142 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



students of natural history, who recognized in him a valued asso- 

 ciate, will hear of his death with unfeigned sorrow. 



September 8. 



The President, Dr. Rlschenberger, in the chair. 



Fourteen members present. 



The following papers were presented for publication : 

 " Xotes on Santa Fe Marls and some of the Contained Verte- 

 brate Fossils." B^^ E. D. Cope. 



" On a new Variety of Helix." By James Lewis, M.D. 



Notice of a Remarkable Amoeha. Prof. Leidy stated that in 

 the early part of last June, in examining some material obtained 

 from a mill-pond at Absecom, Xew Jersej', he had observed a most 

 wonderful amoeboid animal, of which he had made notes, but was 

 not able at the time to make a drawing and satisfactory descrip- 

 tion. Subsequently he sought patiently for two days in the same 

 material for another individual, but without success. Last week he 

 made a visit to the Absecom mill-pond to seek the curious 

 amoeboid, and was so fortunate as to find it again. Prof. Leidy 

 exhibited a drawing of the animal, and described it as follows : 



The animal at rest is spherical or oval, or constricted back of the 

 middle. In the spherical form it measured the one-fifth of a milli- 

 metre in diameter ; in the oval and constricted form it was about 

 one-fourth of a millimetre long, and one-sixth of a millimetre broad. 

 It is white or cream colored, opaque, or translucent at the border, 

 and was spotted green from food balls of desmids. It moves with 

 extreme sluggishness, and with little change of form. From the 

 fore part of the body the animal was observed to project almost 

 simultaneously a number of long, conical, acute pseudopods, about 

 the one-twelfth of a millimetre long. From the back part in the 

 same manner a multitude of papillaform pseudopods were projected 

 about the one-fiftieth of a millimetre long. All the pseudopods and 

 the surface of the body everywhere bristled with innumerable 

 minute spicules. From time to time more or less obtuse i^ortions 

 of the clear ectosarc were projected, and these likewise were 

 observed to be covered with the minute spicules. The opacity 

 of the animal prevented the exhibition of a nucleus, if such exists. 



In general appearance the curious creature resembles one of the 

 forms of Pelomyxapalustris, described b3' Prof. Greef, in Schultze's 

 Archiv, vol. x. pi. iv., fig. 9, but in this, minute spicules project only 

 from the posterior disk-like extremit}' of the bod}', as thej' have 

 also been observed to do in the corresponding part of Amceba 

 villosa, of Wallich, and perhaps other species. 



The general spiculate character of the Absecom amoeboid is 



