PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 8T 



He also had read a letter received from Mr. Charles G. Boer- 

 NER, of Vevay, Switzerland Co., Indiana, describing a remarkable 



SHOWER OP THE ROCKY-MOUNTAIN GRASSHOPPERS, 



Galoptenus spretus, and Caloptenus femur- rubrum, at that 

 place on the 13th of November last at 6|- P. M., continuing till 

 8 P. M. They came in immense numbers, filling the air and 

 covering the ground, in some places densely, adhering tenaciously 

 to clothing on which they lighted, but not lodging on trees or 

 shrubbery. 



He speaks of the day as having been one of unusual mildness 

 for this season of the year. The wind oscillated between the 

 southwest and west, with a velocity of two to three miles an 

 hour ; at 9 P. M. blowing in moderate gusts from the west. 



Mr. GriLL recognized a specimen presented as a Galoptenus 

 spretus. 



Mr. E. B. Elliott made a communication on 



MUTUAL relations OF GOLD AND SILVER, AND OF PRICES OF 

 COMMODITIES ; 



presenting the following table, condensed from the "London 

 Economist," givi% the wholesale prices in gold of leading com- 

 modities in London and Manchester at different epochs compared 

 with the average price in 1845 to 1850, just prior to the discovery 

 and full working of the gold mines of California and Australia. 



The commodities were : 



No. 1. Coffee. No. 17, 18. Flax & Hemp. No. 34. Copper. 



2-5. Sugar. 19-22. Sheep's Wool. 35, 36. Iron. 



^- '^^*- 24. Indigo. 37. Lead. 



7. Tobacco. 25-27. Oils. 39. Tin. 



9. Wheat. 28, 29. Timber. 42. Cotton Wool. 



10-13. Butchers' Meat. 30. Tallow. (Pernambuco only), 



f ; ^"^*°''- 31. Leather. 43. Cotton Yarn. 



^^- ^'^^' "*^' 44, 45. Cotton Cloth. 



