Dr. Kellogg called the attention of the Academy to the remarkable specimen of fungus presented by him, Polyporus igniarius, which was found growing upon the Bay tree, Oreodaphne Californica; and gave a description of Fungi in general; alluding particularly to the destructive effect of many species, some producing the dry rot in ships, others destroying buildings, producing the disintegration of mortar in masonry, and seriously affecting the health, or destroying animal life.
Dr. Kellogg also remarked on the use of some species of Fungi for food, particularly by the natives of Australia, who regard them with especial favor for that purpose. The rapid growth and poisonous effect of certain species of Fungi were mentioned, also the use made of some species in the arts.
Mr. A. Wood, who has recently returned from a botanical exploration of Oregon, being present as a visitor, was invited to speak, and gave the following narrative of the recent ascent of Mount Hood, by himself and a party of gentlemen:
On the 20th of August last, in company with Dr. Atkinson, of Portland, and the Rev. J. Deardorff, of Walla Walla, and three others, I stood upon the summit of Mount Hood in Oregon. From our last camp on the summit of the Cascade Range to this point, the summit of Mount Hood is eleven miles of constant and weary ascent, at angles about as follows: Five miles in the first, 12 to 15°; two miles to eternal snow, 25 to 30°; one and one-half miles to the gap in the rim of the crater, about 45°; the remaining ascent traversing the ancient crater, nearly or quite 60°! The day was cloudless; a strong, warm wind from the southeast softened the surface of the snow and favored our ascent, although it gave us much anxiety lest it should loosen some of the tremendous acclivities of snow and overhanging drifts from above us.
Starting from camp at daylight, on horseback four miles, we arrived at the top at a quarter past two P.M., in nine and a half hours.
Our apparatus for measuring the heights consisted of two barometers, (aneroid) a thermometer, a tin cup, and a spirit lamp. Both barometers failed us, the index ceasing to turn after something more than a complete revolution on the dial. They were not made for such heights. But we made good use of our thermometer.
The ascent was exceedingly difficult, and not without danger. The long summer heat had undermined the snows, causing their surface to conform more to the ruggedness of the mountains, and the slides had opened chasms of invisible depths across our path. We looked down into several of these chasms and saw that the massive walls below consisted of solid, blue ice, and terminated at length in the blackness of darkness. We could hear the noise of running water, apparently in torrents. One of these chasms was unavoidable—and must be crossed. Its transverse length was nearly a mile, and its width from ten to one hundred feet. By the aid of a rope, forty-five yards in length, and five pike-poles, each eight feet, we crossed, (of course at the narrowest place) and afterward by rope and poles, tugging, panting, dizzy, we dragged ourselves up to the terrific crest of this Mountain Monarch.
The summit area is of very limited dimensions—a crescent in shape, half a mile in length, and three to forty or fifty feet in width. It is a fearful place, as it is the imminent brow of a precipice on the north, sheer down not less than a vertical mile of bare columnar rock!
This height is lifted so far above all other heights (except the four distant snow-clad peaks to the north and Mount Jefferson on the south) that the country beneath seemed depressed to a uniform level, and the horizon retreated to the distance of more than two hundred miles, including nearly all Oregon and Washington Territory. The sublimity and grandeur of that view I must leave to the imagination of the reader. A cañon of enormous depth plunges down along the southeast flank, and is filled in part by a glacier evidently in motion, and having below a very abrupt termination. Terminal and lateral moraines mark its course, and a torrent of water issues from beneath. While we delayed here, an avalanche of rocks, an immense mass, started by the wind, thundered down the left wall of this cañon several thousand feet, and its track was marked by a trail of white smoke.