910 Transactions of the American Institute. 



wliicli is revealed to earthly eyes during the solemn darkness of an 

 eclipse, in the curving, petal-like flames of the far-reaching corona ; 

 which softly shines in the opaline lustre of tlie zodiacal light ; which 

 sweeps the heavens in the gauzy tissue of comets' tails ; or which 

 flashes in responsive light in auroral displays around the revolving 

 planets. 



The London Spectator in noticing the recent revelation of the 

 spectroscope, that the spectric of the aurora borealis and of the 

 zodiacal light are identical, says : " When once we recognize J;he 

 fact that electrical action is efi'ecdve in producing any of the celes- 

 tial lights, we have a resource available to remove many difficulties." 

 Then, noticing the difficulty astronomers had met in accounting for 

 the combustion of carbon, requiring the most intense heat, in com- 

 ets' tails, as in tliat of Wiennecke, it continues : " It is most proba- 

 ble that the flrst long-tailed comet which is submitted to spectroscopic 

 analysis will establish the view which Euler set fortli, more than 

 half a century ago, that comets' tails have something in common 

 with the aurora and zodiacal light. It would, indeed, be strange if 

 three of the most mysterious plienomena with which men of science 

 are acquainted should find. their explanation simultaneously-." 



Adjourned. 



December 23, 1869, 



Professor S. D. Tillman in the chair ; C. E. Emery, Esq., Secretary. 



The meeting was opened by the presentation of tlie following notes 

 from the Chairman : 



The Cuttle-Fisk. 



Mr. L. L. Hartt, in his " Chapter on Cuttle-Fishes " in The Ameri- 

 can Naturalist, describes his encounter with one of these octopods 

 on the coast of Brazil, which wound its long arms, covered with 

 numerous suckers, around his hands in such a way as to hold liim 

 prisoner for a short time. On relinquishing its hold it dropped on 

 the sand, and, using its long slimy arms as logs, made its way toward 

 tlie water, looking like a huge and very tipsy spider. The cuttle-fish 

 belongs to the mollusks, a branch of the animal kingdom distinguished 

 for its members being built upon the plan of a sac, and to which 

 Mr. Hyatt has applied the more appropriate name of Saccata. It is 

 distinguished from all other mollnsks, such as snails, clams, &c., by 



