198 , [December, 



Serpents ;" which was referred to a Committee consisting of Major 

 Le Conte, Prof. Haldeman and Dr. Leidj. 



Dr. G-enth presented a paper, intended for publication in the Pro- 

 ceedings, entitled, " On a probably new Element, with Iridosmene and 

 Flatinum, from California." Referred to Prof. Frazer, Dr. Le Conte 

 and Dr. Bridges. 



Prof. Haldeman stated that he had seen, at the recent agricultural exhibition 

 at Lancaster, Pa., a pair of albino specimens of Tamias lysieri (or striata) ; also 

 a black specimen of the same species ; which would throw light upon the varieties 

 of the grey squirrels, since it is more likely that these should have black varie- 

 ties than the uniform species of Tamias. The specimen was black throughout, 

 and there were no indications of the lateral stripes, A few scattered hairs of 

 white might be observed on a close inspection. Prof H. stated further that he 

 had had an idiotic specimen of Sciurus Hudsonius, which had the actions of 

 a human idiot. It was thus affected when caught, and was merely able to take 

 its food, but incapable of running or leaping. Its principal actions were turning 

 in a circle aod moving the head up and down continually. 



December 2Sth. 



Yice President Bridges in the Chair. 



The Coramitte on Mr. Conrad's papers, containing " Ptemarks on the 

 Tertiary Strata of St. Domingo and Vicksburg,^' and " Notes on Shells, 

 with descriptions of new species," reported in favor of publication in 

 the Proceedings. 



Remarks on the Tertiary Strata of St. Domingo and Vickshurg^ (^Miss.) 



By T. A. CoNEAD. 



The remarkable group of fossils which I discovered at Vicksburg, Miss., in 

 1845, derives a new interest for the geologist since the discovery of an analogous 

 deposit in St. Domingo, in which are some few of the species of the Vicksburg 

 strata. Whether all the forms of this group in St. Domingo are synchronous 

 remains to be proved, but the probability is that they are. They have been 

 referred to the Miocene period, whilst I had supposed that the Vicksburg 

 strata were more intimately related to those of the Eocene period. I founded 

 this supposition on the following data, viz : 



1. No recent species was known, or is yet ascertained to occur in this 

 locality, 



2. Two or three fossil shells of the Older Eocene of Alabama are common. 



3. No species is identical with, and only two or three analogous to, fossil 

 shells of the American Miocene, even as the group occurs in South Carolina, but 

 little north of the latitude of Vicksburg. 



4. The forms have a closer analogy with those of the European Eocene than 

 with any other group of fossils. 



It might be supposed that a more southern latitude would vary the Miocene 

 species, but not thnt the percentage of recent shells would be reduced to zero, 

 nor would an utterly dissimilar group be introduced. The only condition which 

 would seem likely to produce such a result would be a great depth of water, in 

 which the shells had lived and died on the bed of aprofounder sea than wehave 

 elsewhere eny evidence of; but this is not probable, because the presence of so 



