36 



Mr. Richards mentioned certain experiments made by 

 him on heated tar. He had plunged his hand into tar at 

 the temperature of 194° Fahrenheit, and had held it in that 

 situation, for several seconds, without a painful sensation of 

 heat. He stated, on the authority of others, that the same 

 result had followed when the tar was heated to 212°. He 

 asked an explanation of the fact. Dr. C. T. Jackson sug- 

 gested that the low conducting power of the tar might be 

 the cause, and proposed that a series of observations should 

 be made to ascertain the relative power of tar, as compared 

 with water, for conducting caloric. 



John B. Walker, M. D., Mr. William A. Parker, and Mr. 

 Franklin Darracott, were elected members. 



DONATIONS TO THE CABINET. 



Muscicapa coronata, from Yucatan, male and female. By 

 Dr. Cabot. 



Skeleton of a box tortoise. 



Palate and pharyngeal bones of a parrot-fish. 



A bird called by the natives Devil-Bird, from its note which is 

 thought by them to be of ill omen. All from the Cape de Verd 

 Islands. By Dr. C. J. Bates. 



ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY. 



Conrad, T. A. Fossils of the Miocene Formation of the 

 United States. 8vo. pamph. From the Author. 



Gray, G. R., Genera of Birds, No. 10. 4to. London, 1845. 

 Audubon Fund. 



Gould, John. Monograph of the Odontophorina), or Partridges 

 of the United States, No. 1. Folio. London, 1845. Audubon 

 Fund. 



