8 



only that nearest our coast gave boracic acid. In ten specimens 

 kindly furnished me by Dr. W. 0. Ayres, taken up by Dr. J. D. B. 

 Stillman, in a trip of one of the Pacific mail steamers from Panama 

 to this place, no acid was discovered south of the Cortes Shoals. 



I have not as yet been able to obtain specimens of water south of 

 San Diego, nearer the shore than the usual route of the mail steamers. 

 Neither have I been able to test the breadth of this boracic belt any 

 further than the fact above stated, of no acid being found at the dis- 

 tance of thirty or forty miles west from the Golden Gate. I think it 

 probable that it is confined within the submarine ridge running paral- 

 lel with the coast, the southern portion of which is indicated by cer- 

 tain shoals and island groups. The source of the acid is undoubtedly 

 volcanic, and the seat of the volcanic action is most likely to exist in 

 this submerged mountain range. It strengthens the probability of 

 the eruptive character of the Cortes Shoals. 



I hope in future to be able to make more accurate and extended 

 examinations, unless some one more capable of doing justice to the 

 subject should take it in hand. With this view, I solicited the atten- 

 tion of Dr. J. S. Newberry to these facts while he was in this city, on 

 his way to join Lieutenant Ives' Colorado Exploring Expedition, hop- 

 ing he might think it worthy of investigation during his stay on this 

 coast. With the same view, I now submit them to the Academy. 



January 24, 1859. 



Dr. J. A. Veatch in the Chair. 



Dr. Kellogg exhibited a drawing and specimens of an Abies, from 

 Fort Langley. Although closely allied to A. canadensis of the 

 Atlantic slope, he considered it a distinct species. 



A. hridgei, (Kellogg) — in honor of Mr. Bridges, to whom he was 

 indebted for the specimens. 



Leaves evergreen, solitary, linear-cuniform, obtuse, somewhat flat- 

 tened, fleshy, slightly grooved above, ridged beneath, very minutely 

 scabrous, serrate, petiolate, somewhat two-ranked. 



Cones numerous, solitary, terminal, pendant, elliptic-ovoid, about 

 twice the length of the leaves. 



Scales about thirty or more, oblong, roundish above, concave ; mar- 

 gin entire, thin, translucent, finely corrugate-striate on the back, base 

 abrupt, sub-auricled, stoutly attached to the ligneous axis. Bracts 

 three-lobed, ciliate, villous, (about one-eighth of an inch long). 



Seeds (including the wing) scarcely less than the scales ; wings 

 oblong obliquely, broader at the base, somewhat suddenly narrowed 



