72 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [nOV. 30, 



fungi seems to secrete an ticid fluid, able to induce the decompo- 

 sition of tlie wood; or, in other words, acts as a ferment to sound 

 tissue. In all cases so far examined, the decay of the wood is 

 rapid or slow according to the amount of mycelium produced. 

 He also exhibited the growth of a fungus upon a pine plank. 



Dr. N. L. Britton remarked on the occurrence of a schistose 

 series of crystalline rocks in the Adirondacks. It is well exposed 

 in a hill half a mile north of Harriettstown, and near the north- 

 ern end of the Lower Saranac Lake. I'he rocks consist of schis- 

 tose gneiss, with mica and hornblende schists, containing abun- 

 dant segregated masses of milk-white quartz. The strata have a 

 general east and west strike, and dip 45° to the north. No 

 norite was seen in the immediate vicinity, but it is exposed near 

 Miller's Hotel on the lake, about one mile from the outcrops 

 above described; its relation to these was not made out. 



Dr. Julien said that the borders of the Adirondack region 

 consist very largely of thinly-bedded gneisses, especially the 

 border to the eastward; but the occurrence of such rocks in the 

 midst of the massive rocks was a new fact. 



The President exhibited a photograph of reptilian foot- 

 prints from the New Jersey Trias. They were found at Mil- 

 ford, Hunterdon Co. 



Mr. Kunz exhibited five rubies from Franklin, Macon Co., 

 North Carolina. Their aggregate weight is four carats, and the 

 individual weight is one-fourth of a carat to one and one-fourth 

 carats. In color they vary from pink to a reddish-wine tint. 

 They are all flawed, and of little commercial value. But they 

 are an improvement on all previous finds in this locality, with 

 the exception of those from the Jencks mine, the finest of which 

 are in the possession of Dr. Joseph Leidy. 



He also showed an Indian scraper of compact fibrolite, the 

 scraping end polished by use, from Minas Gcraes, Brazil. Also 

 an implement, found in an old canal in the City of Mexico, of 

 chalcedony beautifully mottled with chlorite, giving it a rich 

 green color. It measures two inches long, one and one-fourth 

 inches in width, and one-half inch in thickness. A perforation 

 at one end indicates that it was intended to be joined with others 



