89 



greater discount than the prhwoses at the rivulet's "brim," 

 which -were more alluring than is usual to those, who seek the 

 finny tribes : unless, like the honest Izaak, thej love Nature as 

 well. He spoke with much pleasure on his successes and ex- 

 ploits in other fields, and added to the interest of the meeting. 



Benjamin F. Mudge, of Lynn, detailed his fruitless search 

 for minerals, and pleasing observations on the geological struc- 

 tures of the rocks, of the vicinity; which constituted his morn- 

 ing labors. The trap dikes permeating the ledges, best seen 

 where the ocean has denuded them, seemed to him to be of a 

 peculiar interest. By this denuding process, aided by the 

 shock of the seawaves, perhaps by frosts, one of these dyke 

 veins has been so washed out that a fissure in the adjacent 

 mass of about fifty feet in length and twenty or thirty feet 

 deep, and its width being perhaps a foot or eighteen inches, is 

 thus formed, attracting attention at once. Near the upper 

 part of this rocky and narrow fissure, or rather ravine, con- 

 stantly washed by every tide, and worn by natural means to 

 this extent, are several large sienitic rocks, of an erratic or 

 bowlder appearance, which have been rolled down and over it 

 so as to leave only narrow apertures for the eye to perceive the 

 yeasty and chafing waves far below, and dashing beneath his 

 very feet. Mr. Mudge's practical acquaintance with the geo- 

 logy of our ocean shores, rendered these, and other remarks of 

 his, of much interest to all who listened to them. 



Some question on the manner of growth of trees being raised, 

 a desultory debate followed, participated in by the chair, by 

 Messrs. Ives, Fowler, Phippen and others. 



From the tenor of these questions, the chair Was led to urge 

 the importance of a more thorough understanding of the pri- 

 mary principles of vegetation and of the organic growth. This 

 was all essential to the naturalist, while its intense interest 

 made its relation to the study of Botany peculiarly appropriate. 

 Even the instruction of this science in our Common Schools, 

 though necessarily rudimentary, yet could be directed to this 

 topic and aid much in engaging a wider and more engrossing 

 attention to the general subject. 



The following Vertebrata were exhibited and remarked on 



