175 



January 7, 1852. 



The President in the Chair. 



Dr. Kneeland read a communication on the subject of 

 the Rhinoceros horn recently presented to the Society. 

 The following is an extract. 



" If we examine the structure of the horn of the Rhinoceros, we 

 find that it is essentially made up of a collection of hairs, — that 

 is, of a mass of long corneous cylinders, nearly parallel to each 

 other ; if, then, we defme a hair as a corneous cylinder of vari- 

 able length, we may regard nails, claws, hoofs, corneous horns, 

 quills, &;c. as merely confluent hairs. This horn at its base is 

 evidently fibrous, being rough like the stump of an old brush ; it 

 belongs entirely to the skin, being in no way connected with the 

 bones of the skull ; so that, (as Burchell says in his Travels,) it 

 is not improbable that the animal may have the power of moving 

 it to a certain extent. 



The length of this horn, measuring its convexity, is 37^ inches ; 

 its circumference at the base is 21J inches ; its weight 18|- 

 pounds." 



Prof. Rogers presented in the name of Dr. Leo Lesque- 

 reux, some observations on the coal measures of Ohio. 



On the Coal Bed of Zanesville. The only bed of coal which 

 is mined at Zanesville, lies between two layers of unconsolidated 

 clay, or soft Shale, in which the only fossil plants visible are 

 some traces of half petrified stems, so brittle that it is not possi- 

 ble to preserve them for examination. The softness of these 

 beds of clay is somewhat remarkable. In appearance they much 

 resemble each other, that beneath the coal being, however, ordi- 

 narily thicker and more continuous than the other. The over- 

 lying or roof-bed is often replaced by a thick layer containing 

 nodules of clay iron ore, resting immediately on the coal. At 

 the very base of the ore-bearing bed, and in contact with the 

 coal, occur many specimens of Productus, a marine shell, 

 mingled with good specimens of half-carbonized Stigmaria. In 

 this locality the Stigmaria appear always in the roof. 



