cclvii 



pole. No one seems to have any knowledge as to where or how 

 this custom originated, but it has been handed down from genera- 

 tion to generation. 



Speaking of the immense gold resources of the Abyssinian 

 country, he stated that there were old pits that had evidently been 

 dug hundreds of years ago, and that mam- persons believed that 

 this was the land of the Queen of Sheba. He also stated that fire- 

 arms are not effective in the hands of the natives ; for the Kafirs 

 have a notion that a rifle shoots the hardest when the sight is 

 raised highest, and consequently if the enemy is at close quarters 

 the shooting is not effective, the balls invariably passing over the 

 heads of the persons shot at. 



Mr. Nipher exhibited a radiometer, and in answer to questions 

 gave some of the results of the latest investigations upon the theory 

 of its action. 



Dr. G. J. Engelmann exhibited a sandstone statuette of crude 

 workmanship, which had been handed him by Mr. Lee, of Kirk- 

 wood, a Corresponding Member. It was donated by Gen. A. G. 

 Wilson, of Tennessee, and was turned up by a plow on his farm 

 about ten miles from Nashville. Dr. Engelmann said that he 

 knew of only two other such specimens — one owned by Dr. 

 Patrick, of Belleville, and the other by a gentleman at Anna, Illi- 

 nois. This specimen, like the others, exhibited none of the Indian 

 characteristics, but the features, outline of face, and position, all 

 corresponded with the figures on the pottery made by the Mound- 

 builders. 



Mr. Hilder exhibited a miniature copy of the London Times, 

 brought to Paris by a carrier pigeon during the siege. 



Dr. G. Engelmann made a few remarks in regard to the vernal 

 development of vegetation. He stated that there were marked 

 individual differences in this regard. Several soft maples, near 

 Shaw's Garden, were already far advanced and began to bloom 

 two weeks ago, while others near them are quite backward. He 

 also stated that the extremes of development from year to year 

 were about a month apart. In the years 1842 and 1S43, the times 

 of average development were nearly at the observed limits, spring 

 vegetation being over a month later in 1843 than in 1S42. 



Dr. G. Seyffarth, of Yorkville, N. Y., and L. de Koninck, of 

 Liege, Belgium, were elected Corresponding Members. 



