Prof. Gilbert was elected Chairman and William H. Knight, Sec- 

 retary, but Mr. Knight resigning, Mr. Parsons was chosen Secretary. 



A meeting of the Section was held at the residence of Mr. S. 

 J. Keese on Monday, June 12, 1909, at which Prof. Gilbert gave a 

 .statement of the progress in the excavations at the Rancho La Brea, 

 made immediatedly possible by means of the generous donation to 

 the Section by Mr. John D. Hooker. He placed upon exhibition 

 several fossils, in an excellent condition of preservation, of long- 

 extinct animals, which he had excavated at this place, and he 

 outlined the plan for future work under the auspices of the Academy. 



HOLDRIDGE OZRO COLLINS, 



Secretary of the Academy. 



ASTRONOMICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS. 



The Astronomical and Geological Sections assembled in joint meet- 

 ing on Monday, January 18, 1909. at the residence of Mr. S. .1. Keese, 

 No. 1509 Shatto street, and listened to an address by Mr. W. H. Storms, 

 Chairman of the Geological Section, on the ''Auriferous Rivers of Cala- 

 veras County, California." 



This night was the sixty-first anniversary of the evening when 

 water was turned into the tail-race or ditch constructed for Captain 

 John A. Sutter's mill at Coloma, El Dorado County, and in which 

 .lames W. Marshall found the gold nugget the next morning. 



The lecture was illustrated by lantern views, and a very graphic- 

 map of the ancient gravel channels, probably formed before the 

 advent of man. These channels, which were covered from time to 

 time by volcanic tufa — of mud and ashes — are superimposed, one 

 upon tiie other, and have been exposed at depths of hundreds of 

 feet, by the erosion caused by the tremendous rainfalls in the early 

 life of this planet. 



The Astronomical Section assembled at 621 Witmer street, on 

 Monday evening, February 15, 1909, and the evening was devoted to 

 genera] discussion of the philosophy and scientific- religious thought 

 of Persia and India. Mr. Norton Hazeldine, who has lived in India 

 since an infant, and is conversant with the sanserif literature and is 

 thoroughly familiar with the systems of the various religious bodies of 

 the Orient, explained the intimate association of most of the Eastern 

 religions with scientific principles, more particularly as relates to As- 

 tronomy and Chemistry. 



A very large number of ladies and gentlemen assembled in the 

 apartments of Col. Eddy in Hillcrest for the March meeting of the 



Astronomical Section. The subject for consideration was "Life in 

 other Worlds." 



Mr. Knight, Chairman of the Section, conducted the meeting. An 

 extended discussion prevailed as to the conditions for life in other 

 planets, but the expressions of thought were not confined entirely to 

 this channel, and diverged to the line of biology and a mixture of 

 theological argument as to the origin of all life. The presentation of 

 the subject by the materialist, the agnostic, and the theologian caused 

 this meeting to be one of the most interesting and agreeable of the 



season. 



HOLDRIDGE OZRO COLLINS, 

 Secretary of the Astronomical Section. 



SO 



