.
With all impartial naturalists, Mr. Bridges and such as he,
“who bear the burden and heat of the day,” are entitled to
honors; if not precisely of the same character as those due to
the students who in their comfortable libraries work up the
results of the collector, still to honors quite as high.
REGULAR MEETING, JANUARY 15TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Eight members present.
Mr. Bolander presented his report, as Curator of Botany, for the year
1865, as follows.
During the past year the Herbarium of the Academy has been
increased—
1st. By a set of Hall’s Rocky Mountain Plants.
2d. By a collection of plants from the Western States, made by
Mr. Elihu Hall.
3d. By a large collection made by Mr. Canby at Wilmington, Del.
4th. By a small collection from M. S. Bebb, Esq., Washington,
D. C.
To the above-mentioned collections, I have added specimens of
each plant collected by myself during the past year.
Dr. Kellogg and myself have presented to the Academy quite
a number of Australian plants, and both Dr. Kellogg and Mr.
Bloomer have assisted me in arranging and classifying our
collections.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 5TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Five members present.
Mr. Dall presented the following paper by Dr. Canfield.
Notes on Antilocapra Americana, Ord.
BY DR. C. A. CANFIELD, OF MONTEREY.
The following notes were taken from 1855 to 1858, in Monterey
County, California, and were communicated to Prof. Baird in
1859.
About the first of January the old bucks all shed their
horns. A few days after, one was shot, with two hairy stumps
or horn-cores, several inches long, just tipped with growing
horn. This was observed to spread upward and downward till
the whole of the process of the frontal bone was covered with
horn. The “prong” commenced the same process at its tip, and
gradually coalesced with the main horn, leaving no suture. As
the horn increases in length it curves forward and inward.
It takes several months to perfect the new horn. The females
possess small curved horns, one to three inches long, sometimes
recurving to the skull, which were not _proved_ to be deciduous.
The horn, when shed, leaves a process of the frontal bone,
covered with hair, soon replaced as above by horn at the tip.
These facts were more minutely observed in two young bucks,
reared by hand to the age respectively of one and two years.
These facts would tend to separate the genus _Antilocapra_ from
the family _Cavicornia_, and it may possibly form a family by
itself.
Prof. W. P. Blake read a portion of a letter from Dr. C. T. Jackson of
Boston, containing a notice of a remarkable spider brought from Georgia
by Dr. Wilder, an account of which has been published in the Proceedings
of the American Academy and of the Boston Natural History Society.
REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 19TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Nine members present.
Dr. Colbert A. Canfield, of Monterey, was chosen a Corresponding Member,
and Dr. Henry Gibbons and Mr. Henry Janin, Resident Members.
Donations to the Library: U. S. Census, 1860—Agriculture; American
Journal of Science, November, 1865, and January, 1866; Proceedings of
the Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., April to October, 1865; Theory of Parallels,
by Matthew Ryan; Description of New Species of Pupidæ, by E. S. Morse;
Proceedings of Boston Nat. Hist. Soc., Vol. X, Sheet 2.
The following paper was presented.
Earthquakes in California during 1865.
BY DR. JOHN B. TRASK.
As in the preceding year we have had much frequency in shocks
of earthquake, with but trifling damage.
JANUARY 9th, 7 h.—A smart shock at Santa Rosa, Sonoma County.
JANUARY 19th, 8 h. 8 m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
MARCH 5th, 8 h. 45 m.—A light shock at Visalia, consisting of a
tremulous motion, succeeded by a roll or wave after an interval
of about four seconds.
MARCH 7th, 23 h.—A smart shock at San Francisco.
MARCH 8th, 6 h. 22 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco.
MARCH 30th, 7 h. 28 m.—A very smart shock at San Francisco;
this was felt at Oakland.
APRIL 15th, 0 h. 40 m.—A severe shock occurred at San Diego,
consisting of three waves, following each other in quick
succession; the shock was preceded with a loud rushing sound.
APRIL 18th, 13 h. 31 m.—A light shock at San Francisco, and
noticed at Angel Island and Oakland. This shock was severe at
San Juan (south), and felt at precisely the same hour.
APRIL 27th, 15 h. 56 m.—A shock at San Francisco.
MAY 24th, 3 h. 21 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco, consisting
of a single wave. At San Juan (south) the earthquake consisted
of two sharp shocks, and at Santa Cruz of one only. At the
latter localities it was three and four minutes later than at
this city.
SEPTEMBER 22d (no hour).—A smart shock occurred at Yreka.
OCTOBER 1st, 9 h. 15 m.—A very smart shock was felt at Fort
Humboldt, and throughout the district of Humboldt Bay.
OCTOBER 8th, 12 h. 46 m.—A severe shock at San Francisco.
This earthquake was the most violent of any occurring on
this peninsula since the American occupancy, but was not
sufficiently heavy to do serious damage; all the injuries
sustained to property were of a trivial nature, the principal
being the demolition of parts of the parapet walls erected
above the roofs, to shield the latter in cases of fire in
adjoining buildings; the fracture of walls in every instance
occurred in insecure buildings, and heavy buildings erected on
the made lands of the city front.
At San José, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, the earthquake
appears to have been equally severe as in this city. At
Petaluma, on the north, it was also quite severe. At Sacramento
the shock was not marked by the same severity as at the other
localities mentioned. At Stockton the shock was heavy, but no
damage done, nor was there any damage at Sacramento. The shock
was severe at Grass Valley.
The direction of the wave in this earthquake was north fifty
degrees west; the limited area over which it extended has not
furnished sufficient data to calculate its velocity.
This earthquake differs from all others that have occurred
in this locality in this particular: the earth continued to
vibrate with increasing and again decreasing degrees of force
for ten hours, at no time entirely ceasing during this period.
22 h. 1 m., another light shock, consisting of a single
vibration.
23 h. 50 m., another shock. After this shock the vibrations of
the earth ceased to be noticeable.
October 9th, 10 h. 34 m.—Another light shock.
11 h. 32 m., another shock. After this shock the earth
continued to vibrate at intervals till noon of the tenth.
OCTOBER 13th, 2 h. 5 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco; felt at
Oakland and Santa Clara; also at Angel Island.
OCTOBER 14th, 23 h. 45 m.—Another shock at San Francisco.
OCTOBER 15th, 3 h. 40 m.—Another shock at San Francisco.
NOVEMBER 24th, 3 h. 45 m.—A smart shock at Watsonville, Santa
Cruz Co.
DECEMBER 7th, 1 h. 15 m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
Professor Whitney presented the plate published by Mr. Haidinger, the
distinguished Chief of the Austrian Geological Survey, to exhibit the
structure of the Carleton meteoric iron. This plate, together with
an elaborate article describing the appearance and structure of this
meteorite, is published in the proceedings of the Vienna Academy of
Science, Vol. XLVIII, page 301.
Professor Whitney also made some remarks on the nature and distribution
of the meteorites which have, up to the present time, been discovered on
the Pacific Coast and in Mexico; of these remarks the following is an
abstract.
It is remarkable that no meteoric stones have ever been
discovered, either near the Pacific coast or, indeed, so far as
we know, anywhere on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Masses
of meteoric iron, on the other hand, are known to exist in
quite a number of localities, and many of these masses are of
very large size.
On page eleven, of the third volume of the Academy’s
Proceedings, I have given a list of the localities of meteoric
iron known in Arizona and Northern Mexico. This was done in
order to attract the attention of explorers and prospectors
to these remarkable masses, and in the hope of getting more
definite information in regard to some of them. Indeed, some
additional items have already been obtained in reference to the
masses there noticed.
It is stated by several persons who have visited Southern
Arizona, among whom Dr. Horn may especially be mentioned, that
it is universally believed, and vouched for by apparently
trustworthy explorers, that there are many large masses of
iron near the summit of the range next east of Tucson. This is
called on the latest map of Arizona, (that published by Mr.
Gird) the “Sierra de la Santa Caterina.” Whether this is the
same as the “Sierra de la Madera,” mentioned by Velasco, as the
locality of “enormous masses of pure iron, between Tucson and
Tubac,” I have been unable to ascertain.
Dr. J. B. Trask saw, in August, 1849, a large mass of meteoric
iron, at the village of Rio Florida, partly buried in the
ground at the corner of the plaza. This may, perhaps, be the
same mass mentioned by Mr. Bartlett, as existing “at the
Hacienda de Concepcion, on the road from Chihuahua to Rio
Florida.” Dr. Trask, however, has a distinct recollection that
the mass he saw was at the village of Rio Florida, and not at
the Hacienda.
Dr. Veatch saw, in 1849, a large mass of iron at Santa Rosa,
Coahuila, which was then in use as an anvil, at a blacksmith’s
shop, and was informed that many pieces of native iron had been
used there for various purposes. The mass which Dr. Veatch saw,
was of about the size of an ordinary anvil. It was said to have
been brought from the mountains northwest of the town. This
statement corroborates that of Schott, in the Mexican Boundary
Report. (Vol. I, Part 2, page 34.)
It is a remarkable fact, considering the abundance of meteoric
iron near our borders, that no meteorite, either stony or
metallic, has yet been found within the limits of California.
The piece of iron from Honcut Creek, found by Dr. Trask,
and supposed to be of celestial origin, proved, on careful
examination, to be ordinary cast iron. A fragment of the mass
was referred to Professor Brush, and pronounced by him not to
be meteoric. The existence of a piece of cast iron, in the
locality where this was discovered, is not easily explained.
In connection with what has just been said of the existence of
meteoric iron in California, it should be added, that Dr. J. G.
Cooper thinks that he observed some small pieces of native iron
on the Mohave River, a little above its sink. By accident no
specimen of this supposed meteorite were saved, so that it is
not possible to say that Dr. Cooper may not have been mistaken.
The attention of explorers in that region is invited to this
supposed locality.
An additional reason for believing Dr. Cooper’s observations to
be correct is, that the locality lies in the prolongation of
the path or belt in which a considerable number of masses of
meteoric iron have already been found. It is certainly either a
very interesting fact, or else a remarkable coincidence, that
the localities of meteoric iron in Arizona and northern Mexico,
lie nearly in a straight line with each other, which line
extends from northwest to southeast, for a distance of twelve
hundred and fifty miles, or from the Colorado River, at La
Paz, to the province of San Luis Potosi, in Mexico. Along this
line, at points from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles
apart, in some places one mass of iron, and in others quite a
number of them, have fallen, indicating very strongly a common
origin for the whole, or that they may all be fragments of one
immense meteor which passed diagonally across the continent,
throwing off masses in its progress. The large mass of iron
discovered by Dr. Evans, on Bald Mountain, near Port Orford, in
Oregon, is in a locality not far distant from the path of the
supposed meteor.
The belt of meteoric iron masses may also be prolonged much
farther to the south, through Mexico, and in the same general
southeasterly direction, as far as the province of Oaxaca. The
localities in the provinces of Durango, Zacatecas, Mexico,
and Oaxaca lie very nearly in the same northwest-southeast
direction from each other; but are in a line a little to
the west of the main belt which has been traced down from
the Colorado River. It is certain that the central part of
Mexico has been highly favored in respect to the distribution
of meteoric iron masses, which are not only of frequent
occurrence, but often of large size. Perhaps it may be not too
wild a speculation to suggest, that the grand disruption of
the meteor may have taken place in this part of its course,
and that the fragments were scattered far and wide in all
directions. It certainly seems difficult to account for the
peculiar position of the masses of iron found on the Pacific
side of the continent, and their great abundance in central
Mexico, on any other theory than the one which has here been
suggested.
Authorities are not at hand for comparing the chemical
composition of all the masses belonging to this series, or
belt, which have been analyzed; but it is my impression that
those meteoric irons which have been examined do resemble
each other sufficiently, in the nature and proportion of the
ingredients they contain, to add to the probability of their
having had a common origin. The specimens thus far analyzed do
not represent more than half the localities known to exist.
A farther and more complete investigation of the physical
and chemical character of all the meteoric masses of Arizona
and Mexico, with reference to the possibility of their being
originally parts of one body, is suggested as an interesting
subject for those specially devoted to this class of researches.
The following resolution, introduced by Professor Whitney, at a previous
meeting, in accordance with the Constitution, was adopted.
_Resolved_, That any Corresponding Member who may take up
his residence in this city, may become a Resident Member, on
notifying the Recording Secretary that such is his wish.
Mr. W. H. Dall was elected a Resident Member, December 4th, 1865.
REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 5TH, 1866.
President in the chair.
Eleven members present.
Donations to the Library: Société de Géographie de Genève; Mémoires et
Bulletin, Tomes I-III; From F. Berton.
The following papers were presented.
Note on Octopus punctatus, Gabb.
BY W. H. DALL, ACTING DIRECTOR SCI. CORPS W. U. T. EX.
A half-decayed specimen of this species, (described by Mr.
Gabb, in Proc. Cal. Acad., Ap. 7th, 1862) discovered in some
alcoholic miscellanea, recently, afforded the following
observations.
The buccal plates or mandibles, resemble those of _O.
tuberculatus_, Blainv. [Woodw. Man. Pl. I. _Fig. 2_] but are
more produced longitudinally. They are black and very brittle.
[Illustration: (_Fig. 27._)]
Dental formula, 3·3·3 (_Fig. 27_, A), or 1/(1×1)·2·1·
_Rhachis_ armed with one central quinquedentate tooth, and two
lateral, simple, denticles; the insertion of all is broadly
arcuate. The _pleuræ_ are provided each with two simple
recurved uncini and one rhomboidal plate with a small recurved
hook. The central rhachidian tooth is occasionally irregular.
(_Fig. 27_, L, X). When immature, the dental laminæ are without
color, more slender, compressed, and the dentations are less
distinct. (_Fig. 27_, ‛L.) Immature rows, about 15, perfect 60,
worn and broken 25, total 100. Mag. 100 diameters. Length of
specimen 3 feet. Locality, near San Francisco. From the market.
Professor Whitney communicated the following abstract of the results
obtained by M. Rémond in his geological explorations of Northern Mexico,
made in 1863 to 1865, and drawn up from his notes and specimens, after
reference of the fossils obtained to Mr. Gabb and Dr. Newberry. M. Rémond
has gone to Chili to continue his geological investigations, if his
health permits; and he expects to write out a more detailed account of
his Mexican work, whenever he has an opportunity of doing so. In the mean
time, however, it is his desire that this abstract should be drawn up
and published, that at least the more important results may be placed as
soon as possible in the hands of those interested in the development of
the geological structure of those countries which border on the Pacific
coast. In presenting this paper, Professor Whitney desired to express
his admiration of the courage and endurance with which M. Rémond had
prosecuted his investigations in Mexico, where he had to contend with
every kind of difficulty and danger, but where, however, he had obtained
results of great value, throwing the first rays of light on the age of
the formations of a very interesting and economically important mining
region—a region which has been often visited, but where, previous to M.
Rémond’s examinations, no positive evidence of the geological position of
any of the stratified rocks had been obtained, and no clue given to the
relations of the metalliferous veins to each other, or to the rocks in
which they are inclosed.
Notice of Geological Explorations in Northern Mexico.
BY A. RÉMOND.
[Compiled from his notes, and prepared for publication, by J.
D. Whitney.]
1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
The mountainous region comprising the central and western
portion of Northern Mexico, belongs to the four States of
Durango, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora. Considering how
celebrated this portion of Mexico has become for its mines and
metalliferous veins, and how much has been written about it,
it is surprising how little exact information has hitherto
been obtained with regard to either its geography or geology.
On comparing the principal published maps[21] of the region in
question, it will be seen at once how much they differ from
each other in their delineations of even its main topographical
features, while the details are entirely wanting.
The name of the “Sierra Madre” is usually applied to the main
range of mountains of this country, or the western border of
the plateau which stretches north through the territories
of the United States, forming what may be called the great
orographical feature of the continent. In Northwestern
Mexico this crumpled border of the great plateau comprises
an extensive mountainous region, by no means forming a
continuous single chain, but rather several central ranges,
with associated groups of parallel ridges, all having the
same general course, which is approximately north-northwest,
and south-southeast. As the breadth of the chain widens as we
go towards the north, so, too, that of the valleys increases
in that direction, the whole system of mountains and valleys
spreading out in something like a fan shape.
Going north, the chain appears to sink gradually, although
determinations of altitude in Northern Mexico are extremely
few in number. It is certain that there is, in about latitude
32°, a depression of the mountain ranges which extends entirely
across the continent, and which would enable the traveler to
cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific, without necessarily
surmounting any elevation greater than four thousand feet.[22]
The southeastern range is the highest, and the culminating
point is said to be the Cerro de Cuiteco, sixty leagues
northeast of Jesus Maria, on the western border of Chihuahua.
The approximate altitude of the Cumbre de Basascachic is
seven thousand four hundred and twenty-nine feet, and that of
Guadalupe y Calvo, seven thousand eight hundred and twenty-five
feet. To the north, the ranges east of Sahuaripa are also very
high; but they have never been measured. No peaks or ridges,
however, in this portion of Mexico attain anything like the
elevation of the higher portion of the Sierra Nevada, few if
any points exceeding ten thousand feet in altitude.