Dear Sir : — 



You will please find herewith the report on the specimens of fossil plants which 

 you have intrusted to me for examination. 



These vegetable remains represent merely leaves which, embedded in a fine-grained 

 whitish clay or soapstone, are generally, for their outlines at least, in a very good 

 state of preservation. The areolation of those from the Chalk Bluffs of Nevada 

 County is, however, generally rendered obsolete by a coat of varnish, which also 

 gives to them an apparent thickness which may not represent their natural char- 

 acter. The words "coriaceous" and " subcoriaccous," used in the description of 

 these leaves, might therefore be taken with some degree of uncertainty. However, 

 in comparing the leaves of Mr. Voy's collection which have been varnished with 

 those of the same locality belonging to yourself, and those also of Tuolumne 

 County which have been left in their original state of preservation, the texture of 

 all appears of the same consistence. 



Except the specimens which are your own property, all the others, under the 



name of the Voy Collection, belong to the University of California, and have been 



returned to that institution. 



Very respectfully yours, 



L. LESQUEREUX. 

 To Prof. J. I). Whitney, 

 Cambridge, Mass. 



