ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 141 



force of 2, (the maximum standard being 6) it had risen to 45 per 

 cent., and at 11 p.m. fell again to 20, when the northeaster returned 

 with a force of 5. The barometer continued sinking some hours 

 after the norther began — an unusual occurrence except on this 

 coast. The extreme dryness of the air will be seen more plainly 

 from the explanation that the wind that blows off the great Desert 

 of Zahara seldom contains less than 20 per cent, of moisture, and 

 our late northeaster was at one time one per cent, below that. 



Regular Meeting, Novemrer 7th, 1870. 

 President in the Chair. 



Generals D. D. Colton and John Hewston were elected resident 

 members. 



Donations to the Library: Etudes sur I'Australie in 1862, 

 1869, S. Morhange, Brussels, 1 vol. 8vo., from the author; Intro- 

 duction to Practical Astronomy, Prof. E. Loomis, New York, 1861, 

 1 vol. 8vo., from G. Yale. 



Dr. A. Kellogg presented specimens of anew^ plant, accompanied 

 with a sketch and electrotype, and read the following description : 



A New Californian Dicentra. 



BY A. KELLOGG, M. D. 



Dicentra uniflora — Kellogg. Eoot fasciculate, granular at the crown ; 

 scape annual, as long as the leaf — i. e., two to three inches long — bibracteate, 

 one-flowered ; flower nodding, whitish or flesh-colored ; a gland at the inner 

 base of the filaments ; leaf ternately compound and mullifid, slightly pubescent 

 near the base ; capsule oblong, ovate, lanceolate ; seeds crested at the hilum. 

 Found at Cisco and at the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains, on the line 

 of the Central Pacific Railroad, in June, 1870. This species of Dicentra cannot 

 be mistaken for any other in any stage of its growth, either in respect to form 

 or size. In the figure, No. 1, is the natural size of the plant— 1 to \^ inches of 

 the lower portion is embedded in the soil— Nos. 2 and 3, the parts of the flower, 

 etc., somewhat enlarged. It is probable the fasieulate portion of the root is 

 thrown ofl", in anticipation of the fruiting scape, or scapes, after which it decays 

 and others succeed. Found chiefly adjacent to rocks. 



