424 Scientific Intelligence. 
to see how Prof. Wood deduces his figures from the observations he gives. 
A boiling point of 180° F. represents a barometric pressure of 15°26 
inches, which in that region, in the month of August, would probably 
represent an altitude of 18,350 feet or more. On Mt. Shasta, which is 
300 miles farther south, the forest vegetatiow barely extends up 9,000 ft., 
the alleged height on Mt. Hood, where the alpine species are probably 
identical-or similar. 
It is noticeable how these accounts differ in other important particu- 
lars. One finds the summit a mere “pinnacle” only large enough to 
stand upon—another speaks of it as half a mile long. All agree that there 
is a crater, but one party finds it 3,000 ft. below the summit; we in 
from the description of another that it is at the summit, or at least that a 
part of its rim forms the summit; one party descended into it a short 
distance, but finds a precipice fifty or sixty feet high; another speaks of 
a precipice of a mile vertical. The last observers find the crater nearly 
filled with snow, while but a few months ago the papers contained ac- 
counts of the mountain in active eruption. From all these we see we 
are still in doubt as to the actual height and condition of the peak; but 
since these ascents demonstrate that the summit is easily accessible, we 
hope soon to have more satisfactory observations. W. H. B. 
7. Alleged discovery of an ancient human skull in California.—Ac- 
counts have recently been going the rounds of the press of the discovery 
and investigated the matter as far as ossible, but owing to 
the presence of water and the stoppage of work in the shaft, the exam- 
h 
ik materials on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada 
began in the Pliocene age, and that it continued into the Post-pliocene, 
and possibly to comparatively modern times. The alleged position of 
the skull is a lower one than any in which the remains of the mastodon 
es been found, and therefore the question of its authenticity be- 
comes a very Important one; and when the more complete examinatio 
has been made, we will lay the results before the readers of the Journal. 
Ww. H. B 
