252 EXTEACTS FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE. 



city of Mexico, and within from thirty to fifty yards of the main road, is, what 

 is supposed to be, an aerolite." Governor Connolly saw it nearly every year 

 for twenty years, the last time in 1846, and he describes it as follows: 



« It is a large mass of solid iron, standing like a post in the earth, from winch 

 it projects vertically about four feet. Its diameter at the surface of the earth 

 is from two to three feet. It diminishes in size a little from the earth to its 

 apex, which is irregularly rounded. How far it is imbedded in the earth had 

 never been ascertained. Some small pieces, or chips, had been detached by 

 cold chisels and carried off as curiosities; but ihese pieces were insignificant 

 in point of size, and their removal has not disfigured the general mass as a 

 specimen." The governor says he thinks the portion above ground would 

 weigh a ton or more. . . T . . 



[It would appear from this and other information received at the Institution, 

 that an immense fall of meteorites must have taken place, in a recent geological 

 period, in New Mexico.] 



From T. A. Conrad. 



Philadelphia, February 16, 1866. 

 « Chalk has at last been found in this country— genuine chalk, with flint* 

 and abundance of fossils. . 



« Smoky Hill, Colorado, is an outlying mass of chalk, probably the only le- 

 mainder of a vast mass which denudation has removed. If any expeditions 

 should be going that route, it is well the scientific members of it should know 

 this." 



University of the State of New York, 



Albany, January 12, 1866. 



At a meeting of the regents of the University, held this day, the following 

 resolutions were unanimously adopted : , 



Resolved, That the regents of the University of the State of Mew York 

 gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the following valuable additions to the 

 collections of the State cabinet of natural history, presented by the Smithsonian 

 Institution, viz : . . 



A series of specimens of rocks, minerals, and building stones, and a collection 

 of nearly five thousand shells belonging to almost twelve hundred species, 

 properly labelled and distinguished. 



Resolved, That the secretary transmit to the Smithsonian Institution a copy 

 of the foregoing resolution. 



I hereby certify that the preceding is a true copy from the minutes ot the 

 regents of the University. 



6 S. B. WOOLWORTH, Secretary. 



[The following letter was referred to the Institution by Hon. I. Donnelly, 

 of the House of Representatives : 



From S. Y. McMasters. 



St. Paul, Minnesota, 



January 23, 1866. 



My Dear Sir : I have recently received a communication from the Rev. 

 Charles Reynolds, missionary in New Mexico, in which is the following :. 



