220 



[April 4, 



persistency, and mosl valuable results. He sends me at least every month 

 a box of specimens, and in each lot I find some uovelties. 



"In the last lot just received T find what lias been searched for since 

 botanists began to study the coal plants, namely, one of those large nuts 

 generally found scattered, never attached to any support, but this time in 

 distinct connection to a branch of cordaites, and just to the species on 

 which it might be supposed to be found on account of the numerous 

 branches of male {lowers found upon other fragments. See Plate 



' ' I believe that this discovery is important enough to be worth a record 

 published in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 



"It would be advisable to have the specimen figured for a plate. Both 

 fragments would fill, in representation with some enlarged parts, an octavo 

 plate " 



The description accompanying the letter, is entitled " On 

 a branch of Cordaites bearing fruit. By Leo Lesquereux." 



On motion of Mr. Lesley the Secretaries were authorized to 

 order a plate illustration, 8° size, to be published with the 

 paper. 



Prof. Chase, pursuant to notice, read a communication on 

 some new estimates of solar and planetary mass and distance, 

 derived from Lockyer's " Basic lines," Peirce's meteoric hy- 

 pothesis, and the energy of light. 



Prof. Frazer, in illustrating the curious way in which 

 some arbitrary geographical lines, like that which separates 

 Maryland and Pennsylvania, prove on examination to be 

 real division lines between districts of different geological 

 character, described the different structural and mineralogi- 

 cal features of the copper veins near Liberty, in Maryland, 

 and those near Monterey, in Pennsylvania. He stated that 

 samples from the former gave only 4 or 5 percent, of copper, 

 and samples from the latter as much as 28 per cent. He 

 described minutely his own method of sampling these ores 

 for the purpose of obtaining reliable averages. 



To illustrate the deceptive aspect of some geological ex- 

 posures, he described the Chicques rock near Columbia, 

 which had been described as an anticlinal outcrop, whereas 

 it is monoelinal to the southward, againsl a fault ; and added, 

 that he recently proved the fact further by a careful study 

 of the south dips in the bluff on the opposite or western 



