No. 156249. This consists of a mixture of seed with a small amount of sand present. The seeds are, in about the relative order of their abundance, (a) a leguminous shiny seed of a dirty olive color, possibly of the genus Parosela (usually known as Dalea); (b) the black seed shells, flat on one side and almost invariably broken, of a plant apparently belonging to the family Malvaceae; (c) large, flat, nearly black achenia, possibly of a Coreopsis, bordered with a narrow-toothed wing; (d) the thin lenticular utricles of a Carex; (e) the minute black, bluntly trihedral seeds of some plant of the family Polygonaceae, probably an Eriogonum. The majority of these seeds have a coating of fine sand, as if their surface had originally been viscous; (f) a dried chrysalis bearing a slight resemblance to a seed.
No. 156250. This bottle contains the same material as No. 156249, except that no larvæ are found, but a large, plump, brownish, lenticular seed 4 mm. in diameter, doubtless the seed of a Croton.
No. 156251. A thin fragment of matter consisting of minute roots of plants partially intermixed on one surface with sand.
No. 156252. This consists almost wholly of plant rootlets and contains a very slight amount of sand.
No. 156254. This consists of pieces of rotten wood through which had grown the rootlets of plants. The wood, upon a microscopical examination, is shown to be that of some dicotyledonous tree of a very loose and light texture. The plant rootlets in most cases followed the large ducts that run lengthwise through the pieces of wood and take up the greater part of the space.
No. 156255. The mass contained in this bottle is made up of (a) grains, contained in their glumes or husks, of some grass, probably Oryzopsis membranacea; (b) what appears to be the minute spherical spore cases of some microscopical fungus. The spore cases have a wall with a shiny brown covering, or apparently with this covering worn off and exhibiting an interior white shell. Within this is a very large number of spherical spore-like bodies of a uniform size; (c) a few plant rootlets.
No. 156256. The material in this bottle is similar to that in 156255 except that the amount of rootlets is greater, the grass seeds are of a darker color, seemingly somewhat more disorganized, and somewhat more slender in form, and that the spore cases seem to be entirely wanting.
No. 156257. The material in this bottle is similar to that in No. 156249, containing the seeds numbered a, b, c, and d mentioned under that number, besides a greater amount of plant rootlets and some fragments of corncob.
No. 156258. This consists almost entirely of plant rootlets and sand.
No. 156259. This consists chiefly of the leaves of some coniferous tree, either an Abies or a Pseudotsuga.