1853.] 239 
The Academy being informed that the Commissioners of the General Land 
Office, in Washington, in their estimates for the land surveys of the coming season, 
have inserted an item for the geological survey of Oregon and the Mauvaises 
Terres of Nebraska, in which previous surveys have shown there exists the 
most remarkable and interesting fresh water tertiary geological formation yet 
discovered iu this country, therefore it is 
Resolved, That the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia earnestly 
recommends the prosecution of these surveys, believing as it does that the 
district proposed to be surveyed embraces a portion of the most interesting 
geological region in this country, and that the result must be of the highest 
importance to science, and is destined to throw a new light upon the natural 
history of this continent previous to the period when the mammoth and mas- 
todon lived. 
Resolved, That the Academy would respectfully urge and request Congress 
not to permit the opportunity to pass to make the necessary appropriation to 
accomplish the desirable objects above stated, and have the svrveys carried out 
according to the recommendation of the Commissioners of the General Land 
Office. 
Resolved, That this preamble and series of resolutions be signed by the officers 
of the Academy, and sent by the Corresponding Secretary to the Commissioners 
of the Land Office at Washington. 
On motion of Dr. Elwyn, copies of the foregoing were directed to be 
sent to the Senators from Pennsylvania, and the Representatives from 
the city and county of Philadelphia. 
The Society then proceeded to an election for Standing Committees 
for 1853, with the subjoined result : 
Ethnology, John S. Phillips, 8. 8. Haldeman, Robert Pearsall ; 
Comparative Anatomy and General Zoology, Joseph Leidy, Edward 
Hallowell, John Neill; Wammalogy, John L. Le Conte, James C. 
Fisher, S. W. Woodhouse; Ornithology, John Cassin, Edward Harris, 
A. L. Heermann; Herpetology and Ichthyology, Kdward Hallowell, 
John Cassin, Gavin Watson; Conchology, Isaac Lea, Thomas B. Wil- 
son, W. 8S. W. Ruschenberger ; Hntomology and Crustacea, 8. 8. Hal- 
deman, R. Bridges, Wm. 8. Zantzinger; Botany, R. Bridges, Wm. 
S. Zantzinger, Elias Durand; Paleontology, 'T. A. Conrad, Joseph 
Leidy, T. B. Wilson; Geology, J. Price Wetherill, Aubrey H. Smith, 
Charles E. Smith; Jneralogy, Wm. 8. Vaux, Samuel Ashmead, F. 
A. Genth ; Physics, James C. Fisher, B. H. Coates, B. Howard Rand; 
Library, Thomas B. Wilson, R. Bridges, R. H. Peterson ; Proceedings, 
Wn. S. Zantzinger, Joseph Leidy, W. 8. W. Ruschenberger. 
ELECTION OF MEMBERS AND CORRESPONDENT. 
Prof. Robley Dunglison, Dr.Wm. V. Keating, and Dr. Addinell Hew- 
son, of Philadelphia, were elected Members; and Lieut. M. F. Maury, 
U.S. Navy, Superintendent of the National Observatory at Washington, 
was elected a Correspondent. 
38 
