107 



great width of the deposits had caused many intelhgent 

 miners to question whether they would hold out ; but now 

 they have sunk several hundred feet, and the mineral is still 

 found. This specimen was taken from a vein twenty feet 

 in width. 



Dr. Brewer presented a specimen of Bituminous Shale 

 (called coal) from the city of Lawrence, Kanzas. Upon 

 analysis by Mr. F. B. Storer, it was found to contain 65 per 

 cent, of carbon, 30 per cent, of inorganic matter, and the 

 remainder water, &c. Though not particularly valuable, it 

 burns, and deserves the name of coal. 



Dr. Brewer also reported upon a Fossil Egg, from the 

 Chincha Islands, referred to him for examination. He sup- 

 posed it to be the egg of a Penguin, though it cannot be 

 determined with certainty. It was petrified by long exposure 

 to guano. 



December 6, 1854. 



The President in the Chair. 



The Secretary read a letter from Sir John Richardson to 

 the President, correcting a statement which he had made, 

 with regard to the presence of a head of an American Fossil 

 Elephant in the British Museum. He stated that he could 

 find no large or complete cranium of a Mammoth of Ameri- 

 can origin, but that there is a very considerable fragment of 

 the alveolar process of the upper jaw, containing a very 

 large tooth, little worn. A mandibular molar and two other 

 smaller molar teeth accompany it. They purport to come 

 from San Felipe, Texas, and to have been described in the 



