1224 The American Naturalist. [December, 
from unknown localities, and it was desirable to ascertain, if possible, 
the exact horizon whence they came. Astoria was the first place 
visited. It was described as being peculiarly situated, a portion being 
built upon the bluff overhanging the Columbia River, and the other 
portion occupying a narrow beach along the margin of the river, The 
latter part was largely built upon piles, and streets and houses extended 
out over the water. The housesat the foot of the bluff frequently ex- 
tended into its face. The top of the bluff is covered by about six feet 
of basalt, below which lie Tertiary strata, layers of brown sandstone, 
and many nodules or concretions containing fossils. The Miocene 
sandstone is underlaid by Eocene limestone, in a layer about one foot 
thick. It was from this layer that many of the fossils were collected 
by the Wilkes Expedition, but it is now covered by the piles and streets 
and houses of the town, and is inaccessible. 
The Plistocene strata on the coast rise gradually toward the south 
until at Monterey and south it is about six hundred feet above sea- 
level. The Oregonian forms are those of species living at present to 
the north in the colder waters of the Arctic regions ; while the forms 
at the south are those living at present in the neighboring sea. The 
large lake basins of the Cascade region were referred to, many of them 
being occupied at present by small bodies of water more or less alka- 
line. Those having outlets, and consequently fresh, have a large 
fauna, while the alkaline lakes have no animals living in them of con- 
sequence. In marl along the Klamath Lake shells are found which 
live to-day in the neighboring water. But among them are some not 
now known to occur in a living state. Among these are species of 
Vivipara and Unio. These genera, though very abundant in the Mis- 
sissippi valley, are unknown in a living state west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, though they occur as fossils as early as the Laramie period. It is 
an interesting problem to decide why some genera should become ex- 
tinct while others in the same localities lived on. 
ference was made to Stockton in the Sacramento valley, where a 
boring revealed gas in sufficient quantity to heat and light a large 
house. The city has put down numerous artesian wells, and the water 
thus obtained is used for domestic purposes. Some of the wells 
are 2000 feet deep, yet in no instance was solid rock encountered. 
It was all detrital material, generally coarse sand or clay. In one 
locality a bed of cobblestones was encountered of very local extent, 
being only about eighty feet wide, one and a half miles long, and 
from three to four feet thick. This was an isolated mass in the mi 
of sand or gravel. In all of the borings, many hundreds in number, 
no bones or wood have ever been found. 
