Prof. Blake stated that he considered the collections made by him, in and near the Cañada de las Uvas, as not meager. There was a sufficient number of species to make a quarto plate of figures.
Prof. Blake read the following notice:
Fossil Fish in the Great Basin, Nevada.
BY WM. P. BLAKE.
Fossilized fish are found in a light-colored clay shale, in the mountains a few miles north of Silver Peak, a mining district in the Red Mountain or Salt Basin region, about one hundred and fifty miles south of Austin. The vertebral columns, ribs and fins are very distinctly shown, and the specimens are exceedingly interesting. They remind me of the specimens from the famous locality of Mount Bolca, in Europe. The specimen that I have here, does not appear to belong to an ancient period, but I will not venture to refer it without an opportunity of making comparisons, or submitting it to a competent ichthyologist, which I propose to do.
College of California, Nov. 19. 1866.
Prof. Blake also directed the attention of the Academy to specimens of fossil vertebræ, collected by him in Tulare County. These specimens are about twenty in number, and are from two to six inches in length, and two to three inches in diameter. He believed them to belong to large marine saurians, like crocodiles, but wished to make further study and comparison previous to making a more formal communication to the Academy. If correct in his opinion, it was, he believed, the first instance of the discovery of saurian remains on the Pacific Coast of the United States, and the discovery will be rendered still more interesting by the fact that the remains occur in strata reputed to be miocene, associated with sharks’ teeth and numerous marine remains, at least fifteen hundred feet above the present ocean level.
Professor Whitney remarked that the remains of the crocodile, and ichthyosaurus had been discovered on this coast by the Geological Survey, and the fact published a year ago.
Professor Whitney read the following communication: