1854.] 249 



Some of my species seem to be entirely omitted in this Synopsis. I do not 

 observe U. aheneus, 77. occultus, IT. Oregonensis, 77. patulus, 77. pressus, 77. suc- 

 cissus, CT. multiplicatus (nor heros Say), Anodonta Dunlapiana nor An. glohosa. 

 In a note on cuneatus Raf. (p. 267), Mr. Conrad says it is a form between XT. 

 patulus and 77. clavus, but he does not place patulus Lea, in his list of species, 

 although in his Monography in 1838 he acknowledges it with a description and 

 figure. 



At page 258 Mr. Conrad gives 77. tenerus Ravenel, Lea, 1834, V. 63, 9, 2." 

 I never described nor figured this shell, and there is no reference to it in vol. 5, 

 Trans, at p. 63, nor is it figured in plate 9. 77. teneris Ravenel and 77. paliatus 

 Ravenel, are most singularly erroneous in their introduction. They have both 

 been well known under Dr. Ravenel's names by his kindly distributing them. 

 Having himself named them when he sent them to me, I distributed duplicates 

 at home and abroad with his names. Although he did not describe them subse- 

 quently, as 1 supposed he would, I still retained his names in my editions of 

 the Synopsis and quoted the authorship to him. Mr. Conrad, by not keeping 

 to a strict rule, gives in his Synopsis one (paliattis) to me and the other {tene- 

 rus') to Ravenel. To add to this error he refers to my memoirs for both of them, 

 quoting the page of text and the plates for figures, where they never have ap- 

 peared at all ! 



I trust that I have vindicated the dates of my species by references to the facts 

 regarding them. This defence has cost me much time in searching for the 

 proofs necessary to rebut the errors of this Synopsis, and 1 think it will not be 

 denied that it is effectually done. 



The Recording Secretary read his Annual Report, as follows : 



REPORT 



OF THE RECORDING SECRETARY 



For 1854. 



During the past year twenty-eight Members and eighteen Correspondents have 

 been elected. One has resigned. 



Four have died, to wit : Mr. John Speakman, one of the Founders of the 

 Academy ; Octavus A. Norris, Esquire ; Robert M. Patterson, M.D.; and Jacob G. 

 Morris, Esquire, wh was lost with the steamship Arctic. 



During the same period sixty-four papers have been read before the Society, 

 intended for publication in their Journal or Proceedings : 



By Spencer F. Baird, two, to wit: 1. Descriptions of new species of North 

 American Ranseformes and Hylreformes in the Museum of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution. 2. Descriptions of new Birds, collected between Albuquerque, New 

 Mexico, and San Francisco, Ca 1 ., <fcc. 



By Spencer F. Baird and Charles Girard, two, to wit : 1. Descriptions of new 

 species of Fishes collected in Texas, New Mexico, and Sonora, by Mr. John D. 

 Clark, on the U. States and Mexico Boundary Survey, and in Texas by Captain 

 Stewart Van Vliet, U. S. A., second part. 2. Nolice of a new genus of Cyprinidae. 



By John Cassin. Synopsis of the Falconidae which inhabit America north of 

 Mexico, with descriptions of new species. 



By T. A. Conrad, six, to wit: 1. Monograph of the genus Argonauta, with 

 descriptions of five new species ; published in the Journal. 2. Synopsis of the 

 genus Cassidula and of a proposed new genus Athleta. 3. Omissions and cor- 

 rections to a Synopsis of the North American Naiades. 4. Synopsis of the genera 

 Parapholas and Penicilla ; published ia the Journal. 5. Rectification of the 

 generic names of Tertiary Fossil Shells. 6. Notes on Shells, with description 

 of three recent and one fossil species. 



By Lieut. D. M. Couch, U. S. Army. Notes on Birds observed in Texas and 



