41 tWyman. 



by a beaver on the borders of Lake Superior, together with 

 a stuffed skin and skull of the same animal ; also a piece of 

 willow cut for its winter's food. 



The President remarked that he had found willow bark 

 and wood in the stomach of a beaver from Massachusetts. 



Dr. Jackson also made some remarks upon the habits of 

 the same animal. 



Mr. Putnam presented a species of fish from "Williams- 

 town, new to the fauna of Massachusetts, Semotilus corpora' 

 lis Abbot. 



The President read a paper on the 



Development of Moulds d? the interior of Eggs. 



Exp. 1. An egg was placed in a shallow dish near a stove, where 

 it was exposed to a warm temperature, and at times on the stove pipe, 

 where it was heated above the temperature of boiling water. At the 

 beginning of the experiment, Dec. loth, 1863, the egg weighed 64.050 

 grammes, and at the end, April 8th, 1864, it weighed 43.600 grammes, 

 having lost by evaporation 20.450 grammes. 



It was then placed in a close glass jar at the ordinary temperature 

 of the room, and remained until April 26th, when the egg was opened 

 and found to contain an abundance of mould in aU stages, from that 

 of spore to that of fructification. In addition to the moulds were 

 large numbers of monads exhibiting very active movements of trans- 

 lation. 



Exp. 2. A second egg^ exposed under the same circumstances as 

 the preceding, weighed at the beginning of the experiment, Jan. 6th, 

 1864, 59.170 grammes, and at the end, April 8th, 39.520 grammes, 

 having lost 19.650 grammes. This was also placed in a closed jar un- 

 til April 26th, when the o^gg was opened and found to contain a thick 

 layer of mould growing from the surface of the albumen. 



In both cases a large air space was formed at the large end of the 

 egg, and both the shell and shell membrane were entire. 



These experiments tend to show the incorrectness of the statements 

 made by Quatrefages and others, in the recent discussions in the 

 Academy of Sciences in Paris, in which it is asserted that neither 

 mould nor animalcules are found in the interior of eggs, all spores and 

 ova being excluded by the shell and its membranes. 



The following gentlemen were elected Resident Mem- 

 bers : — Drs. Henry Bartlett, AY. O. Johnson, Messrs. Wil- 

 liam M. Courtis, Thomas Waterman, Jr., Robert Amory, 

 EUsha Atkins, Willard S. Brewer, Albert L. Murdoch, J. 



