212 Miscellanies. 



mum effect, the appearance of which is very striking. When the prairie 

 is level, the hillocks are exactly hexagonal, and usually eight or ten feet 

 in diameter. The depressions between them are commonly twelve or 

 eighteen inches deep. If the surface is inclined, the hexagons become 

 elongated at right angles to the direction of the dip, when they frequently 

 resemble the waves of the ocean. From difference of surface, soil, and 

 exposure, there arises a great diversity in the size, depth, and general ap- 

 pearance of the hog-wallows. They never occur in a sandy soil, conse- 

 quently they are not seen on the sandy prairies near the sea coast. I do 

 not remember to have seen them among the mountains in the Camanche 

 country ; but else they frequently greet the eye of the traveller in most 

 every part of Texas. 



38. Obituary. — Death of Wm. Maclure. — At a meeting of the 

 Academy, held this evening, it was unanimously 



Resolved, That the Academy has learned with deep concern, the de- 

 cease, at San Angel, near the city of Mexico, of their venerable and re- 

 spected President and benefactor, William Maclure, Esq. 



Resolved, That although his declining health induced him to reside for 

 some years in a distant and more genial clime, this Academy cherishes 

 for Mr. Maclure the kindest personal recollections, and a grateful sense 

 of his contributions to the cause of science. 



Resolved, That as the pioneer of American Geology, the whole coun- 

 try owes to Mr. Maclure a debt of gratitude, and in his death will ac- 

 knowledge the loss of one of the most efficient friends of science and 

 the arts. 



Resolved, That as the patron of men of science, even more than for 

 his personal researches, Mr. Maclure deserves the lasting regard of man- 

 kind. 



Resolved, That a member of the Academy be appointed to prepare 

 and deliver a discourse commemorative of its lamented President. 



Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretary be requested to commu- 

 nicate to Mr. Maclure's family a copy of these resolutions. 



Samuel George Morton, Corresponding Sec'y. 



Hall of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, April 28, 1840. 



Agreeably to announcement, the Academy held an election for officers 

 on the 26th of May, when William Hembel, Esq., of Philadelphia, was 

 unanimously elected President of the Society, to fill the vacancy occa- 

 sioned by the death of William Maclure, Esq. 



On the same occasion, Samuel George Morton, M. D., was elected one 

 of the Vice Presidents of the Academy, and Robert Bridges, M. D., 

 Corresponding Secretary. 



