353 



Lincoln R. Stone read a Report on the painting, repre- 

 senting one of the witchcraft trials, that of George Jacobs, 

 which has recently been presented to the Institute, by 

 Messrs. R. W. Ropes & Co., and which occupies a prominent 

 position over the landing of the Main stairway to the second 

 story of Plummer Hall. 



Iba J. Patch presented a certified copy of all the proceed- 

 ings of this trial, from the Records in the office of the Clerk 

 of the Courts for this county, and read such portions as were 

 deemed most pertinent, interspersing the reading with inter- 

 esting explanatory comments. Mr. P. complimented the 

 painting as a faithful portraiture of the trial, so far as could 

 be determined from a perusal of the documents. 



After a few remarks from the Chair, a vote of thanks was 

 passed to Messrs. Stone and Patch for the communications 

 presented this evening. 



The above communications have been printed in the His- 

 torical Collections of the Institute. See vol. II, page 49. 



Dr. R. H. Wheatland mentioned that an interesting 

 specimen of sturgeon (^Acipenser brevirostris') had recently 

 been presented to the cabinets by Mr. John N. Martin, taken 

 at Rockport. This species is seldom met with in the waters 

 of the county, and, on this account, is a valuable acquisition. 

 Thejlnstitute have, several times, been indebted to Mr. Martin 

 for his kindness in contributing specimens of fishes to the col- 

 lection. For these valuable contributions. Dr. W. sugges- 

 ted that the thanks of the Institute be presented to Mr. M., 

 and they were unanimously voted. 



He also mentioned that the specimen of Bream (Pomotis 

 obesus of Girard,) spoken of, at a previous meeting, as having 

 been captured in the brooks of this vicinity, has, upon furth- 

 er examination, been found to belong to the genus Bryttus, 



ESSEX INST. PROCEED. VOL. ii. 45. 



