23 



from the decomposed chloride of iron ; he believes that in 

 this gold region the gold is brought up with the iron, 

 both in the state of chloride, from which the precious 

 metal and the specular iron are afterward separated by 

 decomposition. 



A memorial was presented by Mr. W. E. Baker, de- 

 scribing a plan for the accommodation of the principal 

 associations of science and art in the city, in a large 

 building, and asking its consideration by a committee of 

 the Society. The plan and the subject in general were 

 referred to a committee, consisting of the following gen- 

 tlemen, viz :— Dr. S. Cabot, Jr., Prof. W. B. Rogers, and 

 Messrs. Barnard, Bouve, and Whittemore. 



Dr. H. R. Storer, having resigned the Curatorship of 

 Crustacea, it was voted that he be requested to serve 

 until tlie Annual Meeting. 



Messrs. John Cummings and C. W. Tuttle were elect- 

 ed Resident Members. 



February 2, 1859. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson, Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Prof. Asassiz made a communication on some new 

 Actinoid Polyps of the coast of the United States. 



He remarked that Prof. J. D. Dana made the first step toward 

 a natural classification of polyps, when he divided the order oF 

 actinoids into the sub-orders actinaria and alcyonaria, the former 

 including those actinoids with many simple tentacles, the latter 

 those with eight compound tentacles. 



The first specimen described was a new species, with twelve 

 thick and blunt tentacles ; the number of tentacles is few com- 



