293 



Mr. Josliiia Hewes sent to the table for exhibition a beau- 

 tiful specimen of the serpentine, cut and polished in the 

 shape of a small book and which was much admired. 



Dr. Eichard H. Wheatland stated that since the last Field 

 Meeting, several specimens of fishes new to this vicinity had 

 been presented to the Institute, among tliese were a large 

 number belonging to the Genus Motella, taken alive at 

 Nahant, by Caleb Cooke ; this fish is very rare on our 

 coast, a few specimens only haA^ng been to his knowledge, 

 previously found, at Pro vincetown by Capt. N. E. Atwood, 

 and Mr. H. M. Smith, and at Chelsea Beach, by Prof. Agas- 

 siz ; the specimens we have differ from the M. caudacuta of 

 Storer, sufficiently to make it questionable, whether they be- 

 long to that species. Three speimens of Leptocephalus sp. 

 hitherto exceedingly rare, were also found by Caleb Cooke 

 at Nahant ; a single specimen presented to the Institute 

 some years since by Geoege H. Devereux, Esq., and found 

 by him at Cherryfield, Maine, furnished Dr. Storer's descrip- 

 tion, in his Synopsis of the Fishes of North America; and 

 another found by Prof. Agassiz at Charleston, S. C. being 

 the only others known in these waters. Dr. AV. also cited 

 the case of a bhnmj found adhering to the shell of a barna- 

 cle taken from the bottom of a vessel recently from Africa, 

 as another instance of rarity in the donations to the ichthy- 

 ological department, likewise the occurrence of the Centro- 

 pristes varms, which is more commonly to be found on the 

 other side of Cape Cod. 



George D. Phippen offered the usual remarks upon the 

 flowers of the morning's gatherings. From these he selected 

 such as he deemed most worthy of notice, and spoke at some 

 length upon their beauty, variety or other peculiarities. 

 The following list comprise the species noticed by him. 



Near Hawkes' Pond, — Utricularia purpurea, U inflata, 

 Lobelia cardinalis, Cuscuta Americana, Eupatorium purpu- 

 reum, Pontederia cordata, Nuphar advena, Mentha borealis, 



