418 



Dr. Kneeland read a paper on the North American fur- 

 bearing animals of the genus Mustela, exhibiting in illus- 

 tration a skeleton and skins obtained by him at Lake 

 Superior in the winter of 1856-7, and presenting and 

 describing a skeleton of the fisher, Mustela Canadensis, 

 Schreber. 



These animals, called martens, to distinguish them from the 

 mink and weasels (of the genus Putorius), are two, the fisher or 

 Pennant's marten, and the pine marten, or American sable — the 

 mink is often erroneously called American sable by hunters and 

 furriers. The length of the skeleton to end of tail was 33 inches, 

 tail 13 inches, skull 4 inches, lower jaw 2^ inches — the dorsals 

 are 14, lumbar 6, sacral 3, and caudal vertebra3 20 ; ribs 14 

 pairs, of which 10 appear to be true. The pine marten {Mustela 

 Americana, Turton) is much more rare, and more valuable for 

 its fur. 



A specimen of the rare plant, Sullivantia Ohionis, 

 Torr. & Gray, was presented in the name of Mr. I. A. 

 Lapham, of Milwaukee, found by him on wet sandstone 

 cliffs at the dells of the Wisconsin river, where the La 

 Crosse and Milwaukee railroad crosses. As far as he 

 knew, this species had only been found previously on 

 calcareous cliffs in Ohio by its discoverer, Mr. William 

 S. Sullivant. 



Mr. Theodore Lyman exhibited specimens and en- 

 larged drawings of the animal of Syndepas Gouldii, 

 showing that this coral is different from the Caryophijllia 

 solitaria, Lesueur. 



Dr, Borland exhibited two specimens of aggregated 

 crystals of ferruginous quartz, from Valentia, Spain. 



Prof. Agassiz remarked tliat of the European species of Salmo, 

 the S. salar, Linn., is found on both sides of the Atlantic ; while 

 the S. eryox, Linn., called S. hamatus by Cuvier, remarkable for 

 the hook in the lower jaw of the male, and differing from the 



