213 



March 17, 1847. 

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



Dr. Cabot exhibited a Sternum and Trachaea of Cygnus 

 Americanus, showing the curvatures and reduplication of 

 the latter organ within the Sternum, probably having some 

 connection with the voice. 



Dr. Cabot remarked that he had noticed, in dissections of 

 Waders and Swimming Birds, the remnant of the vitelline 

 duct. He suggested whether this fact might not be made 

 use of as a distinctive character in classification. 



Mr. Stodder reported upon some pamphlets of Mr. J. D. 

 Dana, on the formation of Continents, and on Lunar Volca- 

 noes. He thought the inferences drawn by the author from 

 the appearances of the Moon's volcanoes, and applied to the 

 phenomena of the structure of the Earth, w^ere ingenious, 

 and his hypotheses hard to be refuted ; yet equally difficult 

 to be proved. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson gave an account of the Tertiary of 

 Maine, stretching along its coast from Lubec to Portland. 

 It is rich in remains of Pecten Islandicus, Buccinum iin- 

 datum, Mytilus edulis, and other shells, of which specimens 

 were exhibited. 



Dr. Wyman spoke of a mass of Lignite, from the Tertia- 

 ry of Richmond, Va., which, as first found, was soft and 

 friable, so that a blunt stick might be thrust into its sub- 

 stance. But after a few hours exposure to the atmosphere, 

 it hardened and exhibited a conchoidal fracture resembling 

 that of coal. It was embedded in a blue clay, mixed with 

 sand. 



Dr. Storer read a letter from F. B. E. Browne, M. D., of 

 Apalachicola, Fa., accompanying two specimens of Amphi- 

 uma means, and giving some account of its habits and ap- 



