93 



N. J., and lately exhibited in this city. As similar observa- 

 tions are said to have been made in several instances, Prof. 

 Gray was induced to examine the substances brought to 

 him. 



The wood evidently consisted of branchlets of one, two and 

 three years old, broken, quite uniformly, into bits of half an inch 

 or so in length, with only, now and then, traces of the bark re- 

 maining on the wood. The wood was not at all fossilized, and 

 was but slightly decayed. From the appearance of the branch- 

 lets examined. Prof. Gray inferred that they belonged to some 

 coniferous tree or shrub, and, probably, to a kind of spruce or fir, 

 rather than to a true pine. This inference was borne out by the 

 examination of thin slices of the wood by the microscope. The 

 woody fibre was very beautifully and distinctly marked with the 

 circular discs that are characteristic of all coniferous wood. The 

 structure agreed quite perfectly with that in similar branchlets of 

 the common hemlock spruce. 



Dr. S. Cabot remarked upon the internal organization of a 

 male specimen of Fuligula spectabilis, lately procured by 

 him in Boston market. 



Dr. C. mentioned some external appearances, which have not 

 been described in the accounts heretofore given of this bird. 

 The color of the legs and toes is bright yellow (not orange.) 

 Two of the inner tertiaries are deeply scooped out, as it were, on 

 their extremities, and seem inclined to stand up, on their edges, 

 from a twist in their shafts, somewhat like those of the Mandarin 

 duck. 



The superior larynx is I- of an inch long, by f across. The 

 trachea is 7| inches in length, to the bifurcation of the bronchial 

 tubes. At the lower end of the trachea, is a rounded bony box, 

 J-f of an inch in its transverse diameter, and j\ in its perpendicular 

 diameter on the left or largest side. The left bronchus is 1^ 

 inches long, and considerably dilated in its central parts. The 

 right bronchus is 1| inches long, calibre equal throughout. The 

 whole length of the alimentary canal is 86 inches. Half way 

 between gizzard and anus, there was found a small appendix, | of 



