192 [November, 



whole human race is from a single couple, and that such is the legitimate con- 

 struction of the biblical passages mentioning Adam and Eve, did not appear to 

 him to be a question in Natural History ; that is, he conceives it to be impossible, 

 from any natural evidence now existing upon the surface of the earth, either to 

 prove or disprove this proposition, or to render it more probable or improbable, 

 and that it must, therefore, rest for its certainty upon revelation, records and the 

 grammatical construction and just verbal meaning of an ancient language. 



November 2od. 



The President, Mr. Ord, in the Chair. 



A letter was read from the Secretary of the Acad. C. L. C. Naturae 

 Curiosorum, dated Breslau, 28th Aug. 1852, presenting the volume 

 of its Transactions acknowledged this evening. 



Dr. Leidy presented a paper from M. Tuomey, entitled " Description 

 of some fossil shells from the Tertiary of the Southern States,'' which, 

 being intended for publication, was referred to a committee, consisting of 

 Dr. Leidy, Mr. Conrad, and Mr. Charles E. Smith. 



Dr. Woodhouse presented a paper for publication, describing a new 

 species of Numenius ; which was referred to Mr. Cassin, Dr. Wilson 

 and Dr. Heermann. 



Dr. Owen presented for inspection by the members, a copy of his Re- 

 port of the Geological Survey of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and 

 called attention to some of the illustrations, which were produced by an 

 entirely new method ; the copy of the fossil being medal-ruled on the 

 steel plate from the object itself. 



November SOth. 

 Mr. Ord, President, in the Chair. 



The committee on Mr. Tuomey's paper, offered at last meeting, re- 

 ported in favor of publication in the Proceedings. 



Description of some Fossil Shells from the Tertiary of the Southern States. 

 By M. TcoMEY, Prof, of Geology, Univ. of Alabama. 



The fossils described in this paper are from a well known locality at Wil- 

 mington, N. C. The bed in which they were found is a coarse calcareous con- 

 glomerate resembling, in mineral composition, the compact white limestone of 

 the Santee. 



Sir Charles Lyell described this structure in the first volume of the Quar- 

 terly Journal of the Geological Society of London, and referred it to the Eocene. 

 In a report on the geology of South Carolina I pointed out the existence of one 

 or two Cretaceous forms /Ammonites placenta, Morton, and a Trigonia related 

 to T. thoracica, Morton, in the same bed, together with Eocene fossils. 



Some of the fossils described are much larger than any occurring in the 

 Eocene, yet as a group, no one acquainted with our Cretaceous and Eocene 

 fossils could hesitate in referring them to the latter. Besides, Sir Charles 

 Lyell has given a list, from this locality, of several species found elsewhere in 

 the Eocene. 



