13 



On motion of Mr. Nevins — 



Resolved, That the Curators examine and 

 report at their earliest convenience whether 

 there are in the Cabinet any surplus speci- 

 mens which can be spared as donations to a 

 Cabinet for the Public School at "North 

 Beach" in this city. 



San f rancisco. Oct. 23, 1854. 



Dr. H. Gibbons in the chair. 



Dr. William Jelly was elected a resident 

 member. 



Rev. J. S. Diehl presented specimens of 

 volcanic glass from Grass Valley, crystallized 

 quartz from Murphy's, a stalactite from Sierra 

 County, and pyrites from El Dorado county. 



Dr. H. Gibbons exhibited a series of spec- 

 imens obtained in sinking a shaft in search 

 of coal near Saucelito. Coal is found in 

 small quantities on the surface near the 

 Bay, and the exploration was made to the 

 depth of 150 feet, without success, also 

 several insects from Texas and a Gryllot- 

 alpa, or mole cricket from California. 



Dr. A Kellogg, for Julius Froebel, Col. VV. 

 W. Warren and Dr. J. B. Trask, presented 

 numerous varieties of California flower seeds. 



Dr. H. Behr presented a specimen of 

 a parasitic shrub, Cuscuta to which he applies 

 the provisional name of Ceanothi. 



Dr. Wm. 0. Ayres, presented the following 

 communication, illustrating it with specimens 

 of the fishes described: 



Bro&mius marginatus, Ayres. — Length four- 

 teen inches and three fourths: greatest depth 

 three inches and one fouth. Form elongated, 

 nearly cylindrical at the head, body com- 

 pressed, compression increasing toward the 

 tail; length of the head equal to the depth of 

 the body. Head rounded in front; muzzle 

 blunt: upper jaw received under a loose fleshy 

 fold of the skin; lower jaw the shorter, over- 

 lapped by the nearly semicircular curve of 

 the intermaxillaries which form the entire 

 border of the upper jaw. 



The entire fish is covered wilh a very thick 

 viscid mucous secretion, which is much 

 tinged with red pigment, and stains the hands 

 when the lish is handled. 



Scales very small, scarcely discernible un- 

 til the skin is dry. covering the body, but not 

 the head, or cheeks. Lateral line by no means 

 jpicuous, nearly straight. 



The skin, about the head particularly, is 

 thick and loose, causing the lips to appear 



fleshy, and almost concealing the opercular 

 pieces. The border of the preoperculmn is 

 smooth: the operculum ends in a sharp, deci- 

 ded spine, which however is concealed by 

 the integuments. 



Teeth fine, somewhat uneven, crowded, 

 forming a narrow band in the lower jaw, on 

 the intermaxillaries, the vomer, and the an- 

 terior part of the' palatines. Gape of ,the 

 mouth easily extending an inch and a half. 



Eyes three fourths of an inch from the 

 snout, four tenths of an inch in diameter, dis- 

 tance between them seven tenths of an inch; 

 the thick investing membrane causes them 

 to have the peculiar aspect of the eyes of 

 Eels. 



Nostrils with the anterior orifice slightly tu- 

 bular, terminal; the posterior orifice one 

 fourth of an inch distant. 



A singular, conical, anal papilla, about 

 three fourths of an inch in height, half an 

 inch in diameter at base; with the apex ob- 

 liquely truncated, semicartilaginous, and lon- 

 gitudinally divided, corresponding to a sep- 

 tum, on each side of which a seminal duct 

 passes, the specimen being a male. The an- 

 al orifice is on the anterior base of this tu- 

 bercle. 



Some of the openings of the mucus or wa- 

 ter ducts, on the head, are uncommonly large, 

 one in particular on the border of the preo- 

 perculum being a tenth of an inch in diame- 

 ter. 



A single elongated dorsal fin occupies near- 

 ly 7 the entire length of the back. It arises 

 over about the middle of the pectorals, and 

 extends to the base of the caudal, from which 

 latter it is distinctly separated, though the 

 interval is small. It is enveloped in a mem- 

 brane so thick that an enumeration of the 

 rays is almost impossible; this is true of all 

 the fins. In consequence of the very gradu- 

 al manner in which the fin arises from the 

 body, its height cannot be accurately given; 

 it is about three fourths of an inch. All the 

 rays are soft, articulated, bra ched. 



The anal arising three inches posterior to 

 the dorsal, and coterminal with it, is similar 

 to that fin in structure, form, and height. 



The pectorals are rounded, an inch in length, 

 two inches and one fourth in height: the car- 

 pal bones, however, are flattened, forming a 

 sort of a pedicel on which the fin is suppor- 

 ted so that the height of the rays is only an 

 inch and three fourths. 



The ventrdls are anterior to the pectorals. 

 Each consists of a single filamentous ray, an 

 inch and nine tenths in length; the pelvic 

 bones are suspended to lliose of the; shoulder. 



The caudal is small, rounded, an inch in 

 height, 



