132 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIi'ORNIA 



son, of our city, some years since, it became his duty to embalm 

 the body, and he did so by using carbolic acid, and said that he had 

 not the slightest doubt that one hundred years hence the body 

 would be found in a good state of preservation, if examined. 



Prof. Davidson said if the Doctor's theory was correct, the 

 preparation was a valuable one for collectors, who had not time or skill 

 to skin specimens, or in case of vultures, buzzards, etc., not a pleas- 

 ant work. 



Dr. Cooper thought it might answer for temporary purposes, but 

 doubted its value for lasting any long time on account of evapora- 

 tion of the acid. 



Dr. Stout said it was true it would evaporate, but in doing so 

 seemed to permeate every particle of the tissues, and even preserve 

 the brain. The body dessicates and becomes very light, and de- 

 composition seems arrested. The Doctor said that the principal 

 preserving substance in the preparation used in embalming the 

 mummies of Egypt, was, undoubtedly, carbolic acid in a crude state. 



Dr. Cooper said it dried the body and contracted it so, that he 

 thought specimens so prepared could never be set up by a taxider- 

 mist. 



Prof. Davidson made some Interesting remarks upon certain 

 species of seal upon this coast, called by hunters the Sea Lion. He 

 said the female remains on the coast all the year ; the males come 

 only for a short time, about two months, and during their entire 

 stay they never feed, whereas the females go in schools regularly 

 to feed. At Point Arena, a male, one of a school of nearly one 

 hundred, was shot, and a spearhead, such as is used by the Alaska 

 Indians, was found imbedded in the body, with a part of the sinew 

 line attached. This sea lion had evidently come about 1200 geo- 

 graphical miles. 



Dr. Cooper made some observations upon a trip recently made 

 to " Castle Peak " on the Sierras. He said the mountain is readily 

 accessible, although the angle of ascent is greater than 45°, and 

 herds of cattle nearly reach the summit. It consists, finally, of a 

 mass of vertical cliffs, capped by a chimney, though there is now 

 no crater. The structure is basaltic and volcanic conglomerate. 

 The climate is not alpine, neither are the flora or the fauna strictly 

 such. The flowers and vegetation generally are like those below, 

 except a species of ranunculus and one of anemone. The butterflies 



