142 The West American Scieyitist. 



of Lopez Island, in Washington Sound, W. T., and will form a 

 valuable addition to the society's working material. The dia- 

 toms were accompanied by a sample of supposed diatomaceous 

 earth found near Santa Rosa. E. H. Griffith; of Fairport, N. Y., 

 one of the society's corresponding members, donated a beautiful 

 series of mounted slides, illustrating the gorgeous skeleton of 

 the Diamond beetle or Eupholus Linnei. The glittering scales 

 covering the body of this member of the weevil iamily form one 

 of the most brilliant objects that can be presented to the eye un- 

 der the microscope. 



C. C. Riedy exhibited a large collection of mounted dia- 

 toms from the hand of the noted specialist in that line, C. L. Pet- 

 ticolas. A slide prepared by that gentleman of the recently dis- 

 covered Redondo Beach earth found some miles south of Santa 

 Monica, is thought by him to be fully equal to the celebrated 

 piece discovered at Santa Monica several years ago and pub- 

 lished to those interested in this branch of microscopical research 

 by the investigations of the late Professor William Ashburner. 

 Another remarkable slide in the collection exhibits what is known 

 as the Eight-street Tunnel diatomaceous deposit of Richmond, 

 Va., one of the finest deposits of strewn diatoms ever found. The 

 slides of fossil marine diatoms from Syzran, Russia, and Kekko, 

 Hungary, are also notable for the variety of their forms and the 

 skillful manner in which they have been prepared before mount- 



in &* 



A request from the Richmond Microscopical Society for an 



exchange of material was cordially responded to and the secre- 

 tary instructed to effect the desired exchange. 



F. W. Dunning of Battle Creek, Mich., forwarded a box of 

 diatomaceous earth from Lyons creek, Calvert county, Md. The 

 same gentleman also sent a sample of diatomaceous earth broken 

 from a piece found by a fisherman some time in June last float- 

 ing in the Pacific Ocean, about two miles off the coast of Santa 

 Monica. The latter material will be examined and compared 

 with the original Santa Monica diatoms to determine whether it 

 contains the same variety of forms. 



Dr. Riehl exhibited a pure culture of Staphylococcus pyogenes 

 aureus', also, a stained and mounted specimen of same. 



C. P. Bates, 

 Recording Secretary. 



Santa Barbara Society of Natural History. — August 

 31, 1889. Dr. L. G. Yates presented specimens of Helix Ayer- 

 siana,Newc.,a land snail peculiar to the Channel Islands, and stated 

 that he had planted a colony of these snails on the mainland 

 near Montecito valley. Prof. H. C. Ford, the president, re- 

 ported the discovery of a probably new species of bird in Brit- 

 ish Columbia, by Clark P. Streator. 



A preliminary paper on the Geology and Natural History 

 of the Anacapas was read by Dr. L. G. Yates, who exhibited beau- 



