252 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



on tlio liillsidcs and of the mountains, and of tlie best qnalit}' for lumber. 

 The cedar, nut pine, and oak, white and black, are abundant. 



CABINETS OP NATURAL HISTORY AND GEOLOGY. 



These are not to be overlooked, when, in time, our State shall estab- 

 lish an Agricultural College. There are several respectable cabinets of 

 fossil and geological specimens in this district and county, and the}- might 

 contribute largely to the supply of a cabinet lor a geologi(;al department 

 of an Agricultural College, which is now deemed of no iucousidcrable 

 importance to the State. 



There are a number of geological cabinets in the district and county; 

 the most exensive in the district is that of J. W. Glass. Among the 

 fossil remains in this cabinet are those of the mastodon, rhinoceros, buf- 

 falo, and three skulls of an extinct race of men. One of them was found 

 connected with bones which indicated that the person to whom they 

 belonged was at least eight feet in height, taking the thigh bone as a 

 measure of the fossil as it once existed in its primitive state. Other 

 remains of this ancient race are in this cabinet, such as stone ladles, dip- 

 l^ers, stone bowls, and other articles of stone supposed to be used in 

 some game or amusement. Specimens of petrified animals : a snake 

 taken from a strata one hundred feet below the surface; it was imbedded 

 in a sedimentary deposit. The deposit above it consisted of twelve dif- 

 vferent strata — four of sediment, four of gravel, and four of limestone; 

 the sediment and gravel separating each strata of limestone. This cabi- 

 net contains also a large variety of sea shells found in a mining claim at 

 Knight's Ferry, elevated a considerable height above the ocean level. 

 Also, the remains of the mastodon, and several rhinoceros teeth ; one of 

 remarkable large size of the mastodon. Also, a large sea shell, dug up 

 in Gold Springs, Tuolumne County, several thousand feet above the sea 

 level. Also, many varieties of f)etrified wood, of the oak, pine, manza- 

 nita, sage brush, and aniianthus. Also, the section of a tree, being so light 

 that twenty feet of it could easil}- be carried in a man's hand, without 

 inconvenience, though a foot in diameter. This singular tree, in its pres- 

 ent shape, has been examined by many scientific men, and no one has been 

 able to divine the process which has produced its wonderful change. 

 Also, a large variet}^ of asbestos and mountain leather. Also, a large and 

 beautiful collection of crystallizations, of various elementary formations, 

 garnets in mica slate, feldspar, and indurated clay. Also, specimens of 

 jewels of ocean deposit, in basins formed by the action of water, found 

 in a locality about five hundred feet above the bed of the Stanislaus 

 Eiver. Also, specimens of crystallized talc, acinolite, opalitic fabrile, 

 silicious frost, a beautiful variety of agate, moss agate, and opalitic quartz. 

 Also, of serpentine, and crystals of serpentine ; together with about one 

 thousand five hundred pounds of fossils, minerals and curiosities. Also, 

 specimens of crystalline marble, pink color, mixed Avith veins of blue, 

 yellow, and green, from Matelot Gulch, Columbia. 



Dr. Snell, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, of Sonora, has also a 

 splendid cabinet of geological specimens, numbering eight to ten thou- 

 sand — sufficient of itself to form a cabinet for a college department of 

 agricultural science. 



All of which is respectfully submitted, with the hope that an appro- 

 priation will be made to pay expense of the labor in furnishing such 

 information as is herewith presented to the State Board. 



THOS. C. BIENEY. 



