cxliii 



from the want of aeration of the blood; the nerves seem to be paralyzed; 

 absorption and excreti6n do not help much towards removing the poison; 

 and ammonia and all other reputed antidotes proved useless when the poi- 

 son was administered in sufficient quantity to produce death. No remedy 

 was known to them. 



Dr. Copes, alluding to the poison of snakes, remarked that he 

 had never known a case of death from snake-bite, or of a well 

 authenticated case, and desired to remove the fearful apprehen- 

 sions people entertain, and which frequently have much to do 

 with the results of snake poisoning. 



Judge Holmes recollected having read of a number of cases of 

 fatal snake poisoning, and cited the case of the death of a soldier 

 from the bite of a Tarantula in Texas. 



Mr. F.J. Stanton of Denver. Cob, was elected a Corresponding 

 Member. 



'Jane 15, 1874. 

 Albert Todd, Vice President, in the chair. 



Sixteen members present. 



The Corresponding Secretary read letters from Capt. Augey, 

 of the Signal Office, requesting a copy of the Transactions, which 

 was sent. Also, letters from the Royal Society of London, the 

 Zoological Society of London, and the Society of Geography and 

 Statistics of Frankfort-on-the-Main, acknowledging the receipt of 

 copies of the Transactions. 



Exchanges received, laid upon the table. 



Dr. Engelmann, from the Committee on Agassiz Memorial, 

 reported that he had not succeeded in raising any funds. 



Dr. Engelmann presented to the museum of the Society a spe- 

 cimen of Big Muddy coal, given him by Prof. Heiss. On the 

 face of it were characters which, he stated, a number of persons 

 declared to be chirographic characters bearing an analogy to the 

 Hebrew writing of Upper Egypt. 



He explained, however, that the coal belonged to a carboniferous forma- 

 tion of an age long before that of warm-blooded animals, and long before 

 that of man. The characters were not writing, but were the impressions 

 of the leaves of a hollow-stemmed plant, belonging to Sigillaria, which 

 flourished at that time. Coal thus marked is rarely found in Illinois, but 

 is quite common in Iowa and Pennsylvania. 



