PROCEEDINGS. LXI 



SIXTY-SECOND MEETING, April 19, 1884. 



The President occupied the chair. Forty members were p'resent. 



Dr. Cyrus Thomas read a paper on THE GROWTH OF TREES AS A 

 MEANS OF DETERMINING THE AGE OF MOUNDS. The long accepted 

 theory that the age of a tree is indicated by the number of con 

 centric rings can no longer be considered tenable. The only way 

 of testing this theory is by cutting down trees the age of which is 

 known. This has been done in many instances, which were cited, 

 and the result has been the demonstration of the falsity of the long 

 accepted theory. 



Mr. John Murdoch made remarks on DREDGING AND MARINE 

 COLLECTING AT POINT BARROW, detailing his experiences as natu 

 ralist of the Signal Service Station at that place. 



Dr. Bean, in a paper on THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SALMONID^E 

 IN ALASKA, enumerated the following twenty-one salmonoids as 

 occurring there : 



Osmerus dentex, Osmerus spirinchus, Mallotus villosus, Hypomesus 

 olidus, Hypomesus pretiosus, Thaleichthys pacificus, Thymallus sig- 

 mfer, Stenodu s Macke nzti, Coregonus Lauretta, Coregonus r\Z2xMerkii, 

 Coregonus quadrilateralis , Coregonus Kennicottii, Coregonus Nelsonii y 

 Salvelinusmalma,Salmopurpuratus, Salmo Gairdnerii, Oncorhynchus 

 chouicha, Oncorhynchus keta, Oncorhynchus nerka, Oncorhynchus 

 kisutch, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha. 



Osmerus is known to range only from the Bristol Bay region to 

 the extreme northern limit of the Territory. O. dentex is quite 

 similar in appearance to O. eperlanus and O. mordax of the At 

 lantic. O. spirinchus may be simply the spent condition of dentex. 

 In the region in which they occur the smelts are quite abundant, 

 and are extensively used by the natives for food, both fresh and 

 dried. 



Mallotus villosus is found in every portion of the Territory, being 

 extensively eaten by the natives, and forming one of the best 

 known foods for the codfish in the Gulf of Alaska. 



Hypomesus is represented by two species, one of which, H. olidus, 

 is confined to the western shore of Alaska, being most abundant 

 to the northward. H.pretiosus is known only from the Gulf of 

 Alaska. H. olidus spawns in fresh- water ponds, while H. pretiosus 

 is a surf spawner. 



