10 



was given to the preparation of a work entitled " The Auriferous 

 Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California," which forms the first 

 part of the first number of the sixth volume of the Memoirs of 

 the Museum. The second number of this volume, containing a 

 description of the fossil plants found in these gravels, by Mr. 

 Lesquereux, was published a year earlier, and the remainder of 

 the first number, completing the volume — which is entirely 

 devoted to the Auriferous Gravels — will soon be issued. 



For the purpose of procuring additional information in regard to 

 certain points of importance in the California gravel region, and 

 also to obtain a general idea of the most recent developments of 

 the hydraulic mining interest, an arrangement was made with Pro- 

 fessor W. H. Pettee, of the Michigan State University, to revisit 

 the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, this gentleman having 

 been previously employed in this same work as an assistant in the 

 Geological Survey of California. Professor Pettee left Cambridge 

 for that State early in July, and has been up to this time in the 

 field visiting the most important gravel mining districts. His 

 return may be expected early in December, and as soon there- 

 after as practicable the remaining portion of Volume VI. of the 

 Memoirs will be put to press. 



The Sturgis-Hooper Professor was himself in Europe from the 

 beginning of May until the middle of September, and in the course 

 of that time he took occasion (besides visiting a number of geo- 

 logical museums in Germany and France) to re-examine with care 

 certain portions of the Alps, especially the glaciers of the Bernina 

 Group, with reference to various points to be discussed in con- 

 nection with the further description of the Californian gravels. 



Mr. Wadsworth spent nearly the whole of the summer vacation 

 on Lake Superior, studying the rocks associated with the copper 

 and iron deposits of that region. The object of this investigation 

 was to throw light on some of the mooted points in the geology of 

 that most interesting and important mining district. In the course 

 of his summer's work Mr. Wadsworth collected 846 specimens of 

 rocks and ores. The results of this work will be published in the 

 Bulletin of the Museum. 



