22i PROCEEDINGS OF THE [May, 1889. 



Museum, these were Unio splnosus and diiio Shepardianus, recently named by 

 Mr, Lea, and for which this letter of thanks I now show yon was sent to me 

 ■while in Paris, signed by M. Chevreul, Dkector, and by M. Adolphe Brong- 

 niart, Secretary. 



Dr. Richard Harlan, a distinguished naturalist of Philadelphia, whose ac- 

 quaintance I there made in May, 1836, intrusted me with specimens of the 

 Axolotl of the Lake of Mexico, then rare in European collections. These I 

 carried, if I recoUejt rightly, to Prof. Dameril, with a letter from Dr. Harlan. 



Among the Professors whose lectures I attended were Gay Lussac and Chev- 

 reul at the Garden of Plants, Dumas and Pouillet at the Sorbonne, Broussais 

 and Andral at the Ecole de Medecine, Velpeau, Eoux, Bouillaud, Louis, Maj en- 

 die, Biett, &c., at the different Hospitals. Of these M. Eugene Chevreul is, I 

 believe, the last, 



Charleston, AprH 24th, 1889. 



The President submitted specimens with the following 



Notice of Stalactites formed in Artificial Structnres. 



BY PROF. L. R. GIBBES. 



I PiiACE on the table, for the inspection of the members of the Society, a 

 small box containing fragments of Stalactites found depending from an arch 

 under a part of a building in this City. 



The occurrence of Stalactites in similar situations is mentioned in works on 

 mineralogy and geology, and the late Dr. Edmund Kavenel, informed me 

 some thirty years ago, that he had found several hanguig from the roof of the 

 arch of a c^llvert in St. Thomas Parish in this State, the culvert, if I recollect 

 rightly, being under some roadway in that locality. The fact of such occur- 

 rence is, therefore, not new, but this is the first time I have had an ojDportuni- 

 ty of seeing them in situ, in an artificial structiire, and probably very few of 

 the members of our Society have seen even specimens of them. 



My attention was called, about the end of November last, to the occuiTence 

 of these stalactites, by my son, who accompanied me a few days after to the 

 place where he had discovered them. Workmen were then engaged in laying 

 anew the foundations of the Cathedi-al at the N. E. corner of Broad and Friend 

 Streets, which was burnt in the gi-eat fire of Dec, 1861, and we thus obtained 

 access to the grounds. The floor of the portico on Broad Street is supported 

 by an arched way running parallel to Broad Street, nearly East and "West. 

 This arched way is divided in the middle by a wall contributing to the support 

 of the floor above. On entering the Western cavity we found a dozen or two 

 of slender stalactites, 2 to 4 inches long, and 1 to 3 tenths of an inch in. 

 diameter, they were very brittle, and numerous fragments lay on the ground. 

 The attempt to detach stalactites whole was unsuccessful, increasiag the num- 

 ber of fragments on the ground and a small one only remaining in the grasp of 

 finger and thumb. Singularly enough the best specimen obtained, was f oimd 



