﻿Jan., 1858.] 



ELLIOTT SOCIETY. 



273 



infested with a cochineal insect, covered with a white tomen- 

 tum. 2. The second, which we will call Opuntia macrartha, falls 

 under the same section with the preceding, and seems to be near 

 Opuntia angustata, of Engelman, from the west of the Rio Grande; 

 a prostrate species, joints from ten to fifteen inches long and three 

 inches wide, one-third of an inch thick; no spines, fruit two and 

 a half inches long, slender, clavate. 3. The third species is 

 Opuntia vulgaris, the Cactus opuntia of Elliott, and others, com- 

 mon throughout the State. 4. The fourth, which we will call 

 Opuntia frustulenta, probably falls under Engelman's section, 

 Xerocarpeas, of the same sub-genus ; plant prostrate, joints sub- 

 cylindric, two to six inches long, armed with spines, white, three- 

 fourths of an inch long, large for the size of the plant, joints sepa- 

 rating readily. This species seems to be near Opuntia fragilis, 

 Haworth, Cactus fragilis, Nuttall, from Upper Missouri. It has 

 been found so far only on the sea islands, and is well known to 

 their inhabitants, who call them Dildoes, and say that they have 

 never seen them flower. This is the form exhibited to the Society 

 on the 1st September last. 



Correspondents Elected. 

 Oscar M. Lieber, Esq. R. W. Habersham, Esq. 



Members Elected. 

 A. H. Boykin, Esq. J. F. Btjssell, Esq. 



FEBRUARY 1st, 1858. 

 Vice President, W. W. Smith, in the chair. 



Dr. H. W. DeSaussure presented from John M. DeSaussure, 

 Esq. of Camden, a nodul e of iron ore found in clay, 30 feet below 

 the surface; similar nodules found on the surface; a specimen 

 of fossilized wood, fossilized by iron ; and a specimen of 

 pine-wood, discolored by an iron nail, which had been driven 

 into it years since. 



Prof. L. R. Gibbes mentioned that he had deposited in the 

 Society's collection ten species of corals from our southern 

 coast, and twenty-four species of Echinoderms, chiefly from 

 our southern coast. The Professor laid on the table living 



