August 21, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



241 



eccentric, time and place considered, they 

 kept " the noiselegs tenor of their way," led 

 by tfif; mi'ini that inspired and possessed them, 

 and builded better than they knew, doubtless, 

 not better than at times they hoped. Aa Dr. 

 Kellogg was the first resident Califomian to 

 describe the botanical forms of the state, so 

 Dr. Trask was the first to describe the recent 

 and fossil shells, as rnay be seen by reference 

 to the first volume of the Academy's Pro- 

 ceedings, in 1855-6, which includes the fol- 

 lowing: Anodonta Iiandalli = A. angulata 

 Lea, Anodonta' triangularis-^^ A. Nuttalliana 

 Lea, Anodonta rotundovata = A. Wahlame- 

 tensia Lea, from the Sacramento River and 

 lagoons, and Alasmodon Yulaensis:= Mar- 

 garitana margaritifera Linnstus, var. falcata 

 Gould, from the Yuba River. 



In the sarrie volume certain fossil mollusks 

 are described as follows: Ammonites Batesii 

 from Arbuckles Diggings, Shasta County; 

 Chernnitzia papillosa, Tornatella elliptica, 

 Murex frayilis and Fiuius Barharensis, all 

 from Santa Barbara; Fusus rohustus and F. 

 rugosus from San Pedro, Amraonites Chi- 

 coensis and Baculites C'hicoensis, both from 

 Chico Creek, and subsequently the following: 

 Plagiostoma* Pedroana, P. annulatus and P. 

 truncala from San Pedro, Calif. 



His last paper, " On Nine New Species of 

 Zoophytes from the Bay of San Francisco 

 and adjoining localities," was published in the 

 Academy's Proceedings, March .30, 1857. It 

 described the following: Bertularia anguina, 

 S. furcata, S. turgida, Plumvlaria Francis- 

 cana, Crisidia gracilis, Crisea occidentalis, 

 Meni/pea occidentalis, Scrupocellaria Cali- 

 fornica, and Hippothea amahilis. 



By resolution of the State Senate of Cali- 



' These and the two following have been re- 

 garded for the last twenty-five years by the prin- 

 cipal conehologists of the west coast as mutations 

 of A. Nuttalliana. 



' See Dr. W. H. Ball's comments on the Pectens 

 of the West Coast in Transactions Wagner Free 

 Institute, Vol. III., Part IV., p. 705, April, 1898, 

 and " The Tertiary and Quaternary Pectens of 

 California," by Dr. Ralph Arnold, U. S. Geolog- 

 ical Survey, Professional Paper, No. 47, p. 90, 

 V. ashington, 1906. 



fomia, passed March 26, 1853, Dr. Trask was 

 called upon " for such information as he may 

 possess relative to the Geology' of California 

 and productive resources of the state." This 

 report, of which only 2,000 copies were 

 printed, is entitled: 



1. " Report of 185-3, Geology of the Sierra 

 Nevada or California Range," by John B. 

 Trask, Sacramento, 1853, .31 pp. It contains 

 a sketch of the geology and mineral resources 

 of the eastern vaUeys of the Sacramento and 

 San Joaquin, and to the coast line within 

 41st and 42d degrees of north latitude, from 

 personal observations made during the years 

 1850-52. Reviewed Mining Mag., 1853, vol. 

 1, pp. 6-23. 



2. "Report on the Geology of the Coast- 

 Mountains, Embracing their Agricultural Re- 

 sources and Mineral Productions," also por- 

 tion of the Middle and Northern Mining Dis- 

 tricts, by Dr. John E. Trask, state geologist, 

 Senate Doc. No. 14, Sacramento, 1855, 95 pp. 

 This report contains a description of the phys^ 

 ical geography of the Coast Mountains; 

 Geology of the Coast Mountains; Tertiary 

 rocks of the Coast Mountains ; Primitive 

 rocks of the Coast Mountains; Volcanic rocks 

 of the Coast Mountains; Geology of the San 

 Bernardino Mountains; Stratified rocks of the 

 San Bernardino chain of Los Angeles ; Ar- 

 tesian borings ; Soil and productions of Los 

 Angeles; Mineral productions of Los Angeles;: 

 Country north of the American River; Min- 

 eral district of the Upper Sacramento Valley. 

 Geology of the northern mountains; Local 

 geology of the Northern Coast Mountains; 

 Carboniferous limestone of the eastern part of 

 Sha.sta County; Trinity County; Structure 

 of the Sacramento Valley; Tertiary rocks and 

 other deposits of the Sierra Nevada ; Placer 

 Mining; Quartz veins; Quartz mines, with 

 description of the mines and statistics. 



.3. " Report on the Geology of the Coast 

 Mountains and Part of the Sierra Nevada,, 



" Of the value of Dr. Trask's geological work 

 I am not competent to express an opinion; it 

 should, in common fairness, be judged by the- 

 Btandard of his day, rather than of the present, 

 time. 



