198 



name of Mr. Thomas A. Dexter. The thanks of the 

 Society were voted for the donation. 



Specimens of Ranus Virginianus, young, and Mniotilta 

 discolor, with the nest and eggs, were presented in the 

 name of Mr. Jillson of Lynn. The thanks of the Society 

 were voted for the donation. 



A volume, Description de I'Egypte. Etat Moderne et 

 Histoire Naturelle. Planches 2d Livraison. Folio. Paris. 

 1812 ; was presented in the name of Mr. Edward R. Mayo. 

 The thanks of the Society were voted for the donation. 



Messrs. M. Wolsey Borland, J. Nelson Borland, and 

 John P. Reynolds were elected members of the Society. 



November 21, 1849. 



The President in the Chair. 



Present, thirty-eight members. 



Dr. Pickering exhibited to the Society some specimens 

 of Indian corn, taken from a field in which it had been very 

 thickly sown, as an experiment to ascertain its value as an 

 article of fodder. 



The specimens exhibited were in the form of a grass about 

 two feet high, and of about the thickness of a quill, and were 

 interesting as showing what was probably its natural state. 

 Some of the larger specimens would probably have produced 

 seed had they been allowed to grow. The experiment answered 

 fully the purpose for which it was made. Dr. Pickering 

 stated that, in the Fejee Islands he had seen the Sugar cane in a 

 similar condition. So unlike was it to the cultivated cane in 

 appearance, that his companion, an experienced botanist, was 

 not easily persuaded of its identity. Dr. C. T. Jackson said that 

 he had seen Indian corn grown in pure granular quartz, present- 

 ing the same appearances. 



