7 



Omitted in Proceedings of Sept. 4. — Col. 

 Nevins presented to the Academy a receipt 

 in full for the rent of his office and furniture, 

 which have been used by the Academy from 

 the 18th of April, 1853, to the last day of 

 July, 1854, for its weekly meetings and for 

 storing its Library and Specimens and for the 

 stationery used for its minutes and other pur- 

 poses, being a donation to the Academy 

 worth at least three hundred dollars. Where- 

 upon it was, on motion, 



Resolved, That the thanks of the Academy 

 be tendered to Mr. Nevins, for his liberal 

 donation, above specified. 



California Academy of Natural Sciences, \ 

 San Francisco, September 18th, 1854 ) 



Col. L. Ransom in the Chair. 



Selim Woodworth. Esq., presented as do- 

 nations to the Cabinet, specimens of ferrugin- 

 ous earth, resembling what is commercially 

 termed " Hartford Clay," and used by the 

 frame gilders here for the same purpose. — 

 Also a bottle of the earth ground in oil for 

 painting purposes.for which it seems extreme- 

 ly well adapted. It dries quickly with a good 

 gloss, and in a short time becomes hard like 

 enamel. It is found in Mulate Island or Red. 

 Rock in San Francisco Bay, in large quanti- 

 ties, and can be delivered in the city at a 

 very low price. 



The crude earth was referred to Dr. W. P. 

 Gibbons for examination and analysis, and 

 the preparation in oil to Mr. H. G. Bloomer. 



Mr. Walter Van Erven Dorens presented 

 the skull of an Indian from the interior of the 

 State, exhibiting the common form of such 

 skulls as altered by compression. 



Major J. R. Snyder gave specimens of Lig- 

 nite from Red Bluff, on the Sacramento river. 



Col. Ransom furnished specimens of asbes- 

 tos in serpentine from Fort Point. 



Mr. Loomis presented specimens of crys- 

 talline lime-stone ifom Point Quentin on San 

 Francisco Bay. 



Mr. De Groodt gave a scorpion from the re- 

 gion of the southern mines. 



Dr. Wm. O. Ayres presented the following 

 communication : 



At the last meeting of the Academy it was 

 stated thet we have in our market five spe- 

 cies of the genus Sebastes ; two of them were 

 c escribed, nebulosus and paucispinis ; two oth- 

 ers were mentioned, ruber and parvus, as very 

 closely resembling nebulosus. Subsequent 

 examination has induced me to doubt the ne- 

 cessity of separating parvus, from ruber and 

 rather than introduce a name which would 

 presently become only a synonym, I will in- 

 dicate the type as a mere variety of ruber. 



Sebastes ruber. — Ayres. This species is 

 very closely allied to S. nebulosus (Proc. Cal. 

 Acad. Nat. Sci page 5.) It may be thus dis- 

 tinguished, — ruber has the crests of the orbits 

 scarcely elevated above the surface of the 

 head ; in nebulosus they are very prominent, 

 forming quite a deep furrow between them — 

 ruber has a pair of small, flat spines on the 

 top of the head not found in nebulosus ; they 

 are before and a little within the last pair 

 mentioned (loc. cit.) — ruber has all the spines 

 less strongly developed than nebulosus — in 

 ruber the thickness and bulk of the head, as 

 compared with the entire fish, are decidedly 

 less than in nebulosus — ruber has the anterior 

 inferior border of the operculum serrated ; in 

 nebulosus it is plain — ruber is of a bright red 

 color, nearly uniform, except that it grows 

 lighter beneath ; nebulosus is clouded as de- 

 scribed — ruber grows to a greater size, often 

 weighing ten to twelve pounds; nebulosus 

 seldom exceeds four pounds. 



Sebastes ruber, var. parvus. — Ayres. This 

 is distinguished from the typical form, by hav- 

 ing the head more depressed, with the top 

 more flattened, the spines of the head more 

 slender, the lower jaw longer, the body more 

 compressed, the color dark brown, and by its 

 small size — being seldom found to exceed 

 half a pound in weight. I had examined 

 multitudes of specimens, and found no evi- 

 dence of any blending of the two forms, but 

 one or two at length presented a partial union 

 of the characters to such a degree that we 

 will not separate them as yet. 



Sebastes variabilis, Cur. Under this name 

 I place a species of Rock Fish, which is not 

 uncommon in the markets, of a plain blackish 

 brown color, lighter beneath, with no spines 

 on the top of the head, except occasionally a 

 slight indication of a nasal spine, with the 

 edge of the suborbitals nearly smooth, and 

 having a weight of one to two pounds. Cuv- 

 ier's specimens were derived from the Aleu- 

 tian Islands, and the only transcript of his 

 description in my possession is so brief, as to 

 render it a little uncertain whether our fish is 

 identical with his; it may yet prove distinct. 

 The lin-ray formula agrees closely. 



