[891.] 
243 
[Wright 
a half in length, which was discovered by Mr. M. A. Kurtz of 
Nampa, Idaho, as it came out of the sand pump used in clearing 
an artesian well from a depth of 320 feet below the surface, fifteen 
feet being through fresh looking basalt near the surface, and the 
additional distance through alternate beds of unconsolidated clay 
and quicksand. For the communications of Mr. Charles Francis 
Adams and Mr. G. M. Gumming concerning the genuineness of 
the discovery, it is sufficient to refer to the Proceedings of this 
Society of the above-named date. Having spent a large part of 
the past summer in study of the lava deposits of the Snake River 
Valley, Idaho, and their points of comparison with similar depos- 
its in Oregon and California, it would seem desirable that I give 
a brief summary of the facts to this Society, so that it may have 
in its publications a complete account of the significance of this 
discovery at Nampa. 
And, first, I would say, that, while upon the ground and in 
the vicinity, I had repeated interviews with the gentlemen in 
whose presence the discovery was made, and feel entirely con- 
fident that there is no ground to question the fact that this image 
came up in the sand pump from the depth reported. I enclose 
with this a photograph of the derrick, showing in the foreground 
the iron pipe which was driven into the well, and near the middle 
of the picture the sand pump with the suction valve fastened 
upon the jar drawn out ; also photographs showing sections of 
lava in the vicinity. An important additional point of circum- 
stantial evidence confirming the genuineness of the image appears 
in some further comparisons I was able to make upon the ground 
between the encrustations of the red oxide of iron upon the image 
and similar encrustations upon various fragments of the clay balls 
which came up in the pump from the same stratum, and many of 
which I still found in the pile of debris remaining near the mouth 
of the well. The resemblance was so exact that no doubt could 
remain that the clay balls and the image had been subjected to 
the same influences, and must be equally old. 
Some facts, also, came out on close cross-examination of the 
parties which do much to diminish the inherent improbability of 
such a discovery. To many it has seemed in the highest degree 
improbable that a six-inch hole should chance to hit so small an 
object at so great a depth. Upon inquiry, however, I found that 
a very much larger amount of sand and gravel was brought up 
