56 



intelligent direction of Col. Worth, corresponds to the coky coal 

 above described, the lower layer retaining much of its original 

 bitumen. In all these workings, the gradation of metamorphic 

 influence is beautifully marked within a distance of less than 

 fifty feet of strata, from the greatly altered shale or fire-clay, 

 immediately beneath the Trap, through the successive slates and 

 coke seams, to the unchanged bituminous coal at the bottom of 

 the section. 



Dr. Brewer exhibited the eggs presented by Dr. Bryant, 

 at the last meeting. The egg of the Chuck-wills widow 

 {Caprimulgus Carolinensis) is of considerable value, being 

 quite difficult to procure. 



June 1th, 1854. 

 The President in the Chair. 



Letters were received and read from Prof. H. D. Rogers 

 and Prof. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, relative to 

 a collection of specimens for the Society, to be furnished 

 by the Smithsonian Institution, and asking that a sum of 

 money be placed at the disposal of the Institution, for the 

 payment of their preservation and transportation. 



On motion of Mr. Barnard, these letters were referred to 

 a committee of three, viz. Prof. H. D. Rogers, the Trea- 

 surer, and Mr. Barnard, with instructions to report at the 

 next meeting. 



Dr. Durkee exhibited a piece of cloth, a part of the envelope . 

 of the Peruvian Mummy ^ the skull of which was presented to 

 the Society at the last meeting. According to Quekett, in his 

 lectures on histology, published as late as 1852, the enveloping 

 cloths of Peruvian Mummies have been found to be composed of 

 cotton only. In this specimen, no cotton fibres could be detected, 

 and the texture was found to be of hair or wool, possibly that of 

 the lama. 



