On the Height of Mt. Hood.

On the Height of Mt. Hood.BY R. S. WILLIAMSON.Having recently formed a party and visited Mt. Hood for the purpose of ascertaining its altitude, and as my determination of its height is much less than previous parties have made it, I think it proper to state somewhat in detail the nature of the observations and the method I have pursued to arrive at the number I adopt as a close approximation to its true height.By the kindness of Gen. F. Steele, commanding the Department of the Columbia, the necessary transportation was furnished for the party, consisting of twelve persons, of whom my two assistants, Lieut. W. H. Heuer, U. S. Engineers, and Mr. John T. Best, were specially charged with the observations on the summit. We left Portland, Oregon, August 20th, and on the evening of the twenty-second arrived at a place on the slope of the mountain, where we camped, and from which, the next day, the ascent was made; seven of the party attempting to reach, and six reaching, the summit, where they remained from one and a-half to three hours.From this camp to the summit and back ten hours were occupied, starting at 7:30,A.M.The weather was clear and pleasant, and had been so for several days before, and was so for several days after.The instruments used at all the stations were made by James Green, of New York, were in perfect order, and most of them new. They consisted of cistern barometers reading to two thousandths of an inch, with attached thermometer, and open air thermometer, (dry and wet) with large divisions, so that they wereeasily read to tenths of a degree. All the barometers had been adjusted to or compared with the standard, and all agreed with it except the one at Astoria, which required a plus correction of three thousandths of an inch.The stations used were Astoria, Fort Vancouver, Fort Dalles, camp on slope of Mt. Hood, and summit of Mt. Hood. Observations had been taken for several years at Astoria for me by Louis Wilson, U. S. Tidal Observer, at 7,A.M., 2,P.M., and 9,P.M., of every day, besides hourly observations for ten days or more of each month. The cistern of this barometer is fifty-three feet above mean low tide.At Fort Vancouver observations of the same character were commenced July 1st of this year, and are still going on. At Fort Dalles similar observations have been made since July 10th.The observations at the camp on the mountain slope were commenced at 7,P.M., on August 22d, and continued hourly (with few omissions) until 8,A.M., on the twenty-fourth. The barometer at the summit was hung up at 1:30,P.M., and allowed to stand a half hour in free air, but protected from the direct rays of the sun. It was then adjusted and observed at 2,P.M., 2:15,P.M., and 2:30,P.M., by Mr. Heuer and Mr. Best, independently, and the two records as shown to me were essentially the same. The mean reading of the barometer reduced to 32° Fahrenheit, was 19,941 inches, with anobservedair temperature of 41°.7, and wet bulb of 31°.3. The height of Fort Vancouver above Astoria was computed from the mean of the simultaneous observations taken during the months of July and August. The height of the Dalles above Fort Vancouver was deduced from the corresponding observations during twenty-one days in July, together with those for the month of August. The height of the camp on the mountain slope above Fort Vancouver, and also the height of that camp above Fort Dalles, were then separately computed from the daily means of the observations taken at the three stations during August 23d. The difference between the two should give the same result as by the direct calculations between Fort Vancouver and Fort Dalles; but on account of the short period observed on the mountain camp, a plus correction of a little over eight feet was found necessary to the estimated height of that camp to make the three results agree.It then remained only to calculate the height of the summit of Mount Hood above the mountain camp. The mean of the three observations of the barometer was assumed as the nearest approximation we can have to the mean pressure for that day, as the horary oscillation at the summit is unknown. With regard to the mean temperature for that day, we have no positive data to determine it. We cannot take the observed temperature, as the observations were taken during the hottest part of the day.By consulting the hourly observations of the thermometer at the camp, I find the range there is between 63° and 43°.7, or nearly 20°; and supposing nearly as great a range of temperature on the summit, I have assumed the mean temperature then for that day to be 34°.The following is the final result of the computations:Stations.Inter. Alts.Sea Line.Sea level at mean low tide—0Astoria5353Fort Vancouver79132Camp on mountain slope5,8205,952Summit of Mount Hood5,27311,225The computations are made with new tables which will shortly be published, and which give results similar to Plantamour’s formula, based on Regnault’s constants. They give results somewhat higher than if Guyot’s tables had been used, the latter giving the height of the summit, 11,185 feet.On our return I took a single observation at what is called “Government Camp,” about four miles below the camp on the mountain slope, and another at a place called Stumpville, some eight miles further on the road towards Portland. The results give for the former place 3,864 feet, and for the latter 1,830 feet above the sea level.The instruments used on the mountain have been returned in excellent order, and compared with the one at Fort Vancouver with most satisfactory results.It may be asked: Why is it that the results here given differ so widely from some previous estimates? Mount Hood is said to be, by Mitchell’s School Atlas, 18,361 feet, and the Rev. Geo. H. Atkinson with a party, ascended to the summit in August of last year, boiled water with a spirit-lamp, found that the thermometer read 180°, and therefore concludes the mountain is 17,600 feet, and Government Camp 4,400 feet above the sea. The reason is, that the instruments used are unreliable, and this method of computing the altitude defective. With a boiling point apparatus (or thermo-barometer as it is called) of the most approved kind, the results by boiling water are far inferior to those by the cistern barometer; but if the observations are made with a common thermometer, with small spaces for degrees, as was the case in this instance, and the instrument not protected from drafts of air, the results are utterly unreliable, and therefore worse than worthless.Apart from the observations here described, there are other evidences to show that the determination of the height of this mountain here given is not underestimated. Col. B. C. Smith, one of our party who reached the summit, had this year ascended Mount Shasta, a mountain measured by Prof. Whitney to be 14,440 feet. The Colonel states that he feels confident, from the comparative ease with which he ascended Mount Hood, that it is of much less altitude than Mount Shasta.On Mount Hood butterflies were found within a thousand feet of the summit. Finally, Prof. Whitney and others, from rough triangulations, have estimated it be about 12,000 feet.It is to be hoped that other parties with good instruments will take further observations on this mountain. As the height of Fort Vancouver and Fort Dalles are known, and as these are now permanent meteorological stations, further observations on Mount Hood can be referred to one of these stations as a base, and good results obtained.While another set of such observations may produce slightly different results, I think they will not differ one hundred feet from the estimate here given.

BY R. S. WILLIAMSON.

Having recently formed a party and visited Mt. Hood for the purpose of ascertaining its altitude, and as my determination of its height is much less than previous parties have made it, I think it proper to state somewhat in detail the nature of the observations and the method I have pursued to arrive at the number I adopt as a close approximation to its true height.

By the kindness of Gen. F. Steele, commanding the Department of the Columbia, the necessary transportation was furnished for the party, consisting of twelve persons, of whom my two assistants, Lieut. W. H. Heuer, U. S. Engineers, and Mr. John T. Best, were specially charged with the observations on the summit. We left Portland, Oregon, August 20th, and on the evening of the twenty-second arrived at a place on the slope of the mountain, where we camped, and from which, the next day, the ascent was made; seven of the party attempting to reach, and six reaching, the summit, where they remained from one and a-half to three hours.

From this camp to the summit and back ten hours were occupied, starting at 7:30,A.M.The weather was clear and pleasant, and had been so for several days before, and was so for several days after.

The instruments used at all the stations were made by James Green, of New York, were in perfect order, and most of them new. They consisted of cistern barometers reading to two thousandths of an inch, with attached thermometer, and open air thermometer, (dry and wet) with large divisions, so that they wereeasily read to tenths of a degree. All the barometers had been adjusted to or compared with the standard, and all agreed with it except the one at Astoria, which required a plus correction of three thousandths of an inch.

The stations used were Astoria, Fort Vancouver, Fort Dalles, camp on slope of Mt. Hood, and summit of Mt. Hood. Observations had been taken for several years at Astoria for me by Louis Wilson, U. S. Tidal Observer, at 7,A.M., 2,P.M., and 9,P.M., of every day, besides hourly observations for ten days or more of each month. The cistern of this barometer is fifty-three feet above mean low tide.

At Fort Vancouver observations of the same character were commenced July 1st of this year, and are still going on. At Fort Dalles similar observations have been made since July 10th.

The observations at the camp on the mountain slope were commenced at 7,P.M., on August 22d, and continued hourly (with few omissions) until 8,A.M., on the twenty-fourth. The barometer at the summit was hung up at 1:30,P.M., and allowed to stand a half hour in free air, but protected from the direct rays of the sun. It was then adjusted and observed at 2,P.M., 2:15,P.M., and 2:30,P.M., by Mr. Heuer and Mr. Best, independently, and the two records as shown to me were essentially the same. The mean reading of the barometer reduced to 32° Fahrenheit, was 19,941 inches, with anobservedair temperature of 41°.7, and wet bulb of 31°.3. The height of Fort Vancouver above Astoria was computed from the mean of the simultaneous observations taken during the months of July and August. The height of the Dalles above Fort Vancouver was deduced from the corresponding observations during twenty-one days in July, together with those for the month of August. The height of the camp on the mountain slope above Fort Vancouver, and also the height of that camp above Fort Dalles, were then separately computed from the daily means of the observations taken at the three stations during August 23d. The difference between the two should give the same result as by the direct calculations between Fort Vancouver and Fort Dalles; but on account of the short period observed on the mountain camp, a plus correction of a little over eight feet was found necessary to the estimated height of that camp to make the three results agree.

It then remained only to calculate the height of the summit of Mount Hood above the mountain camp. The mean of the three observations of the barometer was assumed as the nearest approximation we can have to the mean pressure for that day, as the horary oscillation at the summit is unknown. With regard to the mean temperature for that day, we have no positive data to determine it. We cannot take the observed temperature, as the observations were taken during the hottest part of the day.

By consulting the hourly observations of the thermometer at the camp, I find the range there is between 63° and 43°.7, or nearly 20°; and supposing nearly as great a range of temperature on the summit, I have assumed the mean temperature then for that day to be 34°.

The following is the final result of the computations:

The computations are made with new tables which will shortly be published, and which give results similar to Plantamour’s formula, based on Regnault’s constants. They give results somewhat higher than if Guyot’s tables had been used, the latter giving the height of the summit, 11,185 feet.

On our return I took a single observation at what is called “Government Camp,” about four miles below the camp on the mountain slope, and another at a place called Stumpville, some eight miles further on the road towards Portland. The results give for the former place 3,864 feet, and for the latter 1,830 feet above the sea level.

The instruments used on the mountain have been returned in excellent order, and compared with the one at Fort Vancouver with most satisfactory results.

It may be asked: Why is it that the results here given differ so widely from some previous estimates? Mount Hood is said to be, by Mitchell’s School Atlas, 18,361 feet, and the Rev. Geo. H. Atkinson with a party, ascended to the summit in August of last year, boiled water with a spirit-lamp, found that the thermometer read 180°, and therefore concludes the mountain is 17,600 feet, and Government Camp 4,400 feet above the sea. The reason is, that the instruments used are unreliable, and this method of computing the altitude defective. With a boiling point apparatus (or thermo-barometer as it is called) of the most approved kind, the results by boiling water are far inferior to those by the cistern barometer; but if the observations are made with a common thermometer, with small spaces for degrees, as was the case in this instance, and the instrument not protected from drafts of air, the results are utterly unreliable, and therefore worse than worthless.

Apart from the observations here described, there are other evidences to show that the determination of the height of this mountain here given is not underestimated. Col. B. C. Smith, one of our party who reached the summit, had this year ascended Mount Shasta, a mountain measured by Prof. Whitney to be 14,440 feet. The Colonel states that he feels confident, from the comparative ease with which he ascended Mount Hood, that it is of much less altitude than Mount Shasta.

On Mount Hood butterflies were found within a thousand feet of the summit. Finally, Prof. Whitney and others, from rough triangulations, have estimated it be about 12,000 feet.

It is to be hoped that other parties with good instruments will take further observations on this mountain. As the height of Fort Vancouver and Fort Dalles are known, and as these are now permanent meteorological stations, further observations on Mount Hood can be referred to one of these stations as a base, and good results obtained.

While another set of such observations may produce slightly different results, I think they will not differ one hundred feet from the estimate here given.

Dr. Gibbons exhibited a specimen ofEuphorbia lathyris, and remarked upon its distinguishing characters.

Dr. J. G. Cooper in the chair.

Twelve members present.

Donation to the Cabinet: Salt from a manufactory on the Columbia River, near Portland, Oregon, by Mr. Victor.

President in the Chair.

Twenty-three members present.

Mr. J. G. Burt was elected a Resident, and Professor W. D. Alexander, of Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, a Corresponding Member.

Donation to the Cabinet: A large number of Californian plants, collected and presented by Messrs. Bolander and Kellogg.

Donations to the Library: Humboldt and Bonpland’s Botanical Observations in South America, four vols. 8vo., Paris, 1822, by Mr. Bolander.

Professor Whitney read extracts from letters recently received from Mr. Dall, dated at “St. Michael’s, Russian America, August 14th, 1867,” and addressed to the Academy and to himself. The following are some extracts from these letters:

“I have traveled on snow shoes, with the thermometer from 8° to 40° below zero, about four hundred miles. I have paddled in open canoes up stream six hundred and fifty miles, and down 1,300 miles. I have obtained 4,550 specimens, including a set of the rocks from Fort Youkon to the sea, sufficient to determine the geological formations for 1,300 miles. The only fossiliferousbeds are on the Youkon, and they extend about sixty miles. They are brown sandstones, containing bivalve mollusca and vegetable remains. There is a small seam of coal thirty miles below the bend, and thin shale above and below. The coal is of good quality; but there is so little of it that it is worthless. These are the only fossiliferous strata I have thus far found. The rocks above and below are all azoic and nonstratified, excepting a little hard blue or black slate. Granite, and especially mica, are very rare. I found a pebble containing the well known fossils of the Niagara limestone on the beach near Fort Youkon. Fossil wood and bones and teeth ofElephasandOvibos moschatusare common over the country. There is a broad patch of volcanic eruptive rock on the river near the lower bend, and it extends to the sea. The islands of St. Michael and Stuart are formed of it, and it is roughly columnar on the former near the Fort.”“I have looked carefully for glacial traces, and so far have found absolutely none.”

“I have traveled on snow shoes, with the thermometer from 8° to 40° below zero, about four hundred miles. I have paddled in open canoes up stream six hundred and fifty miles, and down 1,300 miles. I have obtained 4,550 specimens, including a set of the rocks from Fort Youkon to the sea, sufficient to determine the geological formations for 1,300 miles. The only fossiliferousbeds are on the Youkon, and they extend about sixty miles. They are brown sandstones, containing bivalve mollusca and vegetable remains. There is a small seam of coal thirty miles below the bend, and thin shale above and below. The coal is of good quality; but there is so little of it that it is worthless. These are the only fossiliferous strata I have thus far found. The rocks above and below are all azoic and nonstratified, excepting a little hard blue or black slate. Granite, and especially mica, are very rare. I found a pebble containing the well known fossils of the Niagara limestone on the beach near Fort Youkon. Fossil wood and bones and teeth ofElephasandOvibos moschatusare common over the country. There is a broad patch of volcanic eruptive rock on the river near the lower bend, and it extends to the sea. The islands of St. Michael and Stuart are formed of it, and it is roughly columnar on the former near the Fort.”

“I have looked carefully for glacial traces, and so far have found absolutely none.”

Mr. Dall adds that it is his intention to spend another year in Russian America, working at his own expense, in order to finish the explorations commenced by himself, and which the failure of the Telegraph Company rendered it impossible for him to continue officially.

Dr. Cooper and Professor Whitney discussed the question whether the volcanoes of Oregon and Washington Territory were to be classed as active. The evidence on this point seemed very conflicting, so far as showers of ashes are concerned. There is no doubt, however, of the existence of solfataric action on Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and probably on Rainier and Baker.

Professor Whitney exhibited some photographs and stereographs, taken for the Geological Survey by Mr. W. Harris, in the Upper Tuolumne Valley, near Soda Springs, Mount Dana, Mount Hoffmann, and Mount Lyell. He also presented the following account of a remarkable portion of the Tuolumne Valley, which forms almost an exact counterpart of the Yosemite. It is by Mr. Hoffmann, the head of a party of the Geological Survey, by which it was explored last summer:

Notes on Hetch-Hetchy Valley.BY C. F. HOFFMANN.Tuolumne Valley, or Hetch-Hetchy, as it is called by the Indians (the meaning of this word I was unable to ascertain) is situated on Tuolumne River about fifteen miles in a straight line below Tuolumne Meadows and Soda Springs, and about twelve miles north of Yosemite Valley. Its elevation above the sea isfrom 3,800 to 3,900 feet, a little less than that of Yosemite. The valley is three miles long running nearly east and west, with but little fall in this distance. Near its center it is cut in two by a low spur of shelving granite coming from the south. The lower part forms a large open meadow with excellent grass, one mile in length, and gradually increasing from ten chains to a little over half a mile in width, and only timbered along the edges. The lower part of this meadow terminates in a very narrow cañon, the hills sloping down to the river at an angle of from 40° to 60°, only leaving a channel from six to ten feet wide; the river in the valley having an average width of about fifty feet. This is the principal cause of the overflow in spring time of the lower part of the valley, and probably also has given rise to the report of there being a large lake in the valley. Below this cañon is another small meadow, with a pond. The upper part of Hetch-Hetchy, east of the granite spur, forms a meadow one and three-fourths miles in length, varying from ten to thirty chains in width, well timbered and affording good grazing. The scenery resembles very much that of the Yosemite, although the bluffs are not as high, nor do they extend as far. On the north side of the valley, opposite the granite spur we first have a perpendicular bluff, the top of which is 1,800 feet above the valley; the talus at the base is about five hundred feet above the valley, leaving a precipice of about 1,300 feet. In the spring when the snows are melting a large creek precipitates itself over the western part of this bluff. I was told that this fall is one of the grandest features of the valley, sending its spray all over its lower portion. It was dry, however, at the time of my visit. The fall is 1,000 feet perpendicular, after which it strikes the debris and loses itself among the rocks. About thirty chains further east we come to the Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height above the valley is 1,700 feet. This fall is not perpendicular, although it appears so from the front, as may be seen from the photograph by Mr. Harris. It falls in a series of cascades at an angle of about 70°. At the time of my visit the volume of water was much greater than that of Yosemite fall, and I was told that in the spring its roarings can be heard for miles.Still further east we have two peaks, shaped very much like “The Three Brothers,” in the Yosemite. Their base forms a large, naked and sloping granite wall on the north side of the valley, broken by two timbered shelves, which run horizontally the whole length of the wall. Up to the lower shelf or bend, about eight hundred feet high, the wall, which slopes at an angle of from 45° to 70°, is polished by glaciers, and probably these markings extend still higher up, as on entering the valley the trail followed back of and along a moraine for several miles, the height of which was about 1,200 feet above the valley. The same polish shows itself in places all along the bluffs on both sides, and particularly fine on the granite spur crossing the valley. There is no doubt that the largest branch of the great glacier which originated near Mt. Dana and Mount Lyell, made its way by Soda Springs to this valley. A singular feature of this valley is the total absence of talus or debris at the base of the bluffs, excepting at one place in front of the falls. Another remarkable rock, corresponding with Cathedral Rock in the Yosemite, stands on the south side of the valley, directly opposite Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height is 2,270 feet above the valley. The photograph by Mr. Harris will give some idea of this rock.At the upper end of the valley the river forks, one branch, nearly as large as the main river, coming from near Castle Peak, the main river itself from Soda Springs. About half a mile up the main cañon, the river forms some cascades, the highest being about thirty feet.The valley was first visited, in 1850, by Mr. Joseph Screech, a mountaineer of this region, who found it occupied by Indians. This gentleman informed me that, up to a very recent date, this valley was disputed ground between the Pah Utah Indians from the eastern slope and the Big Creek Indians from the western slope of the Sierras; they had several fights, in which the Pah Utahs proved victorious. The latter still visit the valley every fall to gather acorns, which abound in this locality. Here I may also mention that the Indians speak of a lake of very salt water on their trail from here to Castle Peak. Mr. Screech also informed me of the existence of a fall, about a hundred feet high, on the Tuolumne River, about four miles below this valley, and which prevents fish from coming up any higher. The climate is said to be milder in winter than that of the Yosemite Valley, as is also indicated by a larger number of oaks and a great number ofPinus Sabiniana. The principal tree of the valley isPinus ponderosa; besides this we haveP. Sabiniana, Cedar,Q. Sonomensis,Q. crassipocula; also poplar and cottonwood.The valley can be reached easily from Big Oak Flat by taking the regular Yosemite trail, by Sprague’s Ranch and Big Flume, as far as Mr. Hardin’s fence, between south and middle fork of Tuolumne River, about eighteen miles from Big Oak Flat. Here the trail turns off to the left, going to Wade’s Meadows or Big Meadows, sometimes called Reservoir Meadows, the distance being about seven miles. From Wade’s Ranch the trail crosses the middle fork of Tuolumne and goes to the Hog Ranch, five miles; thence up divide between the middle fork and main river, about two miles, to another little ranch called “The Cañon.” From here the trail winds down through rocks for six miles to Tuolumne Cañon. This trail is well blazed, and was made by Mr. Screech and others, for the purpose of driving sheep and cattle to the valley. The whole distance from Big Oak Flat is thirty-eight miles.Another trail equally good, but a little longer, leaves the Yosemite trail about half a mile beyond the crossing of the south fork, thence crosses the middle fork within about one and a half miles of the south fork crossing, and follows up the divide between the middle fork and the main river, joining the first-named trail at the Hog Ranch.

BY C. F. HOFFMANN.

Tuolumne Valley, or Hetch-Hetchy, as it is called by the Indians (the meaning of this word I was unable to ascertain) is situated on Tuolumne River about fifteen miles in a straight line below Tuolumne Meadows and Soda Springs, and about twelve miles north of Yosemite Valley. Its elevation above the sea isfrom 3,800 to 3,900 feet, a little less than that of Yosemite. The valley is three miles long running nearly east and west, with but little fall in this distance. Near its center it is cut in two by a low spur of shelving granite coming from the south. The lower part forms a large open meadow with excellent grass, one mile in length, and gradually increasing from ten chains to a little over half a mile in width, and only timbered along the edges. The lower part of this meadow terminates in a very narrow cañon, the hills sloping down to the river at an angle of from 40° to 60°, only leaving a channel from six to ten feet wide; the river in the valley having an average width of about fifty feet. This is the principal cause of the overflow in spring time of the lower part of the valley, and probably also has given rise to the report of there being a large lake in the valley. Below this cañon is another small meadow, with a pond. The upper part of Hetch-Hetchy, east of the granite spur, forms a meadow one and three-fourths miles in length, varying from ten to thirty chains in width, well timbered and affording good grazing. The scenery resembles very much that of the Yosemite, although the bluffs are not as high, nor do they extend as far. On the north side of the valley, opposite the granite spur we first have a perpendicular bluff, the top of which is 1,800 feet above the valley; the talus at the base is about five hundred feet above the valley, leaving a precipice of about 1,300 feet. In the spring when the snows are melting a large creek precipitates itself over the western part of this bluff. I was told that this fall is one of the grandest features of the valley, sending its spray all over its lower portion. It was dry, however, at the time of my visit. The fall is 1,000 feet perpendicular, after which it strikes the debris and loses itself among the rocks. About thirty chains further east we come to the Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height above the valley is 1,700 feet. This fall is not perpendicular, although it appears so from the front, as may be seen from the photograph by Mr. Harris. It falls in a series of cascades at an angle of about 70°. At the time of my visit the volume of water was much greater than that of Yosemite fall, and I was told that in the spring its roarings can be heard for miles.

Still further east we have two peaks, shaped very much like “The Three Brothers,” in the Yosemite. Their base forms a large, naked and sloping granite wall on the north side of the valley, broken by two timbered shelves, which run horizontally the whole length of the wall. Up to the lower shelf or bend, about eight hundred feet high, the wall, which slopes at an angle of from 45° to 70°, is polished by glaciers, and probably these markings extend still higher up, as on entering the valley the trail followed back of and along a moraine for several miles, the height of which was about 1,200 feet above the valley. The same polish shows itself in places all along the bluffs on both sides, and particularly fine on the granite spur crossing the valley. There is no doubt that the largest branch of the great glacier which originated near Mt. Dana and Mount Lyell, made its way by Soda Springs to this valley. A singular feature of this valley is the total absence of talus or debris at the base of the bluffs, excepting at one place in front of the falls. Another remarkable rock, corresponding with Cathedral Rock in the Yosemite, stands on the south side of the valley, directly opposite Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height is 2,270 feet above the valley. The photograph by Mr. Harris will give some idea of this rock.

At the upper end of the valley the river forks, one branch, nearly as large as the main river, coming from near Castle Peak, the main river itself from Soda Springs. About half a mile up the main cañon, the river forms some cascades, the highest being about thirty feet.

The valley was first visited, in 1850, by Mr. Joseph Screech, a mountaineer of this region, who found it occupied by Indians. This gentleman informed me that, up to a very recent date, this valley was disputed ground between the Pah Utah Indians from the eastern slope and the Big Creek Indians from the western slope of the Sierras; they had several fights, in which the Pah Utahs proved victorious. The latter still visit the valley every fall to gather acorns, which abound in this locality. Here I may also mention that the Indians speak of a lake of very salt water on their trail from here to Castle Peak. Mr. Screech also informed me of the existence of a fall, about a hundred feet high, on the Tuolumne River, about four miles below this valley, and which prevents fish from coming up any higher. The climate is said to be milder in winter than that of the Yosemite Valley, as is also indicated by a larger number of oaks and a great number ofPinus Sabiniana. The principal tree of the valley isPinus ponderosa; besides this we haveP. Sabiniana, Cedar,Q. Sonomensis,Q. crassipocula; also poplar and cottonwood.

The valley can be reached easily from Big Oak Flat by taking the regular Yosemite trail, by Sprague’s Ranch and Big Flume, as far as Mr. Hardin’s fence, between south and middle fork of Tuolumne River, about eighteen miles from Big Oak Flat. Here the trail turns off to the left, going to Wade’s Meadows or Big Meadows, sometimes called Reservoir Meadows, the distance being about seven miles. From Wade’s Ranch the trail crosses the middle fork of Tuolumne and goes to the Hog Ranch, five miles; thence up divide between the middle fork and main river, about two miles, to another little ranch called “The Cañon.” From here the trail winds down through rocks for six miles to Tuolumne Cañon. This trail is well blazed, and was made by Mr. Screech and others, for the purpose of driving sheep and cattle to the valley. The whole distance from Big Oak Flat is thirty-eight miles.

Another trail equally good, but a little longer, leaves the Yosemite trail about half a mile beyond the crossing of the south fork, thence crosses the middle fork within about one and a half miles of the south fork crossing, and follows up the divide between the middle fork and the main river, joining the first-named trail at the Hog Ranch.

President in the Chair.

Thirty members present.

George C. Johnson was elected a Resident Member.

Donations to the Cabinet: Two packages of plants from France and Australia, by Mr. Bolander; these plants were collected by Dr. F. Müller, Director of the Botanical Garden at Melbourne, and by Réné Le Normand, of Vire, France, and sent to Mr. Bolander in exchange for Californian plants.

Dr. J. Blake read the following:

On the Organs of Copulation in the Male of the Embiotocoid Fishes.BY JAMES BLAKE, M.D., F.R.C.S.Some months since I presented a communication to the Academy pointing out the manner in which the fœtus of the embiotocoid fishes was nourished whilst it was being developed within the ovisac. (See p. 314.) I there stated that the ingress of water into the ovisac would not take place at all freely, as the organ communicated with the surface by a narrow canal surrounded by muscular fibres. This structure of the oviduct would evidently oppose an obstacle to the entrance of the semen into the ovisac for the purpose of impregnation, unless some means exist by which the ventral surfaces of the fish can be maintained in contact during the act of copulation, as the penis consists of a slightly developed tubercle which cannot penetrate for any distance into the oviduct. From the direction of the orifices of the penis and oviduct it is evident that anything like a perfect contact of these organs can only be maintained whilst the fishes are in a reversed position, so that the head of one fish is towards the tail of the other. In order that contact may be maintained whilst in this position, we find the caudal fin of the male fish furnished with certain appendages which enable it to give a firm hold to the ventral fins of the female, so that close contact of the ventral surfaces can be maintained. These appendages are of two kinds. InEmbiotoca,Damolichthysand some other genera, we find a well developed mammary elevation situated near the anterior part of the anal fin on both sides, terminating in front by a teat-like process. InAmphisticus,Holconotusand some other genera, this mammary appendage is wanting; but its place is supplied by a bony transverse plate with serrated edges, inserted in the fin some distance farther back and parallel to the fin rays. In addition to these plates there are also found cartilaginous ridges with roughened borders, placed in front of the plates, and running parallel with the edge of the fin. I think there can be no doubt but that these fin appendages serve the purpose I have assigned to them, for on placing the fish in the reversed position, with the orifice of the oviduct and penis in contact, it will be seen that they enable the ventral fins of the female to secure a firm hold on the anal fin of the male, so as to keep the fish in contact during the process of copulation. At the season of copulation, the anterior surface of the anal fin in the male becomes covered with a thick layer of firm epithelium. As this commences at a short distance from the ventral attachment of the fin, a well markedgroove is formed at the base of the fin, which affords an additional hold for the ventral fin of the female. After the season of copulation is over, and the testicles regain their quiescent state, this epithelium almost disappears. At the same time the mammary sack diminishes very much in size, so that when the testicles are reduced to their smallest size, hardly a trace of the sack remains. One or the other of these forms of appendages have been found on the anal fin of the male in all the species of embiotocoid fishes I have examined.

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

Some months since I presented a communication to the Academy pointing out the manner in which the fœtus of the embiotocoid fishes was nourished whilst it was being developed within the ovisac. (See p. 314.) I there stated that the ingress of water into the ovisac would not take place at all freely, as the organ communicated with the surface by a narrow canal surrounded by muscular fibres. This structure of the oviduct would evidently oppose an obstacle to the entrance of the semen into the ovisac for the purpose of impregnation, unless some means exist by which the ventral surfaces of the fish can be maintained in contact during the act of copulation, as the penis consists of a slightly developed tubercle which cannot penetrate for any distance into the oviduct. From the direction of the orifices of the penis and oviduct it is evident that anything like a perfect contact of these organs can only be maintained whilst the fishes are in a reversed position, so that the head of one fish is towards the tail of the other. In order that contact may be maintained whilst in this position, we find the caudal fin of the male fish furnished with certain appendages which enable it to give a firm hold to the ventral fins of the female, so that close contact of the ventral surfaces can be maintained. These appendages are of two kinds. InEmbiotoca,Damolichthysand some other genera, we find a well developed mammary elevation situated near the anterior part of the anal fin on both sides, terminating in front by a teat-like process. InAmphisticus,Holconotusand some other genera, this mammary appendage is wanting; but its place is supplied by a bony transverse plate with serrated edges, inserted in the fin some distance farther back and parallel to the fin rays. In addition to these plates there are also found cartilaginous ridges with roughened borders, placed in front of the plates, and running parallel with the edge of the fin. I think there can be no doubt but that these fin appendages serve the purpose I have assigned to them, for on placing the fish in the reversed position, with the orifice of the oviduct and penis in contact, it will be seen that they enable the ventral fins of the female to secure a firm hold on the anal fin of the male, so as to keep the fish in contact during the process of copulation. At the season of copulation, the anterior surface of the anal fin in the male becomes covered with a thick layer of firm epithelium. As this commences at a short distance from the ventral attachment of the fin, a well markedgroove is formed at the base of the fin, which affords an additional hold for the ventral fin of the female. After the season of copulation is over, and the testicles regain their quiescent state, this epithelium almost disappears. At the same time the mammary sack diminishes very much in size, so that when the testicles are reduced to their smallest size, hardly a trace of the sack remains. One or the other of these forms of appendages have been found on the anal fin of the male in all the species of embiotocoid fishes I have examined.

Mr. Stearns exhibited some fossils collected by Mr. Schmidt near Orleans Bar, Klamath County.

Professor Whitney exhibited some peculiar ores from Nevada and Mexico. Those from Nevada were antimoniate of lead, containing considerable silver. This occurs in Humboldt County, and in sufficiently large quantities to be mined and smelted, with success as is stated, the value of the silver being about $100 per ton. The Mexican ore is a pure oxide of antimony, which will be more fully described hereafter. It occurs in several mines in the northern provinces.

Professor Whitney made some remarks on the mineral species occurring in California and on the Pacific Coast of America in general. The following is an abstract of these remarks:

He stated that the number of minerals occurring in California, and on the Pacific coast in general, taking the country from Northern Mexico to British Columbia, was quite small in proportion to the area of the region. Especially among the silicates is there a great deficiency in species, and very few of those which do occur are found of sufficiently well crystallized form to be valuable as cabinet specimens.The total number of species (following the fourth edition of Dana’s Mineralogy for names, etc.) believed to exist on the Pacific coast, including Northern Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and Oregon, is one hundred and ten, of which, however, thirteen are somewhat doubtful. Of the one hundred and ten, there are eighty-nine which occur in California. Some of the mineral species most common in other parts of the world, and especially in mining regions, are either entirely unknown here, or else exceedingly rare. Thusbarytes, which is so abundant a veinstone in England and Germany, is almost unknown in the Sierra Nevada, having been only found in one or two localities, and there in small quantity. Fluor is entirely wanting in the Sierra Nevada, although found in some quantity in Arizona and Nevada. Not a trace of this elsewhere so common mineral has been found, so far as known, in California.Among the silicates most universally diffused, but which are up to this time entirely unknown in California, the following may be mentioned as some of the most prominent: beryl, topaz, zircon, Wollastonite, scapolite, spodumene, Allanite, iolite, staurotide, kyanite, spinel, nepheline, datholite and all the zeolites, in other countries so abundant where volcanic rocks occur. Not a welldefined specimen of a zeolite has yet been found within the borders of California.Another curious fact in the mineralogy of California is the occurrence of some mineral species which are common as ores in other mining countries, and which in California, or at least in the mining region of the Sierra Nevada, are disseminated through a great number of localities, but nowhere exist in workable quantity. Galena and blende may be particularly referred to as occurring in this way. There is hardly a gold-bearing vein in the Sierra which has not some galena and blende in fine particles in the veinstone; but not a locality is known where the quantity of either of these ores is anything like sufficient to justify mining, even were the other conditions as favorable as in the Eastern States or in Europe. Galena occurs in considerable quantity in the extreme south-eastern portion of the State, or just over the borders, in Arizona and Nevada; but no considerable deposit of zinc blende has yet been made known anywhere in the Pacific States or Territories; nor is any other ore of zinc known to occur in workable quantity on this coast.The mineral region with which ours most nearly agrees, in the character of its ores and mineral substances, is that of the South American Andes, especially of Chile. In Mr. David Forbes’ recent catalogue of the Chilean minerals, there are about two hundred species enumerated, of which about sixty have hitherto been discovered in California and the other Pacific States and Territories. The Chilean mineral list, like that of California, is remarkable for the absence of many of the almost universally distributed silicates mentioned above as wanting in the Pacific States, namely: beryl, topaz, zircon, Wollastonite, Allanite, iolite, staurotide, kyanite, spodumene, spinel and datholite. Many other silicates, abundantly distributed throughout other portions of the world, might be mentioned as entirely wanting along the whole Pacific Coast. Several of the more common zeolites are found in the Chilean list, which are wanting in California; while several others are equally wanting in both countries. Among the common zeolites found in Chile which have not yet been discovered in California are Prehnite, stilbite, Laumontite and scolecite; while analcime, harmotome, Thomsonite, natrolite and Heulandite are wanting there as well as here.It is evident, from a comparison of the mineral lists of the States situated along the Pacific Coast of North and South America, that there has been a most remarkable resemblance in the conditions which have influenced the formation and segregation of the accidental minerals now found accompanying the stratified and eruptive masses throughout the whole vast extent of the regions in question. This is another of the facts which go to show the unity of the Cordilleras of North and South America as a geological result.

He stated that the number of minerals occurring in California, and on the Pacific coast in general, taking the country from Northern Mexico to British Columbia, was quite small in proportion to the area of the region. Especially among the silicates is there a great deficiency in species, and very few of those which do occur are found of sufficiently well crystallized form to be valuable as cabinet specimens.

The total number of species (following the fourth edition of Dana’s Mineralogy for names, etc.) believed to exist on the Pacific coast, including Northern Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and Oregon, is one hundred and ten, of which, however, thirteen are somewhat doubtful. Of the one hundred and ten, there are eighty-nine which occur in California. Some of the mineral species most common in other parts of the world, and especially in mining regions, are either entirely unknown here, or else exceedingly rare. Thusbarytes, which is so abundant a veinstone in England and Germany, is almost unknown in the Sierra Nevada, having been only found in one or two localities, and there in small quantity. Fluor is entirely wanting in the Sierra Nevada, although found in some quantity in Arizona and Nevada. Not a trace of this elsewhere so common mineral has been found, so far as known, in California.

Among the silicates most universally diffused, but which are up to this time entirely unknown in California, the following may be mentioned as some of the most prominent: beryl, topaz, zircon, Wollastonite, scapolite, spodumene, Allanite, iolite, staurotide, kyanite, spinel, nepheline, datholite and all the zeolites, in other countries so abundant where volcanic rocks occur. Not a welldefined specimen of a zeolite has yet been found within the borders of California.

Another curious fact in the mineralogy of California is the occurrence of some mineral species which are common as ores in other mining countries, and which in California, or at least in the mining region of the Sierra Nevada, are disseminated through a great number of localities, but nowhere exist in workable quantity. Galena and blende may be particularly referred to as occurring in this way. There is hardly a gold-bearing vein in the Sierra which has not some galena and blende in fine particles in the veinstone; but not a locality is known where the quantity of either of these ores is anything like sufficient to justify mining, even were the other conditions as favorable as in the Eastern States or in Europe. Galena occurs in considerable quantity in the extreme south-eastern portion of the State, or just over the borders, in Arizona and Nevada; but no considerable deposit of zinc blende has yet been made known anywhere in the Pacific States or Territories; nor is any other ore of zinc known to occur in workable quantity on this coast.

The mineral region with which ours most nearly agrees, in the character of its ores and mineral substances, is that of the South American Andes, especially of Chile. In Mr. David Forbes’ recent catalogue of the Chilean minerals, there are about two hundred species enumerated, of which about sixty have hitherto been discovered in California and the other Pacific States and Territories. The Chilean mineral list, like that of California, is remarkable for the absence of many of the almost universally distributed silicates mentioned above as wanting in the Pacific States, namely: beryl, topaz, zircon, Wollastonite, Allanite, iolite, staurotide, kyanite, spodumene, spinel and datholite. Many other silicates, abundantly distributed throughout other portions of the world, might be mentioned as entirely wanting along the whole Pacific Coast. Several of the more common zeolites are found in the Chilean list, which are wanting in California; while several others are equally wanting in both countries. Among the common zeolites found in Chile which have not yet been discovered in California are Prehnite, stilbite, Laumontite and scolecite; while analcime, harmotome, Thomsonite, natrolite and Heulandite are wanting there as well as here.

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

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

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

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

President in the chair.

Twenty-six members present.

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

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

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

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

The subject of the relation of the accidental minerals occurring on the Pacific coast was brought forward by me at the last meeting, and I wish now to add a few words in regard to the elementary substances occurring in California, an inquiry which will also afford us some interesting data for comparing the geological and chemical conditions prevailing through the great chain of the Cordilleras of North and South America.I find on carefully tabulating the facts observed by the Geological Survey, in regard to the mineral combinations existing on the coast, that of the sixty-four elementary substances existing in nature, so far as yet known to chemists, there are only thirty-six which have been proven to occur in California, in mineral combinations.Those which are wanting here are the following: bromine, glucinum, cadmium, cæsium, cerium, didymium, erbium, fluorine, iodine, indium, lanthanum, lithium, niobium, norium, palladium, ruthenium, rubidium, strontium, tantalum, terbium, thallium, thorium, uranium, vanadium, bismuth, tungsten, yttrium, zirconium (28.)Of elementary substances occurring in the adjacent States, and not yet detected in California, there are, so far as I know, only three, namely: bismuth, fluorine and tungsten. This would make twenty-three elements wanting on the Pacific Coast of North America. Of these a few are extremely rare, in general, and would hardly be expected to occur here. Among these are didymium, erbium, indium, lanthanum, norium, thorium. But there are others, the absence of which is indeed quite surprising. Fluorine, for instance, is an element of extremely wide distribution, and one which occurs in great quantity inmost mineral countries. Here it will probably hereafter be detected in our micas, and perhaps in other combinations, and also in mineral and sea water; but its most abundant source, fluor-spar, seems entirely wanting in this State.Bismuth is another element of common occurrence in various combinations, but it has not yet been detected in California. A few minute scales of a mineral that I determined to be bismuth-silver, from the Twin Ophir mine, Nevada, is the only authentic instance I know of thus far, of the occurrence of this element on the Pacific coast. Tungsten, uranium and vanadium, are tolerably widely disseminated; the latter, however, less so than the former. No trace of either has yet been found on this coast north of Mexico; of strontium, zirconium, and glucinum, the same may be said. If we now compare the distribution of the elements in the South American Andes with that on this coast, we shall find some striking points of resemblance; and to a large extent, either the absence, or else the great rarity of several of the elementary substances not seen in other mineral regions, is a fact which holds good along the whole extent of the American Continent on the Pacific side. Fluorine, in combination with calcium, is almost as rare in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, as on this coast. Indeed, it was formerly supposed by Domeyko not to occur at all in Chile, but recently one or two localities, where it is found in small quantity, have been made known. Tungsten occurs in Peru at one locality in the form of wolfram, and in Chile in one or two localities, also in Lower California, but its combinations are extremely rare along the whole coast. The same may be said of uranium. Strontium and zirconium have not yet been discovered in Chile or Peru, although the former occurs in one locality in New Grenada, and glucinum has only recently been found in Chile in very minute quantity in one locality. No combination of lithium is yet known on the Pacific coast.Among the leading facts connected with the occurrence of mineral substances and the elementary bodies on the Pacific coast, and especially in the Cordilleras of North and South America, the following may be mentioned as generally applicable to the whole of the vast region extending from British Columbia to Chile:1st. The paucity of species considering the extent of the region as compared with other parts of the world, and especially with other mineral regions.2d. The remarkable absence of the prominent silicates, and especially of the zeolites.3d. The absence of a large number of the elementary substances, and the paucity of several others of very common occurrence in other mineral regions.4th. The very wide spread and abundant occurrence of the precious metals, gold and silver, and the not uncommon occurrence of platina.5th. The great abundance of ores of copper, and the comparative absence of tin, lead, and zinc.6th. The similarity in the mineralized condition of the silver—antimony and chlorine being prominent mineralizers of this metal—while in Chile the rarer combinations of iodine, bromine, and selenium occur, these latter being as yet unknown north of Mexico.7th. The absence or paucity as veinstone, or gangue, of one of the mostprominent minerals occurring as such in other mineral regions, namely, fluor; to which it may be added, that both calcite and barytes are extremely rare as veinstones in California, and to judge from all the Mexican and Chilean collections that I have seen, well crystallized specimens are very rare in those countries.8th. There is no elementary substance, and but few mineral species peculiar to the Pacific coast, so far as yet ascertained.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

President in the Chair.

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

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

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

President in the Chair.

Thirty-five members present.

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

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

Professor Silliman read the following notices:

Note on three new Localities of Tellurium Minerals in California, and on some Mineralogical Features of the Mother Vein.BY B. SILLIMAN.(a.)Tellurium Minerals.—It is well known to mineralogists and others that in the Melones Mine, on Carson Hill, there occurs, in considerable abundance, a tellurium compound which has been called Sylvanite by some mineralogists, but apparently without sufficient authority. It occurs in one of the veins on the Melones property, associated with Dolomite and quartz, in what appears to be a gneissic rock; but the mine being under water I am dependent on the specimens kindly furnished me by the intelligent proprietor, Mr.G. K. Stevenot, for my knowledge of the gangue.At the “Golden Rule” Mine, on the mother lode near Poverty Hill, in Tuolumne County, I detected in August last the same tellurium minerals which are found at Carson Hill in the Melones. The veinstone here is an argillite, with thread-like veins of quartz crossing the cleavages of the slate, and in thesefilonsof quartz gold is seen in beautiful specimens. It was in this association that I detected two or three small groups of brilliant crystalline plates, identical in appearance and physical characters with the Melones mineral, which has been called Sylvanite, and affording the same blowpipe reactions.At the Rawhide Rancho, a mine near Jamestown, on the mother lode, of which I have had occasion to make a careful study, there occurs a deposit or shoot of very rich sulphides containing copper, antimony, iron, arsenic, with gold, silver and tellurium. This ore has in general a bronzy, blackish appearance; shows often free gold in scales of a blackish yellow color, and appears to be a kind of fahlerz, or gray-copper ore, the value of which in silver and gold rises to one thousand dollars per ton, (2,000 lbs.) or even higher. Associated with this ore are brilliant sectile, flexible scales of the same tellurium compound which occurs at Stanislaus and Golden Rule, but in the Rawhide Mine intimately blended with the blackish sulphides before-named—occasionally in nests or small bunches with metallic gold. The blowpipe readily detects in this ore antimony, arsenic, tellurium, copper, iron, manganese, lime, magnesia, chromium, aluminum,gold and silver. It is only in portions containing dolomite and the peculiar greenish mineral, so characteristic of the mother lode, that lime, magnesia, alumina, and chromium are detected. In portions of the fahlerz-like mineral which appear nearly pure, the blowpipe detects only antimony, arsenic, copper, iron, and manganese.Having transmitted characteristic specimens of these ores, with other interesting California species, to Professors Dana and Brush, at New Haven, these mineralogists inform me, by letter just received, that the tellurids above-named appear to be referable to a new species hitherto undescribed, and Prof. Brush proposes to undertake an analysis of it upon the specimens transmitted by me, which are barely sufficient for the purpose. It is a tellurid of silver and gold, containing more silver than gold. Associated with it is a white cleavable mineral which Prof. Brush thinks may prove to be native tellurium; this is in the Melones and Golden Rule specimens.Hessite.I obtained from the Reist Mine, on the northeasterly end of Whisky Hill, Tuolumne County, a very small crystal corresponding in its physical characters to the extremely rare telluric silver, known to mineralogists asHessite. It occurs in the auriferous slates to the east of the main vein; the slates being opened here for a width of seventy-five feet as an open cut. My attention was called to the existence of this species at the Reist Mine by Mr. D. T. Hughes, of Tuolumne County, who informed me that there was an interesting mineral species there containing, as he believed, tellurium, and that masses of it, half an ounce in weight, had been obtained some years since. Unfortunately these specimens fell into ignorant hands, and were destroyed in idle attempts to determine the nature of the substance. On visiting the locality, which is within one mile of the Rawhide Rancho, and on the opposite side of Table Mountain, I found that the proprietor was exploring in a different part of the open cut from that where this species was found, the place being under water. Fortunately in a collection of minerals from Whisky Hill, formed by Mr. Williams, one of the proprietors, and preserved in his house there, I was able to detect one small mass of the Hessite which Mr. Williams divided with me. This Mr. Hughes recognized as identical with the larger masses he had obtained at this mine some years since.Prof. Bush, in his letter to Prof. Silliman, of October 29th, recognizes this species as Hessite. The specimen was associated with native gold which had been amalgamated and heated, but the constitution of the Hessite did not seem to be affected thereby.“Tellurid of Silver” is mentioned by Blake, in his list of California species, as found by him near Georgetown, in El Dorado County, in 1854, washed from the gold drift, but the parent vein had never been found.—Ross Browne’s Report, 1867, p. 209.It appears therefore, from the present state of our knowledge, that a compound of gold and silver tellurium belonging probably to a new species has been detected in three localities upon the mother vein, and associated with it in two of these, probably also native tellurium; and that Hessite (the tellurid of silver) has been found in place in one locality and in the drift in another. I have alsodetected the foliated tellurium in extremely minute quantity in one of the mines at Angels, and I mentioned in a publication, in 1864, its probable occurrence among the ores of the Josephine and Pine Tree Mines of Mariposa. A careful scrutiny will probably detect those compounds of tellurium at other points when the mother vein is opened, as at Blue Gulch, Quartz Mountain, and Whisky Hill. I have already recognized the blackish antimonial copper sulphides at the App Mine and Silver’s Mine, and in the croppings on the surface of Whisky Hill. Indeed it may not be too much to state that these ores appear to be somewhat characteristic of those portions of the mother vein occurring south of Angels, and especially wherever it is inclosed in magnesian rocks.Genth has named a speciesMelonite, from Melones Mine, which he says is a tellurid of nickel. I have not been able to recognize this compound among those ores of the Melones, which I have seen.(b.)Some Mineralogical Features of the Mother Vein.—From the opportunity I have had of studying the mother vein, I arrive at the general conclusion that its mineralogical characteristics vary greatly with the chemical constitution of the rocks which inclose it. Wherever the serpentine or talcose and calcareous rocks from the inclosing walls, or are near it, the mineral contents of the vein are essentially different from those observed where the inclosing rocks are argillites, or syenites and diorites.These we find at Mariposa, in the Josephine and Pine Tree Mines, at Peñon Blanco, Maxwell Creek, Blue Gulch, Quartz Mountain, Silver’s, Whisky Hill, Rawhide, Chapavele Hill, Carson Hill, Angels, and Placerville—at all which places I have examined the mother lode with more or less care—a peculiar light apple-green mineral, occurring in scales, associated with iron pyrites in small and brilliant pentagonal dodecahedrons and implanted in a gangue of dolomite mingled with quartz. The dolomite is of the variety known as ankerite, and by its decomposition, which seems hastened by the oxidation of the associated pyrites, gives origin to those highly characteristic masses of brown and reddish-yellow iron gossan which form the characteristic feature of the outcroppings of those portions of the mother vein just enumerated. These gossans always retain the bright green mineral before alluded to unchanged, as also cellular quartz which discloses in its rhombic cavities the form of the decomposed crystals of dolomite or ankerite whose removal has left the vacant spaces. Before decomposition this triple carbonate of lime, magnesia, and iron is brilliantly white, and its real chemical character would never be suspected.The green mineral, so far as I can ascertain, has never been described, although it has often been noticed. It has been called by some,nickel gymnite, and I have once distinguished it by this name in a mining report. But this is a misnomer which I take this occasion to correct; nickel gymnite of Genth, found at Texas, Penna., is a hydrous silicate of magnesia, lime, and nickel. The species so characteristic of certain portions of the mother vein is anhydrous, and contains no nickel.Mariposite(Provisional Name). Before the blowpipe it yields evidence of the presence of the protoxides of iron, lime, magnesia, and potassium; of thesesquioxides of chromium and aluminum with carbonic, silicic, and sulphuric acids. The oxide of manganese and sulphuric acid exist only as traces. The mineral is probably new, and must be referred to the mica section of an hydrous silicate. Should it, on a careful chemical examination, prove to be new, I would suggest the nameMaripositeas an appropriate name for it, as it was on the Mariposa estate that it first attracted my attention, and where it exists in great abundance.This species which is so characteristic of the mother vein, in connection with magnesian or chloritic rocks, occurs nowhere so far as I have observed in this vein when it is inclosed in argillites or syenites.Of sulphides occurring in the mother lode there are two classes which deserve special mention, beside the ordinarily occurring pyrites of iron and copper.These are the (1) antimonial copper sulphides, and the (2) antimonial lead sulphides; both are arsenical and are rich in both gold and silver.To the first class allusion has already been made in the former part of this paper. Besides the Rawhide Mine, they are found in most of the openings on Whisky Hill, in Tuolumne County, in the Silver, App and Josephine, and Pine Tree Mines. The lively stains of blue malachite, seen at Williams’ Mine, on Whisky Hill, and occasionally elsewhere, are derived from atmospheric decomposition of the antimonial copper sulphides. The blowpipe detects the presence of iron, antimony, arsenic, copper, sulphur, tellurium (in certain cases) sulphur, gold and silver. The vein is so abundant as to give to the raw ore, in some cases, magnetic properties; and the button from the blowpipe assay becomes strongly magnetic.The antimonial lead sulphides occur in considerable abundance at the Trio Claims, on Whisky Hill. The appearance of this ore recalls that of granular galena. The gold and silver value of this ore is very high, but no portion of it can be saved by the ordinary mechanical treatment with mercury. The blowpipe detects the presence of antimony, lead, iron, arsenic, sulphur, gold and silver. There is no trace of copper, and the quantity of arsenic present is slight. The ore is therefore essentially an antimonial lead sulphide, rich in gold and silver.There is good reason to believe, that as this remarkable vein becomes more thoroughly explored, it will disclose other new or rare compounds containing gold, and that these already noticed will be found to be more widely diffused when proper care is applied to the study of the mineralogy of the lode.In Amador County the mother lode is found in connection with argillaceous slates and syenite. Thus at the Eureka Mine, of Hayward, known as the Amador Mining Co., the vein has a soft, black slate for its foot wall and a heavy, firm syenite or greenstone (calledgraniteby the miners) for the hanging wall. The mineralogy of the vein is extremely simple, being in fact nothing more than iron and copper sulphurets, chiefly the former, with rarely galena or blende. I sought in vain for any of the species mentioned in the former part of this paper. There are no magnesian minerals, and theMaripositeis entirely absent. The other mines of that range, as far as I examined them, all partake of the same simplicity in mineralogical character. There can be but littledoubt, as it appears to me, that the inclosing rocks in each case exercise an important influence on the mineral contents of the vein.San Francisco, December 2d, 1867.

BY B. SILLIMAN.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(b.)Some Mineralogical Features of the Mother Vein.—From the opportunity I have had of studying the mother vein, I arrive at the general conclusion that its mineralogical characteristics vary greatly with the chemical constitution of the rocks which inclose it. Wherever the serpentine or talcose and calcareous rocks from the inclosing walls, or are near it, the mineral contents of the vein are essentially different from those observed where the inclosing rocks are argillites, or syenites and diorites.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

San Francisco, December 2d, 1867.

Mr. Stearns read the following:

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