sense of courteous Europe; and that if gentlemen in station could acquire a knowledge of this, their great aim was accomplished. Our central government was extremely remiss, and had, instead of giving to our people an example, upon all occasions, of dependence upon self, its greatest pride was to copy from the stated and almost obsolete theories of the old world, all that pertained to government, as well as that which related to national habits and the advance of science. It was, what he styled, borrowing a mirror to reflect back our own character; and he hoped the day had arrived when this practice would be put an end to. If in nothing else, let us at least be original in our scientific structures. We have the material, and it should be our pride to build up our own academies. But we were too much wedded to foreign flattery, he feared, to effect this purpose without a struggle. If France, for instance, passed upon us her notice—that is, by faint praise damning us-we were intoxicated in a moment, and all our promises to rely upon ourselves, levelled without exception. He admitted that it was necessary to keep up a Navy and a "Standing Army," but he thought that in peace, if the officers must needs receive an academy education, that they should not be encouraged in idleness. Let them be usefully employed. West Point turned out yearly a number of well taught, scientific men; and for what purpose? To guide a rudder, or point a gun? He hoped Let these, then, be detailed for the service mentioned in the resolution. What else was their education fit for? He trusted that the committee would be importunate in their memorial, and not rely upon the effect of a mere formal application.

not.

Professor AGASSIZ was under the impression that we should rather depend upon our own energies and exertions, than the patronage of government. Science, from time immemorial, was an object of neglect, and if in other countries, where power revelled in a different element, it should be forgotten, why should it not be here? Men of science, to succeed in their operations, must, on the contrary, be entirely unknown to what we call the "world." Patronage of government is not worth the time consumed in imploring it. We must stand alone, and while enduring neglect, labour the harder. All the governments upon earth will not, in one year, develop as much scientific knowledge, as one humble individual, whose lot is cast in a garret.

After some further discussion, the proposition was adopted, and the following gentlemen were appointed by the Association to constitute the committee on said memorial:

Dr. ROBERT HARE, of Philadelphia; Prof. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN,

Senior, of New Haven; WILLIAM C. REDFIELD, Esq., of New York; Prof. BENJAMIN PEIRCE, of Cambridge, Mass.; Prof. STEPHEN ALEXANDER, of Princeton; Dr. ROBERT W. GIBBES, of Columbia, S. C.; Prof. HENRY D. ROGERS, of Boston; Prest. EDWARD HITCHCOCK, of Amherst, Mass.; Prof. Louis AGASSIZ, of Cambridge; Dr. SAMUEL G. MORTON, of Philadelphia.

The Secretaries of the Sections of General Physics and of Natural History, severally, made reports of the doings of those Sections on Friday and Saturday last.

Dr. R. W. GIBBES, from the Natural History Section, reported the following papers, read and discussed before that Section on Friday last:

On the Forces which have caused the Rupture, Contortion, Depression, and Upheaval of the Superficial Strata of the Earth, by Prof. L. J. GERMAIN.

On Phacops Hausmani, by Prof. S. S. HALDEMAN.

Report on the Sediment of the Mississippi river, by Dr. M. W. DICKESON.

Also the following, read on Saturday, 23d inst. :

On Terraces and Ancient River Bars, the Drift, Boulders, and the Polished Surfaces around Lake Superior and Lake Huron, by Prof. AGASSIZ.

On the Black Banded Cyprinidæ, by Prof. AGASSIZ.

On the Cyprinodonts, by Prof. AGASSIZ.

On Acid Springs and Gypsum Deposits of the Onondaga Salt Group, by Mr. T. S. HUNT.

On Rhamnus Lanciolatus, by Dr. T. GREEN.

On the Geography and Geology of the Northern Mississippi, by R. BOLTON.

Prof. SILLIMAN, jr.'s, Report for Friday and Saturday morning was not received.

The following communication was received from the Society for the Development of the Mineral Resources of the United States:Philadelphia, June 10, 1848.

To the American Association

for the Advancement of Science.

It becomes our duty, as it is our pleasure, to announce the formation of a Society, in this city, which has been denominated, "The Society for the Development of the Mineral Resources of the United

States."

With unabated admiration for all that part of geology which is strictly scientific, we devote ourselves particularly to its æconomical department.

We propose to collect and expose, gratis, to public view, specimens of all the rocks and minerals of the Union which are useful in architecture, agriculture, manufactures, or the mechanic arts, with a view to make them more generally known, and to increase their consumption in this our much favoured land. We desire to open and maintain, with your Institution, a frank and free correspondence, to exchange sentiments upon all subjects connected with our pursuits, and to give and receive, upon the most liberal terms, duplicate geological and minerological specimens, and, generally, to co-operate with you in all measures that may tend to increase the mineral wealth and consequent prosperity of our beloved country, or to elevate the mental character of its inhabitants.

With our best wishes for your advancement, we have the honour to be

Your obedient servants,

M. W. DICKESON, Cor. Sec'ry.

PETER A. BROWNE, President.

The invitation given in the above letter, was, on motion, accepted. The following communication, from Mr. DESOR, relative to a deposit of drift shells in the cliffs of Sancati Island, of Nantucket, was read, and ordered to be entered in the proceedings:

W. C. REDFIELD, Esq., President of the

American Scientific Association in Philadelphia.

DEAR SIR:-In visiting last summer, in company with Lieutenant Davis, U. S. N., the neighbouring islands and shoals of Nantucket, we discovered a most remarkable deposite of Drift Shells in the cliffs of Sancati. These cliffs, which form the eastern boundary of the island of Nantucket, are nearly 100 feet high. The shells are found in two distinct strata, at a height of 30 feet above the cliffs. One of these strata, is a regular oyster bed, 3 to 4 feet thick, in which not only the oysters, but also the venus, nya, and other bivalves are found in their natural position, both valves together, showing that the animals died in the place in which they lived, and that they have not been disturbed by any violent action, although they have been considerably raised, since there is 50 feet of sand deposite above them, as may be seen in the following section. From the annexed list of species that

have been found, both by my friend Edw. Cabot and by myself, you will perceive that they are the same species that occur near Brooklyn, and also, although in a very broken state, at Point Shirley, near Boston, and that they constitute a thorough littoral fauna, exactly similar to that of the shores of Nantucket and Long Island, actually.

The second stratum in which shells are found, rests immediately on the oyster bank, being separated from it in some places by a stratum of serpula, that belongs to the oyster bank. This second stratum, one and a half to two feet thick, is quite different in its appearance from the oyster bank below it, although the species that are found in it, are the same. The shells are all bleached, and more or less worn; the barnacles are disintegrated, and the bivalves have very seldom the two valves united, showing that they have been exposed for a certain time to the action of the waves, before they were buried by the sand layers above them. These sand deposites, like the sand, clay, and gravel strata that underlie the shell strata, are entirely destitute of fossil animals. The only organic remains I discovered, was a fragment of wood, in a white sand layer below the oyster bank. At first these strata seem to be horizontal, but Mr. Cabot has since ascertained that they all slip somewhat to the west, their inclination varying from 6° to 15°. At the top of the cliff is found a layer of fine sand, quite irregular in its outline, being formed by the winds that carry the fine particles of sand from the beach to the top of the cliff.

The basis of the cliff is totally different from all the strata mentioned. It consists in a deposite of dark sandy clay, without any distinct stratification in its interior, but its upper surface being very much inclined to the west, and therefore quite unconformable with the sand and shell strata that rest on it. Although no fossil have yet been found in this clay, I feel inclined to consider it as identical with the lower strata of Gayhead, being probable the eastern outcroping of a tertiary basin that underlies the island of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and extends to the north till at Cape Cod. It will be shown in a special paper, on this subject, that this tertiary formation has been deposited in form of a bank or shoal in the ocean of the tertiary epoch, according to the laws of tidal action, that are so satisfactorily pointed out by Lieutenant Davis, the materials of this tertiary shoal being the detritus of the chalk or green sand formation that is found on the shores of the middle States of the Union. Believe me, my dear Sir, yours, most sincerely,

Boston, 18th Sept. 1848.

E. DESOR.

Mr. REDFIELD remarked, in relation to the subject of the last communication, that he had found at Brooklyn and on the coast of New Jersey, similar deposites of drift shells.

Prof. AGASSIZ also submitted some observations in regard to the discoveries of M. DESOR.

Messrs. ROBERT E. and W. B. ROGERS now read a paper, containing the results of investigations on ACIDIMETRY and ALKALIMITRY. [Not received.]

Mr. STEPHEN P. ANDREWS then gave, by chart illustrations and verbal statements, the analogies between the Chinese written and spoken language.

He exhibited the signs and characters used by the Chinese, to distinguish the same words which occur in the English language, as, for instance, "wright," "right," "write," &c. The word “ting,” in the former language, indicates the same sound, and, by an additional affix or prefix, the intelligence meant is conveyed.

Prof. JOHNSON communicated the following report, by J. H. ALEXANDER, Esq., on Geographical Explorations during the year 1847 and a part of 1848. The paper is entitled

BRIEF NOTICE OF GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND RESEARCHES DURING THE YEAR 1847 AND A PART OF 1848.

1. Africa.

The most important exploration actually going on in this continent, is that of Mr. ANNE RAFFENEL; both as regards the amplitude of design, the aids and connexions under which it is being prosecuted, and the probable fitness of the individual explorer himself. Prepared for the undertaking by special preliminary studies and exercises, and having already approved himself by the experience of travel in 1844, in Upper Senegambia, he takes with him now the necessary apparatus for scientific researches, instructions from the Academy of Sciences and the Geographical Society of France, and funds supplied, in part at least, by the French Government. How far the recent changes in that government will affect this last particular, and alter the semiofficial aspect, which his mission wears, is not yet known. The original design is no less than to cross the entire continent, in general along the 15th parallel of N. latitude. In fact, ascending the Senegal, his course would take him into the valley of the Jolibah, by Sego and Timbuctoo (at the former of which places he most probably winter