Regular Meeting, February 4th, 1867.
President in the Chair.
Twenty-eight members present.
Messrs. Joseph P. LeCount, C. Von Liebenau, Amory F. Bell, W. C. Walker, George H. Powers, Thomas Bennett, M.D., L. Gilson, Delos J. Howe, R. S. Williamson, U. S. Engineers, R. D’Heureuse, Rev. John F. Harrington, H. C. Hyde, G. B. Hitchcock and Jacob Bacon were elected Resident Members.
Donations to Library: Review of the Mining, Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the Pacific States, from J. H. Carmany. Essai Politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne, by A. de Humboldt, 2 Vols., 4to., and atlas folio, Paris, 1811, presented by A. Sutro.
Professor Whitney read the following communication:
On the Fresh Water Infusorial Deposits of the Pacific Coast, and their Connection with the Volcanic Rocks.
BY J. D. WHITNEY.
The microscopic discoveries of the last few years have immensely extended the range and importance of the minute, and, to the naked eye, invisible organisms, which, under the general designation of “Infusoria,” are recognized as a part of the kingdom of nature. It is especially to Ehrenberg that we are indebted for a demonstration of the geological importance of the Diatoms, those microscopic organisms which so long puzzled naturalists to decide whether they were animal or vegetable in their nature, but which are now, by the majority of zoölogists, referred to as plants. In Ehrenberg’s great work, the “Mikrogeologie,” or geology in little, this eminent naturalist has given the results of the examination, by himself, of specimens of infusorial rocks, soils, ashes, dust, and other accumulations or masses of matter from every quarter of the globe: these investigations show most conclusively that deposits of vast extent—of such magnitude, indeed, as to form no inconsiderable portion of the earth’s crust—are the result of organic agencies, and that what seems to the eye an unorganized mass, may in reality be made up of the delicately wrought and almost infinitely minute remains of plant or animal life.