XL BULLETIN NO. 23, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



to Chama. The specimens of Discera were exceedingly beautiful and 

 some of tbem very large. Dr. Lea was shown the complete si)eciuien of 

 Murchisou's fossil fox. The collection of fossil Mollusca is very, large, 

 and arranged with great skill by Mr. Woodward. He asked Dr. Lea 

 about the Acostea, mentioning that he had read his paper with great 

 interest. 



Dr. Lea exj)lained the growth of the shells, and mentioned that while 

 in Paris he had found the original sijeciraen of 3Iulleria, described by 

 Baron Ferussac, in the cabinet of Delessert. It was described by 

 Ferussac in 1823, and lost sight of until Dr. Lea found it in the drawer, 

 as he suspected, mixed with the Utheria, which exteriorly it resembles. 

 Mr. Woodward then mentioned that Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, 

 had i)ublished his notice assimilating Acos^m with 31ulleri a after he had 

 received Dr. Lea's paper. Dr. Lea told him he never had any doubt of 

 it, but he was very glad to know the fact from him. Dr. Lea had sent 

 his paper to Dr. Gray in November, 1851, as well as to many others in 

 London, and Dr. Gray must have seen it a month or two before he pub- 

 lished his notice, in February or March. Mr. Woodward then said he 

 knew personally that Dr. Gray had Dr. Lea's paper before he i)ublished 

 his notice, and that "it was just like Dr. Gray, who was quite accus- 

 tomed to appropriate in this manner the work of others." 



On a visit to the rooms of the Geological Society Dr. Lea met T. Ru- 

 pert Jones, secretary of the society and author of many valuable papers 

 on Foraminifera, Estheria, &c. He showed Dr. Lea the manuscript of 

 a T)aper by Trimmer on the Wealden up to the Diluviau, which exhibited 

 a very curious case of denudation. The paper api)eared in the Quarterly 

 Journal of the Geological Society. 



They talked over the "foot-marks" of the Red Sandstone uearPotts- 

 ville, Pa., a plaster cast of which Dr. Lea had sent to the Geological 

 Society. Mr. Jones showed him a fine collection of fossil Unionidce 

 made by Mr Beccles from the Wealden. Many of the specimens were 

 very large and much like those Dr. Lea had examined carefully and 

 made notes of for Dr. Mantell. They were generally casts. He sub- 

 sequently went, by appointment, with Professor Owen, to the College 

 of Surgeons. 



They discussed many of the fine specimens of fossil remains of an- 

 imals, and the GJyptodon was particularly interesting from its enormous 

 size, and for its thick, bony covering being nearly perfect. The speci- 

 mens of Mylodon and Megathenum were very fine, and the great Dinor- 

 nis nearly perfect. The cranium of the Troglodites gorilla was exam- 

 ined ancj commented upon, a perfect specimen having been seen by 

 them at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Professor Owen showed 

 Dr. Lea the skeleton of a man who had the shaft of a vehicle run 

 through the ribs on both sides, and yet the man lived for twelve 

 years afterwards. The professor expressed a great desire to visit the 

 United States, and said he would deliver a course of a dozen lectures 



