^ 75 [Sceva. 



bones had united on one side and were separate on the other ; 

 while in the other specimens they were all separated. Such 

 examinations could be made in a few moments, while it would 

 occasion a considerable loss of time, besides the injury to the 

 bones by frequent handling, if they were placed promiscuously 

 in drawers. 



Mr. Samuel Hubbard, of San Francisco, was elected Cor- 

 responding Member. 



Dr. George T. Moffat and Mr. A. M. Shurtleff were elected 

 Resident Members. 



N'ovemher 16, 1864. 

 The President in the chair. 



Twenty-seven members present. 



The Secretary read a letter from Mr. Charles L. Swasey, 

 of New Bedford, communicating the intelhgence of the cap- 

 ture of a species of shark in the harbor of Marion. It meas- 

 ui-ed thuteen feet long, the body being six feet and the tail 

 more than seven feet long, and weighed four hundred pounds. 

 A figure accompanied the letter. The President stated that 

 it had been occasionally taken on our coast and was called 

 the Swingle-tail (Alopias vulpes). 



Dr. C. F. Winslow presented a number of fossil bones and 

 teeth, entire and in fragments, of various unknown animals 

 taken by him a few miles south of Riobamba during his late 

 exploration in the equatorial Andes, and in presenting them, 

 pointed out the locality on his maps, and read the following 

 extracts from his Journal. Dr. James Taylor of Riobamba 

 accompanied him, and Dr. Winslow thus describes the 

 journey: 



Riobamba, Tuesday, May 31, 1864. At seven o'clock we started 

 upon our excursion to the ravine of Tungshi, about eight miles dis- 

 tant to the southward, a spot nearly opposite Punin, where large 

 deposits of fossil bones have for some yeare past been known to exist. 

 We followed the road by which I came to the city until we arrived at 



