148 



gentlemen in the paper referred to, they had discovered fossils in 

 the masses of slate included in the primary rocks of the White 

 Mountain range, but for want of time was obliged to defer it to 

 some future occasion. He would merely remark, at present, that 

 he could not agree with the Messrs. Rogers in the latitude they 

 gave to the metamorphic theory, and thought he could satisfy any 

 geologist that the AVhite Mountains were not formed of melted 

 sandstones and slates, for he could point out localities there where 

 numerous fragments of slate are included in the granite, and are 

 not altered by heat beyond mere induration. He was so im- 

 pressed with this fact that he had in his Report endeavored to 

 account for it, by the imperfect conduction of heat in the fused 

 granitic rocks. 



The Messrs. Rogers seem to have overlooked the statement, in 

 his Final Report on the Mineralogy and Geology of New Hamp- 

 shire, that numerous masses of the older Silurian strata occur 

 intercalated in the primary rocks. If they have discovered fos- 

 sils in them, the fact would go to confirm his original views on 

 that subject, and it would tfe quite interesting to observe fossils, 

 which, like the fabled salamanders had gone through so fiery an 

 ordeal. Nevertheless, to use an expression of M. De Blainville, 

 il faut que le fait soit Hen constate. 



Dr. Gould continued his descriptions of new Shells, col- 

 lected by the United States Exploring Expedition, and be- 

 long to the genus Patella. 



Patella talcosa. Testa magna, solida, ponderosa, ovato- 

 rotundata, depressa, costulis radiantibus numerosis sub-equalibus 

 rotundatis flexuosis instructa, vertice sub-centrali, colore satu- 

 rate cinnamomea ; facies interna talcoso-argentata, purpureo 

 tincta ; callo centrali crasso, albo, spatuliformi, ad marginem 

 radiate ; impressione musculari lato, profundo : margo crenulatus. 

 Long. 4, lat. 3i, alt. 1^ poll. Hah. Hawaii, Sandwich Islands. 



The colors of the interior, in small specimens, are very rich, 

 and the shell is of a rounded shield-like form, like P. testudinaria, 

 attaining sometimes a very large size, larger than any other spe- 

 cies except P. pyramidata. 



Patella sagittata. Testa tenuis, translucida, ovato-rotundata, 



