7^ \\^est American Scientist 



Antonite is the name given to a peculiar mineral found at San 

 Antonio, about 80 miles south of San Diego. It has a beautiful 

 silver lustre, and is utilized in the manufacture of imitation moire, 

 antique silk, fancy papers, etc. 



Agates are rarely found in the Lower California mountains or 

 San Diego county. A poor variety of moss agate comes from 

 Otay valley, a few miles from the city. 



Chalcedony, calcareous tufa, cinnabar, a kind of cement rock in 

 great abundance, feldspar, flints, garnets, pyrites of iron, magnetic 

 iron ore, jasper, kaolin, lava, a form of malachite, so-called meer- 

 schaum, obsidian, opals (doubtful), the various forms of quartz, 

 satin and green spar, soda-stone, salt (immense deposits in the 

 desert), tourmahne, etc., are among the other minerals reported 

 from the county or adjacent region. 



I hope to treat this subject at some future time more exhaustive- 

 ly than possible at the present time, and with this end in view I 

 shall be pleased to receive any information that is here omitted, or 

 specimens of the minerals and rocks of Southern California or ot 

 the Mexican peninsula. 



Brief mention of the borax mines, marble quarries, gold, silver 

 and copper mines and other mineral deposits of the Calico mining 

 district should not be omitted. I am especially indebted to Mr. 

 C. C. KeiTt, through Mr. Gray, for specimens from this region. 



In closing this hasty review my eye notices the beautiful " foot- 

 prints of the fern "— crystals of manganese arranged in the most 

 delicate imitation of sprays of mosses and ferns on the limestone 

 of San Bernardino. C. R. Orcuit. 



HAIRLESS MICE IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY. 



A lady friend presented to our museum a specimen, of what ap- 

 peared to be the ordinary house mouse, but totally devoid of hair 

 — not even whiskers. Its color was a greyish-white, and its skin 

 was curiously wrinkled like the rind of an orange, but in other re- 

 spects, seemed to be in a normal condition. I considered it a 

 freak, or possibly a diseased specimen, and thought nothing more 

 of the matter. 



Since then an entirely reliable gentlemen, has informed me that 

 his barn has. for several weeks, been mfested with these disgust- 

 ing little vermin (they are singularly repulsive), and that he has 

 trapped a dozen or more of them. He states that they were breed- 

 ing in a barrel of oats, and the captured specimens were of various 

 ages. Some of them had hair in "spots," the hairy places being 

 densely covered as in an ordinary mouse, while the naked portions 

 were absolutely bare. 



