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 Routledge Library Editions

THEORY IN ANTHROPOLOGY

ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY

 Routledge Library Editions
Anthropology and Ethnography
THEORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY
In 10 Volumes
I Political Systems and the Distribution of Power
Banton
II Marxist Analyses and Social Anthropology Bloch
III Marxism and Anthropology Bloch
IV The Observation of Savage Peoples Degerando
V Primitive Law Past and Present Diamond
VI Anthropology and the Greeks Humphreys
VII Theory in Anthropology Manners &
Kaplan
VIII The Theory of Social Structure Nadel
IX Readings in Early Anthropology Slotkin
X Classification and Human Evolution Washburn
 THEORY IN
ANTHROPOLOGY
A Sourcebook

EDITED BY ROBERT A MANNERS

AND DAVID KAPLAN

R Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
 First published in 1968

Reprinted in 2004 by
Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
Printed and Bound in Great Britain
© 1968 Robert A. Manners and David Kaplan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright
holders of the works reprinted in Routledge Library Editions -
Anthropology and Ethnography. This has not been possible in every case,
however, and we would welcome correspondence from those
individuals/companies we have been unable to trace.
These reprints are taken from original copies of each book. In many
cases the condition of these originals is not perfect. The publisher has
gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of these reprints, but wishes
to point out that certain characteristics of the original copies will, of
necessity, be apparent in reprints thereof.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Theory in Anthropology
ISBN 0-415-33065-3
ISBN 978-1-136-55005-8
ISBN 978-1-13655-005-8 (ebk)
(ebk)
Miniset: Theory of Anthropology
Series: Routledge Library Editions —Anthropology and Ethnography
Theory
in
Anthropology
This page intentionally left blank
Theory
in
Anthropology
A SOURCEBOOK
E D I T E D BY ROBERT A. MANNERS and DAVID KAPLAN
B R A N D E I S U N I V E R S I T Y

ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL / London

Copyright © 1968 by Robert A. Manners and David Kaplan.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans­
mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, with­
out permission in writing from the publisher.
First published 1968 by
Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited
Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane
London, E.C.4, England
SBN 7100 6172 2
Designed by David Miller
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS

Introduction: The Plan of the Book ix

Notes on Theory and Non-Theory in Anthropology 1

part i: O v e r v ie w 13
1. On the Concept of Culture, L e s l ie A . W h it e 15
2. The Superorganic: Science or Metaphysics, D avid K a pl a n 21
3. The Difficulties, Achievements, and Limitations of Social Anthropology,
M ax G l u c k m a n 31
4. Social Anthropology: Past and Present, E . E . E v a n s -P r it c h a r d 46
5. Social Anthropology and the Method of Controlled Comparison,
F r e d E ggan 54
pa rt i i : E x p l a n a t io n in S o c ia l S c ie n c e 67
6. On Explanation, J o h n H o s pe r s 69
7. The “Natural Science Ideal” in the Social Sciences, L e w is W h it e B ec k 80
8. Explanation and Comparative Dynamics in Social Science,
J o h n C. H arsa ny i 89
9. The Phenomenological and Naturalistic Approaches to the Social,
L e o n J. G o l d s t e in 97
10. Causes, Functions, and Cross-Cousin Marriage: An Essay in
Anthropological Explanation, M e l f o r d E . S p ir o 105
11. Understanding and Explanation in Social Anthropology,
J o h n H . M . B e a t t ie 115

pa rt h i: M ethodology 125
12. Levels of Sociocultural Integration: An Operational Concept,
J u l ia n H . S t e w a r d 127
13. Zuhi: Some Observations and Queries, L i A n - c h e 136
14. A Chinese Phase in Social Anthropology, M a u r ic e F r e e d m a n 145
15. Functionalism, Realpolitik, and Anthropology, in Underdeveloped Areas,
R o bert A . M anners 156
16. Some Criticisms of Cultural Relativism, P a u l F . S c h m id t 169
17. Observation and Generalization in Cultural Anthropology,
J essie B er n a r d 175
18. Residence Rules, W ard G o o d e n o u g h 181
 Contents
pa r t iv: F u n c t io n a l ism , E v o l u t io n , a n d H istory 191
19. Conflict and Congruence in Anthropological Theory, L in t o n F r e e m a n 193
A. Structure and Function 196
20. Limits to Functionalism and Alternatives to It in Anthropology,
I. C. J a r v ie 196
21. Functional Analysis of Change, F r a n c e sc a C a n c ia n 204
22. Function and Cause, R o n a l d P h il ip D o r e 212
23. On Social Structure, S. F . N a d e l 220
B. Evolution 229
24. Evolution: Specific and General, M a r s h a l l D . S a h l in s 229
25. Multilinear Evolution: Evolution and Process, J u l ia n H . S t e w a r d 241
26. On the Evolution of Social Stratification and the State, M o r t o n F r ie d 251
27. Language and Evolution, J o s e p h H . G r e e n b e r g 260
C. History 269
28. History and Science in Anthropology, M a r c J. S w a r t z 269
29. Some Issues in the Logic of Historical Analysis, E r n e s t N agel 276
30. Indian-European Relations in Colonial Latin America,
E lm an R. S e r v ic e 285
31. Closed Corporate Peasant Communities in Mesoamerica
and Central Java, E ric R . W o l f 294
pa r t v: C u l t u r e and P e r so n a l it y 301
32. The Influence of Linguistics on Early Culture and Personality Theory,
D a v id F . A b e r l e 303
33. Personality and Social Structure, B e r t K a p l a n 318
34. Behavioral Evolution and the Emergence of the Self,
A . I r v in g H a l l o w e l l 342
35. Cultural and Cognitive Discontinuity, U l r ic N e is s e r 354
pa r t v i : E cology 365
36. Culture and Environment: The Study of Cultural Ecology,
M arshall D. S a h l in s 367
37. The Frontier in History, O w e n D. L a t t im o r e 374
38. Ecologic Relations of Ethnic Groups in Swat, North Pakistan,
F r e d r ik B a r t h 386
39. Tappers and Trappers: Parallel Process in Acculturation,
R o b e r t F . M u r p h y and J u l ia n H . S t e w a r d 393
p a r t vii : I deo lo g y , L a n g u a g e , a n d V a l u e s 409
40. Sociological Aspects of the Relation between Language and Culture,
L e w is S. F e u e r 411
 Contents
41. Language, Thought, and Culture, P a u l H e n l e 421
42. Linguistic Relativity: The Views of Benjamin Lee Whorf, M ax B la ck 432
43. Belief and Knowledge, G o d f r e y L ie n h a r d t 438
44. Social Beliefs and Individual Thinking in Tribal Society,
M ax G lu c k m a n 453
45. On Norms and Values, J u d it h B la k e and K in g s l e y D a vis 465
p a r t v iii : S t r u c t u r a l is m and F o r m a l A n a l y s is 473
46. Studies in Ethnoscience, W il l ia m C. S t u r t e v a n t 475
47. The Psychic Unity of Human Groups, A n t h o n y F. C. W a l l a c e 500
48. The Ethnographic Study of Cognitive Systems, C h a r l e s O . F r a k e 507
49. Cognition and Componential Analysis: God’s Truth or Hocus-Pocus?,
R o b b in s B u r l in g 514
50. Some Comments on Formal Analysis of Grammatical
and Semantic Systems, M u r ie l H a m m e r 523
51. Structural Analysis in Linguistics and Anthropology,
C l a u d e L e v i -S t r a u s s 530
52. Claude Levi-Strauss—Anthropologist and Philosopher,
E d m u n d L each 541
53. The Cerebral Savage: On the Work of Claude Levi-Strauss,
C l if f o r d G e e r t z 551
Selected Bibliography 559
This page intentionally left blank
INTRODUCTION:
THE PLAN OF THE BOOK

R eaders in the social sciences and their various theory seemed often to differ from those of
divisions and subdivisions have proliferated so many anthropologists that we felt impelled to
rapidly in the past few years that it is now very write the introductory essay which follows.
difficult to assemble a collection which does not As the process of selection progressed we
come out looking like a reader of readers, or were often torn between the anthropologists’
what someone has referred to as a non-book, out broader view of theory, on the one hand, and
of non-books by non-authors. Consequently, any our own somewhat more restricted view of
new collection of old writings must justify itself. theory, on the other. Now, looking at the end
Our reasons for compiling the present source­ result, we find we have in effect straddled these
book were twofold. First, since a collection of two views of theory. And we believe that this
this kind had not been done before, we were seeming vacillation imparts to the book a bal­
not really embarking on a “reader of readers.” ance within our biases.
But, more important, our experience with courses We should also like to make it clear that we
in anthropological theory persuaded us of the were far less interested in putting together a
need for making accessible in a single volume a reader in the history of anthropological theory
sample of those important pieces which are pres­ than we were in assembling a collection that
ently scattered in numerous publications, some would reflect the current theoretical interests of
of which are difficult for the student to obtain. anthropology. This will explain the absence from
Our second reason had to do with certain our Table of Contents of the names of many
convictions we hold about the aims and methods distinguished anthropologists of the past, such
of anthropology. Kluckhohn’s 1939 assertion that as Tylor, Boas, Malinowski, and Kroeber. In
“the very word ‘theory’ has a pejorative conno­ some cases their theoretical ideas have either
tation for most American anthropologists,” and been superseded by or incorporated into the
his conclusion: “To suggest that something is writings of contemporary anthropologists and
‘theoretical’ is to suggest that it is slightly in­ have been improved in the process. In other
decent,” impress us as no longer appropriate, cases their work, whatever other merit it may
because anthropologists nowadays do a great have, seems to have left little or no impress on
deal of talking about theory (“The Place of current anthropological theory.
Theory in Anthropological Studies,” Philosophy The reader will note that while we have thus
of Science, VI: 333). However, it seemed to us omitted from our collection a number of out­
that there was considerable confusion about standing figures in the history of anthropology,
theory— how it might be defined, how it was de­ we have included a number of essays by writers
veloped, how it was applied, and how one went outside the discipline— writers who in our view
about confirming or disconfirming it. To us, have illuminated problems that are of direct
therefore, the more exciting reason for under­ concern to anthropological method and theory.
taking this book was that it offered an oppor­ We found that on a variety of theoretical issues
tunity to examine and evaluate these intellectual writers in other fields had either said it better
concerns of anthropology. than it had been said before or, in some in­
There are, of course, many different ways to stances, were saying things that had not been
organize a book which deals with these con­ said before— at least not by anthropologists.
cerns, and organization as well as content will
obviously reflect the biases and the interests of A few words about the organization of the
the compilers. This book is no exception. We book are in order here. The first of the eight
have, however, made a strong effort to keep our sections into which the volume is divided is en­
own biases and particular views on theory from titled “Overview.” We have included in this seg­
dominating the final product. As a matter of ment a number of essays meant in a general
fact, it was precisely because our own views on way to convey something of the scope of an­
ix
X Introduction: The Plan of the Book
thropology and to introduce some of its basic sanyi has called “autonomy” (see his essay in
concepts. Part II). According to Harsanyi, while the
Each of the five pieces in this section ad­ various institutional orders are interrelated, that
dresses itself to a somewhat different issue: The order which shows a higher degree of autono­
Gluckman essay emphasizes the “scientific” as­ mous development will tend to exert the greater
pect or dimension of anthropology, while Evans- causal influence on the system as a whole. Some
Pritchard is concerned with the more “human­ term or concept seems to be required which
istic” side of the discipline. Eggan’s contribution refers to the larger system of which these various
attempts to reconcile the traditional British and institutional orders are a part.
American approaches to the subject at the same In a review of Murdock’s Social Structure in
time that it stresses the significance to anthro­ Southeast Asia, Marshall Sahlins remarks on this
pological inquiry of the method of “controlled “larger system of which social relations are but
comparison.” David Kaplan’s essay is addressed one component.” He then goes on to say:
to the vexed issue of the autonomy of socio­
cultural phenomena and the general question of . . . the “concrete reality” after all includes as
reductionism in the sciences. White’s critique of coordinate and influential elements such things as
Kroeber and Kluckhohn is concerned with the tools, techniques, tenure arrangements and the
like. They are in the system. They enter into
problem of defining culture. A central point of functional relations with social structure; in these
his argument is that confusion often flows from relations they, and not social elements alone, may
the failure to distinguish nominal from real be forces of constraint. It is a system of things,
definitions. social relations, and ideas, a complex mechanism
While most American anthropologists con­ by which people exist and persist. It is organized
not merely to order relations, but to sustain
tinue to view culture as their key concept, a human existence. An understanding of the design
great deal of criticism has been leveled at this of such mechanisms, then, would probably have
emphasis on the grounds that the term is too to consider still wider nets of relation, would con­
broad, too all-inclusive, to be used as an analytic sider the influential context, natural and super-
organic, in which societies are enclaved. Our vision
tool. It has often been agreed that a term less is magnified several powers. Most important, it is
broad, such as social structure, proves in prac­ extended to that complex mechanism—including
tice to be more useful for the analysis and un­ the set of social relations—the name of which in
derstanding of sociocultural systems. In this American anthropology is “culture.” (“Remarks on
latter view, culture is often seen as epiphenom- Social Structure in Southeast Asia,” Journal of
the Polynesian Society [1963], 72:49. Emphases in
enal— as the product of social relationships. In original.)
our view, however, there are at least two im­
portant respects in which the culture concept In Part II, “Explanation in Social Science,”
has heuristic advantages over more restricted only two of the six selections are by anthro­
concepts like social structure. First, human so­ pologists. The remaining pieces are by phi­
cial life is preeminently shaped by culture, and losophers, with one by an economist. This
even if one is prepared to attribute “proto-cul­ unbalance may strike one as strange, since an­
ture” to species other than man, certainly the thropologists are ostensibly engaged in formu­
impact of culture on human social life is in­ lating explanations of a wide range of cultural
comparably greater than it is on the social life phenomena. However, we— along with many of
of all other animal species. Such concepts as our colleagues—have been struck by the great
social system, structure, or society used by frequency with which so-called explanation fails
themselves tend to obscure this important either to explain or to conform to the most
difference. elementary logical canons of what Karl Popper
Second, most anthropologists, whether they has called “satisfactory” explanation. For these
are guided in their work by the culture concept reasons we felt very strongly that a section on
or by such concepts as social structure, do in explanation should be included in the book.
fact deal with the interrelationship among the Because most anthropologists apparently have
various institutional orders of the systems they not considered explanation as a problem in it­
study, that is, ideology, politics, technology, self, they have rarely dealt with it as a philo­
kinship, etc. Indeed, much of the controversy sophical issue nor have they, with one or two
about theory in anthropology has centered on notable exceptions, treated it as an issue of rele­
the issue of the degree to which one or another vance to proper explanation in their own work.
of these institutional orders exhibits what Har- A search of the anthropological literature, there­
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
draw. I am at a loss to understand how it is possible for him to refer
the jaws of a shark, collected at a point so far removed from us as
Nisqually, to my species, when my description is so extremely
indefinite.

Professor Whitney gave an account of an interesting collection of

Japanese minerals and fossils, in the possession of J. H. Van Reed,
Esq., of this city.

This collection comprises over one thousand specimens of rocks,

ores, fossils, and miscellaneous objects of natural history. It is
supposed that they are chiefly of Japanese origin; but, as there is
among them a fragment of a Dutch tobacco-pipe, carefully labeled,
there may be other objects in the collection from foreign countries.
The articles are all labeled, in the Japanese language: they are
carefully fastened to the cases in which they are arranged, with
exquisite Japanese neatness. The small crystals are inclosed in glass
receptacles, having nearly the form of two large watch-crystals,
attached to each other by the edges.
In the general character of the specimens in this collection, a
singular resemblance was noticed to the productions of California,
especially in the fossils and silicified woods, of which latter there are a
number of beautiful specimens. There are several bivalve shells of
pliocene or miocene tertiary age, and some casts of gasteropods,
exquisitely formed in chalcedony. A number of sharks’ teeth, of the
genus Lamna, were also noticed. Among the fossils is a single shell of
palæozoic age, a Spirifer; it is not impossible, however, that this may
have been carried from China to Japan; at all events, a Spirifer from
that country resembling this, and of Devonian age, has been
described in the Proceedings of the Geological Society of London.
There are quite a number of specimens of copper ore in the
collection; they are all of the common yellow sulphuret, (chalcopyrite)
except one or two of erubescite. This would indicate that the principal
ore of this metal in Japan, as in other countries, is the sulphuret of
copper and iron.
 Native gold in quartz is also present in the collection; but no ores of
silver were noticed, except one specimen of steel-grained galena,
which is probably argentiferous. There are several specimens of
realgar. Among the other minerals noticed were: calcite, adularia,
chalybite, in the form of flos ferri, garnets, small crystals of pyroxene,
crystals of mica, pectolite, and another zeolitic mineral resembling
Thomsonite, as also native sulphur, obsidian, and a variety of volcanic
rocks and lavas.
The collection is quite interesting, and would be more so if the
labels could be read. The principal inference to be drawn from it, is
the predominance of volcanic formations, and of the later tertiary
strata, in the region in which this collection was made.

Dr. Ayres called attention to a remarkable turtle, in the possession

of Mr. Van Reed, known as the “Sacred Turtle” of the Japanese. It is a
species of Emys, closely allied to E. terrapin. Its marked peculiarity is,
that its back is covered by a growth of conferva, which is often
several inches long, and which gives the animal its sacred character
among the Japanese, who believe this growth to be hair. The species
is allied to C. rivularis; but the cells are more elongated. Dr. Ayres
stated that he had observed a growth of conferva on various aquatic
and amphibious animals in New England, and that, in these, it was
always attended by disease, with more or less ulcerated at the roots.
He was satisfied that this was always the case with fishes exhibiting
this growth. The turtle in question, however, does not show any
evidence of disease.
Dr. Ayres made some further remarks on the similarity of the fishes
of Mr. Van Reed’s collection to species found in California.
Mr. Gabb noticed a resemblance in the fossils to those of this State.
 Regular Meeting, March 16th, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Nine members present.
The attention of the Academy was called to the fact that the names
of Dr. W. Newcomb, of Oakland, and of Mr. H. C. Bennett, of
Columbia, both Corresponding Members of several years’ standing,
had been omitted from the published list.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
Specimen of tree cotton, from near Mazatlan, Mexico; presented by
Dr. Trask.
Donations to the Library:
Alternate generation of Annelids, by A. Agassiz. Proceedings of the
Boston Natural History Society, vol. IX, sheets 1 and 2. Report of the
Trustees of the State Lunatic Asylum for 1862.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:

Description of two New Species of Collomia

from Nevada Territory.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

Collomia Nutt.

C. tinctoria Kellogg. [Fig. 2.]

 Fig. 2.

Stem erect, slender, one to three inches in height (often so minute

as to appear almost stemless) villous and pulvurently viscid glandular
throughout. Leaves opposite, lower pair oblong-spatulate obtuse,
lamina slightly decurrent down the petioles; those above, lanceolate,
petiolate, acute, or acuminate, mucronate, one-nerved, quite entire.
The minute yellow flowers crowded at the summit in pairs, from the
axils of the much abbreviated branchlets, short, pedicellate; and with
the long, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, bractoid leaves aggregated
into a somewhat dense, subsessile head. Calyx obconic,
membranaceously diaphanous at the base; segments green, cup
prismatic (or pentangular); also with five prominent processes, or
folds, at the clefts, the semi-lanced segments acute, or acuminate,
subulate pointed, three-nerved.
The filiform flowers twice the length of the calyx, border spreading,
tube contracted below, stamens equal, or sub-equal, inserted into the
throat; capsule obovate, emarginate.
A very diminutive species from the western slope of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, found by Mr. Herbert C. Dorr. The plant yields a
beautiful yellow dye, hence the specific name.

C. micrantha Kellogg. [Fig. 3.]

Fig. 3.

Plant upright, simple, or branching above; somewhat viscid-

pubescent.
Lower leaves opposite, ovate, obtuse, petioles very short; middle
cauline leaves ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, corneously
mucronate, sessile or subsessile, three to seven-nerved; upper leaves
mostly alternate, all somewhat silky, viscid-pubescent. Flowers
pedicellate, axillary and terminal in a condensed, sub-cymose head;
calyx lobes sub-equal, linear-lanceolate, often sub-spatulate, acute,
corneously mucronate, three-nerved, ciliate, cleft to the middle
(membranous between the segments as in Gillia).
Flowers filiform, very minute, one-third to one-half longer than the
calyx; border blue, throat slightly swelled, stamens included, three
long and two short, style simple, stigma undivided, about as long as
the tube. Capsule oval, compressed (?), about three-seeded, seeds
oblong, cuneate, flattened.
A plant four to six inches in height, found by Mr. G. W. Dunn, in the
vicinity of Silver City, Nevada Territory. In one of the specimens the
first pair of leaves appears to manifest a serrate tendency.

Dr. Trask stated, that the tree cotton presented by him was said to
be the produce of a shrub from four to fifteen feet high. It is
described as growing in a pod like a banana, the shrub forming a high
chaparral. The staple is long and fine; but nothing is known of its
commercial value.
Dr. Behr remarked that it closely resembled species of Bombax and
Eriodendron, abundant in South America and the East Indies, but not
there considered as of value as a substitute for cotton.
Dr. Trask made some remarks in regard to certain species of
Conferva, which appear to be sensitive, like the species of Schrankia.
Prof. Brewer stated that he had recently received a communication
from Professor Planchon, of South France, in regard to suitable forage
plants for dry regions. In that country the Medicago sativa, or
Lucerne, was considered the most valuable, and next to it the
Sainfoin.
 Regular Meeting, April 5th, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, ten members; and Mr. W. S. Moses, by invitation.
Donations to the Library:
Chart of the oscillations of the Sacramento River, by T. M. Logan,
M.D. Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, for
September, 1862. Journal of the Boston Natural History Society,
volume VII, Nos. 2 and 3.
Dr. Kellogg read the following paper:

Description of a New Genus and Species of

Plant from Nevada Territory.
BY A. KELLOGG, M.D.

Pterostephanus Kellogg.

Involucre obconically-companulate; scales loosely imbricated in

about two to three series; the exterior unequal, calyculate,
suborbicular, oval, or oblong, obtuse; the inner series (of about eight)
sub-equal, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse; scarious margins entire; (a
broad, diffusely green line marks the centre). Receptacle naked,
alveolate, alveoli, toothed. Achenia (mature wanting), oblong, sub-
cuneate, or sub-obovate, somewhat compressed (?), slightly
contracted at the crown, smooth, sub-pubescent above, on a short
stipe. Pappus double; the exterior coroniform, persistent—a hyaline
crateriform cup, with an even but minutely crenulate edge; interior of
five (white) plumose, glabrous bristles, gradually dilating towards the
base.
 Californian herbs, with runcinately, pinnatifid, radical leaves, and
numerous naked scapes, bearing solitary, tigulate, yellow flowers;
closely allied to Malacothrix and Calycoseris, but with a plumose
pappus.

P. runcinatus Kellogg. [Fig. 4.]

Fig. 4.

Acaulescent, several naked scapes, two to four inches high, sub-

glabrous, (rarely a few scattering glandular hairs); leaves radical,
runcinately pinnatifid, lobes spinulose, frosty, or sub-wooly,
pubescent, three to seven-nerved, short petioles winged, dilated at
the base; rosulate, from a simple perennial somewhat fusiform root.

Professor Whitney exhibited a new mass of meteoric iron, found

near La Paz, on the Colorado River, in New Mexico, by Hermann
Ehrenberg, Esq. A description and analysis will be furnished at a
future meeting.
 Regular Meeting, April 20th, 1863.
Vice President, Dr. Trask, in the Chair.
Present, seven members.
Philip Lutley Sclater, Esq., of London, England, was elected a
Corresponding Member.
Donations to the Cabinet:
Three species of Reptiles from San Mateo, and one from Marin
County, collected and presented by Mr. Bolander.
Dr. Cooper communicated the following description of a new
Californian Mollusc, discovered by Rev. Joseph Rowell, at Marysville, in
the waters of Feather River.

Gundlachia Pfeiffer.

G. Californica Rowell. [Fig. 5.]

 Fig. 5.

Shell with the aperture sub-oval, obliquely expanded towards the

left, posteriorly ronaded, and wider anteriorly. Internal shelf reaching
forward about one-fifth the length of the shell, its margin slightly
concave and oblique.
Dorsal surface convex, becoming somewhat keel-shaped towards
the apex, which is strongly and obliquely deflected so as to make the
right border nearly a straight line, while the expansion on the left
projects nearly as far back as the apex, at an obtuse angle. Structure
corneous, with strong concentric lines of growth, and faint radiating
striæ. Color dark brown, opaque; inner surface shining and purplish,
the plate white towards the edge, and in some specimens showing a
thickened, white semicircle continuous with its margin across the arch
of the shell.
Length about sixteen one-hundredths, breadth eight one-
hundredths, and height six one-hundredths of an English inch.
 More than fifty specimens were found on water plants in clear
stagnant ponds, two or more often sticking on the back of a larger
one.
The discovery of this little shell in California is of great interest, the
only species hitherto known being found in Cuba. The generic
characters of this shell are strictly parallel with that species, while
those mentioned as specific easily distinguish it. The Cuban shell is
more elongated, regularly oval, the apex projecting considerably
beyond the margin of the aperture, which is not obliquely expanded
posteriorly. Its size is about one-fifth larger than that of ours.
According to Bourguignat, the young shell is a simple obtuse cone,
with a semicircular aperture formed by the edge of the shelf, and the
thickened dorsal margin; but as it grows, the animal changes the form
of the aperture until the opening beneath the shelf becomes like the
small end of a broad funnel, which in some of our specimens is still
shown by the white semicircular ring.
The shell much resembles that of the marine Crypta (Crepidula),
and also Navicella of tropical estuaries; but the animal is quite
different in the Cuban species, and will undoubtedly prove so in the
Californian.

Mr. Hanks mentioned that he had collected about two hundred

specimens of minerals for the Academy in Owen’s Lake Valley, and
that there were also some bones with them from a well thirty feet
deep, presented by Mr. H. M. McCormick; all of which would be
forwarded to San Francisco as soon as possible.
 Regular Meeting, May 4th, 1863.
President in the Chair.
Present, eleven members.
Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows:
A collection of pine cones, from H. G. Bloomer. A specimen of rock,
containing cretaceous fossils, from the vicinity of Fort Tejon (?), by E.
T. Schenck. Two specimens of Monocentris Japonicus Cuv. from Dr.
Ayres.
Donations to the Library:
Commercial Relations of the United States for the year ending Sept.
30th, 1861, from the Department of the Interior. Classification of the
Coleoptera of North America, by John Le Conte, M.D., Part I.
Smithsonian Instructions for collecting eggs and nests of North
American birds. Smithsonian Directions for collecting, preserving, and
transporting specimens of Natural History: the three last-named
volumes were presented by Dr. Ayres.
Professor Whitney read the following communication in regard to
the progress of the State Geological Survey of California.

The Act of the Legislature authorizing a geological survey of this

State was approved April 21st, 1860; but operations were not
commenced until about the first of December of that year,
consequently the work has been in progress for a little more than two
years.
The plan of the survey, according to the requirements of the act by
which it was organized, demands “an accurate and complete
geological survey of the State,” and a report containing “a full and
scientific description of its rocks, fossils, soils, and minerals, and of its
botanical and zoological productions.” Provision is also made for the
collection of specimens in all departments of geology and natural
history, which specimens are to be deposited “in such place as shall
be hereafter provided for that purpose by the Legislature.”
The following persons have been employed on the survey since it
was commenced: Professor W. H. Brewer, as Principal Assistant, and
specially in charge of the department of Botany and Agricultural
Geology. Professor Brewer, however, up to the present time, has been
chiefly engaged in the geological field work of the Survey. Mr. William
Ashburner was employed from the commencement of the work, up to
the spring of 1862, in the field; and, for a considerable portion of the
time, in examining the gold-quartz mines and machinery in the
principal mining counties of the Sierra Nevada. Mr. A. Rémond served
as volunteer, in the field work, during the season of 1862. Mr. W. M.
Gabb took the place of Palæontologist to the Survey at the beginning
of the year 1862, which position he still continues to hold. Mr. C.
Averill was connected with the Survey from its commencement up to
the month of February last, as Clerk, Commissary, and Barometrical
Observer. Dr. J. G. Cooper has been in charge of the department of
Zoology, and has been employed, at intervals, as the financial
condition of the Survey permitted, since July 1st, 1861. In the
topographical department, Mr. C. F. Hoffmann has been employed
constantly since March, 1861; and Mr. V. Wackenreuder, at intervals,
during the past year.
The uncertainty peculiar to all undertakings of this kind in the
United States, arising from the necessity of appealing to each
successive Legislature for the means of carrying on the work, and the
disturbed state of the country during the whole time since we
commenced operations, as also the unfortunate condition of the
finances of the State, which has kept the treasury from one to two
years behind in the payment of the legislative appropriations, have
combined to render it difficult to arrange and carry out as systematic
a plan for the conduct of the work as would, under more favorable
circumstances, have been practicable.
Two ideas have, however, as far as possible, governed the survey in
its operations: the first was, to make, as rapidly as could be done, a
reconnoissance of the State, with the view of acquiring a knowledge
of its general geological structure, the age of the various formations
which occur in it, and as complete a general idea as possible of their
range and extent, so that a foundation might be laid for the detailed
work which would follow the preliminary examination; the second idea
was, at the same time that the general examination was going on, to
work up in detail certain more important districts, so that the public
might have light on questions of economical interest, and at the same
time be able to form an idea of what the work might be if ever carried
to completion. Besides this, the natural history part of the survey was
to be carried on, in connection with the geological work, as rapidly as
possible, progress in all departments being necessarily proportioned
to the varying amounts of the annual appropriations.
California is covered by a vast net-work of mountain ranges,
separated by comparatively narrow valleys, with the exception of
those of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, which do not, together,
cover more than one-fifteenth of the area of the State. The remaining
fourteen-fifteenths may be called mountainous, as the valleys include
but a small portion of its surface. Into this mountainous region no
accurate surveys have ever been carried; even the General Land
Office work stops at the base of the mountains. A few ranch lines
have been run among the moderately elevated portions of the Coast
Ranges; but, as a general thing, the genuine Mexican grants were
limited to the plains.
Without considerable topographical work in connection with the
geological survey we should, then, be entirely unable to carry on our
geological work with any pretense to accuracy, as we could neither
locate our observations nor make our descriptions of the country
intelligible. The authority for doing something for the increase of the
geographical knowledge of the State is found in the clause of the act
authorizing the survey, which requires “proper maps” to accompany
the reports.
What has been done, up to the present time, in this department
may be briefly recapitulated as follows:
 A series of maps, forty-nine in number, has been compiled by Mr.
Hoffmann from the original documents at the United States Surveyor-
General’s Office; the scale of these is half an inch to the mile. They
contain a compilation of nearly all that is known at that office in
regard to the geography of the State. The maps, as thus blocked out,
have been used by us in the field, by filling in the topography
wherever our route has laid.
The maps which have been or are now being prepared for
publication are:
1st. A map of the vicinity of the Bay of San Francisco, on a scale of
half an inch to the mile, four feet by three; it extends from near Santa
Cruz on the south to Napa on the north, and from the Pacific to Corral
Hollow, east and west. The area of land which it covers is 4,248
square miles, which is just twice that of the State of Delaware, and
only lacks two hundred square miles of equaling that of Connecticut.
As near as can be ascertained, it contains one-third of the population
of the State, and has about thirty inhabitants to the square mile—the
average density of the population of California being but little over
two to the square mile. This map, on which all the details of the
topography are given, as minutely as the scale allows, is nearly
completed, and will be soon ready for the engraver.
2d. A detailed map, on a scale of two inches to the mile, of the
vicinity of Mount Diablo; this is about two and one-half by three feet
in dimensions, and includes the most important coal mining district
yet known to exist in the State. The map can be made ready for the
engraver in a few days.
3d. A map of the Coast Ranges, from the Bay of Monterey south to
Santa Barbara. It is about three feet by two and one-half in
dimensions, is on a scale of six miles to the inch, and embraces about
16,000 square miles of territory. To complete it will require about
another year’s work in the field with two sub-parties.
4th. Map of the Washoe silver-mining region—three and one-half by
two and one-half feet in dimensions, on a scale of two inches to the
mile—and extending over all the important mining ground of the
district. This map is from an accurate trigonometrical survey by V.
Wackenreuder; it is nearly completed.
5th. Map of the Comstock Lode, on a scale of four hundred feet to
the inch, completed.
6th. Map of the central portion of the Sierra Nevada; scale not yet
determined on. Extensive surveys have been made by Mr.
Wackenreuder for this part of the work, and these will be continued
during the present season.
Of the above mentioned maps, Nos. 1 and 2 will accompany the
first volume of the Report. Nos. 4, 5, and probably 6, the second
volume.
It is intended, if the survey is carried to completion, to construct a
final map of the State on a scale of six miles to the inch, in nine
sheets, each about three feet square.
In addition to the regular topographical work, an extensive series of
barometrical observation has been made, for the determination of
altitudes, some two hundred and fifty important points having been
ascended and measured. The most interesting operation in this
department was the determination of the height of Mount Shasta,
which, by an elaborate series of observations, we found to be 14,440
feet above the sea level. This is the first of the lofty volcanic peaks of
the Sierra Nevada which has been accurately measured.
In the department of geology proper, our explorations have
extended over portions of forty of the forty-six counties into which the
State is divided; and when it is remembered that the average size of a
county is equal to half that of the State of Massachusetts, (California
having just twenty-four times the area of that State,) some idea of the
magnitude of our work may be obtained. The chain of the Sierra
Nevada may be parallelized with that of the Alps for extent and
average elevation; while the Coast Ranges are nearly as extensive as
the Appalachian chain of mountains.
We have obtained a pretty clear idea of the general structure of the
Coast Ranges from Los Angeles to Clear Lake; the vicinity of the Bay
of San Francisco has been worked out in considerable detail, including
all of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa,
and Marin Counties, with portions of Santa Cruz, Solano, Napa, and
Sonoma. Considerable field-work has been done in the Sierra Nevada,
chiefly in the lower portion of the range between Mariposa and Shasta
Counties. Our observations have also been extended to the Washoe
Region, and we have received considerable collections of fossils from
the Humboldt Mining District, (known by this name on the Pacific
Coast, but designated on Warren’s Map as the “West Humboldt River
Range,” and in longitude 180°) by which we have been able to fix the
age of the formations in that region.
Mr. Gabb has been chiefly occupied, the past year, in figuring and
describing the cretaceous fossils of the Coast Ranges and the foot-
hills of the Sierra, of which he has nearly two hundred new species
ready for publication. He has also described the triassic fossils,
collected by the Survey at Washoe, and by Gorham Blake, Esq., in the
Humboldt Range. The fossils older than the Trias have been referred
to Mr. Meek for investigation. A portion of the fossil plants have been
placed in the hands of Dr. J. S. Newberry for description.
It is to the department of General Geology that, up to the present
time, by far the greater portion of our attention has been given, since
the first thing required in a geological survey is a knowledge of the
general geological structure of the State, the age of the various
formations which occur in it, and their range and extent, or the
position which they occupy on the surface, and their relations to each
other. Each group of strata, thus determined by its lithological
peculiarities, and by the fossils which it contains, is then to be laid
down upon the map, in the position in which its outcrop occupies on
the surface. The general character of the minerals and ores which
occur in each formation or group of strata having been thus
determined, the details of their mode of occurrence, their relative
abundance, and the facilities which may exist in each separate district
for making them economically available must, after the preliminary
general work has been done, be the object of more special and
detailed examinations. It is not, however, the business of a geological
surveying corps to act, to any considerable extent, as a prospecting
party; to do this, would require that we should confine our operations
to a very limited area; the labors of the whole corps for an entire
season would not suffice to thoroughly prospect more than a few
hundred square miles in a very rich mineral region, and we should
have often to engage in expensive mining operations to decide what
was really of permanent value. It is our task, rather, to limit the field
of research, and to show to others where their labors will be best
bestowed, preventing foolish expenditures of time and money in
searching for what our general geological investigations have
determined not to exist in sufficient quantity, in certain formations, to
be worth working. Especially in the first years of our work, in a State
of such an immense area as California, our labors have more the
character of a geological reconnoissance than of a detailed survey.
Already, however, during the progress of our work, a large amount
of information has been collected in regard to the mode of occurrence
and abundance of the useful ores and minerals of this State and the
adjoining Territories. The principal deposits of coal have been carefully
examined, and their geological position ascertained. Most of the
important quartz mines of the State have been visited by Mr.
Ashburner, and a large amount of information has been collected by
him, preparatory to an elaborate investigation and report on this
important branch of the industry of the Pacific Coast. Considerable
work has been done, preliminary to a full report on the geology,
mineralogy, and metallurgy of the Washoe region.
In the department of botany and agricultural geology, the work has
thus far been chiefly confined to collecting the plants of the State.
Extensive duplicate suites have been preserved both for study and
exchange, the specimens now collected amounting to not less than
twelve thousand or fifteen thousand in number, and embracing
probably half of all the species described from the State, besides
many new and undescribed ones. The collections have been made by
Professor Brewer while engaged in geological explorations, at a very
trifling expenditure of time and money.
 In the department of Agriculture proper, less has been done, owing
to limited means. Partial preparation was made for investigating the
subject of grape culture, and the production of wines; but
discontinued from the same cause. Especial attention has been paid
to our native forage plants, to aid in devising some means of arresting
the rapid decrease of forage in this State, and correspondence
entered into to obtain all possible information on this subject from
other regions whose climates are similar to our own.
In the zoölogical department—in charge of Dr. J. G. Cooper, who
has been employed about half the time since the Survey was
commenced—the annexed table gives a succinct idea of what had
been accomplished, up to the close of the year 1862, in the way of
collecting.

Class. Number Of which Believed to Other Total Of which

of species there are be new, or Californian number there are
in the new to undescribed. species credited found east
collection. California. not yet to the
collected. California. Mississippi.
Mammalia 32 10 3 45 77 14
Birds 170 28 4(?) 150 320 141
Reptiles 36 6 3 9 45 0
Fishes 58 16 16 75 133 0
Mollusca 335 123 123 65 400 0(?)

Of Articulata and Radiata no statistics can be given for want of

works especially devoted to the California species.
From this it appears that, notwithstanding the large collections
made by Government expeditions and by individuals, during the last
ten years, which have been elaborately described in the Pacific
Railroad and Mexican Boundary Reports, the Smithsonian publications,
and various other works, we have been able to add materially to the
known Fauna of California, and of the country at large, even among
the highest and best known classes.
 Arrangements have been made for having the collections in natural
history referred to the highest authorities in each branch, and portions
of our materials have already been placed at the disposition of
eminent men in Europe and the United States for examination and
description.
Deferring the fitting up of a laboratory, and the engaging of a
special assistant in the chemical department, until a suitable
permanent place could be provided in the State Museum building, Mr.
Ashburner went East in the spring of 1862 and commenced the
examination of some of the ores and minerals of the State in the
laboratory of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College, under the
direction of Professor Brush, who has charge of the metallurgical
department of that institution. The reduction of the appropriation to
fifteen thousand (15,000) dollars for the year, made it necessary to
suspend this work soon after it was commenced, in order that the
whole force of the Survey might be concentrated on the field
operations.
A small sum has been allowed to Mr. F. H. Storer, of Boston, for a
chemical investigation of the bituminous substances found in different
parts of the State. His researches will probably be embodied in the
first or second volume of the annual reports. Qualitative examinations,
as well as a few quantitative ones, have been made at the office of
the Survey, of specimens which have been collected. A considerable
number of coals have been analyzed. Information in regard to ores
and minerals has been given to a large number of persons who have
applied for the same by letter or otherwise, as will always be done
when practicable.
If the survey is continued, it will be necessary to fit up a complete
laboratory, in which the important questions constantly arising, both
in regard to the composition and metallurgic treatment of our ores,
may be carefully and systematically investigated.
No provision has yet been made by the Legislature for the
arrangement and exhibition of the collections made by the Survey.
These are already quite extensive, embracing many thousand
specimens of rocks, fossils, minerals, ores, all of which are of
importance in illustrating the Natural History, the geological structure
and the mineral resources of the State. Such as have not been
required for study remain packed in boxes, and are stored at the
office of the Survey in Montgomery Block, San Francisco.
Of course it is highly desirable that a permanent, fire-proof building
should be provided for the State collections, the proper disposition of
which is a subject of great interest, not only as connected with the
welfare and progress of the survey, but as influencing the educational
and material progress of the State.
The only official step thus far taken in this matter is the
appointment, by the last Legislature, of the State Geologist, the State
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State Surveyor-General
as a Board of Commissioners “to report to the Legislature, on or
before the second Monday of December, 1863, upon the feasibility of
establishing a State University, embracing an Agricultural College, a
School of Mines, and a Museum, including the geological collections of
the State.”
A considerable number of specimens, some of them of value, have
been already given to the State by individuals; and there can be no
doubt that many interesting and valuable articles would be
contributed, provided it were demonstrated that they would be
properly exhibited, and well taken care of. It is believed, that when
the State Museum is once established, and a suitable building
provided, the value and importance of it to the people will soon be
made so clear, that it will be sustained and fostered by the
Legislature.
By the terms of the Act of the Legislature authorizing a Geological
Survey of the State of California, it was made the duty of the State
Geologist to present to the Governor, to be laid before the Legislature,
as near as may be to the beginning of each session, a “Report of
Progress,” in which the operations of the Survey during the preceding
year should be set forth, and its more important practical results
made public. He is also required to communicate an account of the
expenditures, and to furnish estimates for the continuance of the
Survey.
 By an Act of the Legislature of 1862, however, the State Geologist
was authorized to combine his first and second annual reports into
one volume, to be printed during the winter of 1862 and 1863, and an
appropriation of $3,000 was made to pay the expenses of printing,
engraving, etc., while the size, form, and style of the report, and the
place of printing, were left to the discretion of the State Geologist,
under the advice and with the approval of the Governor.
According to this, there is a report now due the State; but, as no
part of the appropriation of last year for the continuance of the
Survey has been yet received, or is likely to be, for months to come,
and as the appropriation for printing is in the same condition, the
work has been necessarily delayed. As it is presumed that the amount
due the Survey from last year will be available some time next winter,
it is not anticipated that there will be any difficulty in issuing the first
volume; and, if the Legislature takes the necessary steps early in the
session, two, or perhaps three, volumes can be published in 1864. It
is intended that they shall be of royal octavo size, in the best style of
typography, and illustrated with maps, sections, plates of fossils, etc.
The maps will be engraved on copper and printed from transfers, in
order the original plates may be preserved, to be used, after
necessary corrections and revisions, in the final report, or otherwise,
as may be found desirable. The maps will be sold separately, with or
without the geological coloring, as desired. The first volume will be
chiefly devoted to the geology of the Coast Ranges; the second to
that of the Sierra Nevada and the mining districts of the eastern
slope. If my plans are not thwarted by the Legislature, both these
volumes will be issued together next year, and will form a “Report of a
Geological Reconnoissance of the State of California.” By the law, as it
now stands, the publications of the Survey are required to be copy-
righted, and sold for the benefit of the Common School Fund; hence,
it has been impossible to communicate to the public, from time to
time, through the medium of the Academy’s publications, the results
which have been obtained. It is proper to say, in this connection, that
the extent of territory to be examined, the complexity of the
phenomena, and the bearing which our investigations will have on
important questions of economical interest, make it eminently proper
that there should not be an undue haste exhibited, on the part of the
Survey, to place its results before the world. We can only hope to
influence the mining public, in this State, by degrees; and it is
necessary, first of all, that it should be made clearly to appear, with
the lapse of time, that our statements are to be relied on as closely
approximating to the truth.

Professor Whitney communicated the following letter from Professor

Brush, giving the results of a chemical investigation of the meteoric
iron presented to the city of San Francisco, by General Carleton:

Sheffield Laboratory of Yale College,

New Haven, March 30th, 1863.
Professor J. D. Whitney, State Geologist, San Francisco, Cal.
Dear Sir:—I have examined the specimen of meteoric iron from
Tucson, which you sent me for analysis, and herewith communicate to
you my results.
The density of the mass is 7.29. When a fragment of it is placed in
a solution of neutral sulphate of copper, it quickly becomes coated
with metallic copper, proving the iron to be “active.” An inspection of
the specimen with a lens showed it to be dotted with little cavities,
which on the fresh fracture were lined with a white silicious mineral,
giving the surface a porphyritic, or pseudo-porphyritic, appearance.
When a fragment was attacked with an acid, a portion of the iron
was dissolved, leaving the silicious mineral projecting from the surface
of the specimen; and with a magnifier, black particles of Schreibersite
could be seen. After complete solution of the iron, a careful
microscopic examination was made of the insoluble residue. With a
magnifying power of 25 diameters, it appeared to consist chiefly of
two substances: one a milk-white to transparent mineral, having a
fused, rounded surface, occurring in little globules, or elongated,
rounded particles; while the other constituent was black and angular,
and attractable by the magnet. The first named substance, when
observed with a magnifying power of 100 diameters, proved to
contain minute specks of the black mineral disseminated through it;
some of the silicious fragments were translucent and of a milk-white
color, and others colorless and transparent; a large number, however,
were transparent at one end, shading into milk-white at the other,
thus seeming to indicate that the transparent and translucent portions
were not two distinct minerals. A blowpipe examination of the silicious
mineral showed it to have characters very much resembling olivine.
The black mineral proved to be Schreibersite. A minute trace of
chromium was also observed in the insoluble residue.
The qualitative analysis of the portion soluble in nitric acid indicated
the presence of iron, nickel, cobalt, copper, phosphorus, lime, and
magnesia with unweighable traces of chlorine, sulphur, and alumina.
For the quantitative examination of the meteorite a fragment
weighing 4.3767 grammes was treated with nitro-chlorohydric acid
(aqua regia), and after solution of the iron the whole was evaporated;
on approaching dryness, gelatinous silica separated, showing that the
silicate had been partially, at least, decomposed by the acid. After
heating until the silica was rendered insoluble, it was repeatedly
treated with acid and evaporated, so as to insure the oxydation of all
the Schreibersite, and finally the soluble part was taken up with
chlorohydric acid, and on dilution separated by filtration from the silica
and insoluble residue.
The filtrate, or soluble part, was accurately measured and divided
into four portions for analysis—two portions were used for the
determination of the iron, nickel, cobalt, phosphorus, and alkaline
earths; a third portion was employed to estimate the copper, and the
fourth portion was reserved to answer in case of accident.
Two methods were used for the separation of the iron from the
nickel and cobalt—one by precipitation of the iron as basic acetate,
and the other by precipitation with carbonate of baryta in the
presence of an excess of chloride of ammonium; but in neither case
was the separation perfected on the first precipitation, and traces of
nickel remained with the iron even after the second precipitation. The
nickel and cobalt were separated by means of nitrite of potash, and
the cobalt was subsequently converted into sulphate and as such
weighed. The lime and magnesia were separated by oxalate of
ammonia, care being taken to redissolve and reprecipitate the lime to
insure its being free from traces of magnesia. On spectroscopic
examination of the precipitate, it proved to be lime, free from other
alkaline earths.
The precipitate of iron, after being weighed, was fused with
carbonate of soda; the product of the fusion was dissolved in
chlorohydric acid, and the phosphoric acid precipitated with
molybdate of ammonia. This phospho-molybdic precipitate was
dissolved in ammonia to free it from possible traces of silica and other
impurities, and the phosphoric acid precipitated from this solution by
an ammoniacal mixture of sulphate of magnesia and chloride of
ammonium.
The copper was precipitated as sulphide by sulphuretted hydrogen
gas, redissolved in nitric acid, and determined as oxyd.
The insoluble residue, containing free silica and undecomposed
silicate, was perfectly white, and free from all traces of Schreibersite.
It weighed 0.1855 grm. equal to 4.24 per cent. of the specimen
analyzed. It was fused with carbonate of soda, and the silica and
bases determined in the usual manner. It contained 0.159 grm. silica;
0.0054 protoxyd of iron, with a minute trace of alumina; 0.0028 lime,
and 0.0168 magnesia.
The soluble and insoluble portions gave in the analysis the following
per centage composition:

Considering the silica to exist as olivine.

Iron 81.56 79.44
Nickel 9.17 9.17
Cobalt 0.44 0.44
Copper 0.08 0.08
Phosphorus 0.49 0.49
Silica 3.63 Combined with 2.73 10.07
Protoxyd of Iron with 0.12 Protoxyd of Iron, making
trace of Alumina Olivine
Lime 1.16
Magnesia 2.43
Chlorine,
minute
Sulphur, traces
traces
Chromium,
99.08 99.69

If the silica found in this analysis be considered to exist in

combination with lime, magnesia, and iron, in the proportions to form
olivine, it will be necessary to deduct 2.12 per cent. from the amount
of metallic iron (equal to 2.73 per cent. of protoxyd of iron), in order
to give the silicate the olivine formula, (3 R O, Si O₃). Admitting this
to be the correct view, the mass analyzed contains 10.07 per cent. of
olivine, and by the addition of the oxygen of the protoxyd of iron the
analysis adds up 99.69 instead of 99.08.
The variable composition of Schreibersite in different specimens of
meteoric iron, and the peculiar character of the insoluble residue of
this meteorite, together with the small amount of material in my
possession, rendered it impracticable to determine the exact amount
of this substance contained in the specimen.
The composition of this meteorite corresponds very closely with
another meteoric-iron from Tucson, discovered by Mr. Bartlett, and
described by Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, in the American Journal of
Science, vol. XIX, page 161. Dr. Smith’s analysis gives Iron 85.54,
Nickel 8.55, Cobalt 0.61, Copper 0.03, Phosphorus 0.12, Chromic-oxyd
0.21, Magnesia 2.04, Silica 3.02, Alumina, trace = 100.18. He
considers it to correspond to Nickeliferous Iron 93.81, Chrome Iron
0.41, Schreibersite 0.84, Olivine 5.06 = 100.18. By an evident
inadvertence Dr. Smith adds the magnesia and silica together, and
gives the sum as olivine; these substances are obviously not in the
proportions to form the silicate 3 R O, Si O₃, and if we consider the
silicate to be olivine, we must reckon the excess of silica as combined
with protoxyd of iron. To do this, we must deduct 2.78 from the
amount of metallic iron (equal to 2.58 protoxyd of iron), necessary to
be combined with the silica and magnesia to give the olivine formula.
The amount of olivine contained in the Bartlett meteoric-iron will then
be 8.64 per cent. Thus the two masses of iron will be seen to agree
very nearly in composition, the only trifling difference being, that Dr.
Smith has determined quantitatively the small amount of chromium
contained in the Bartlett meteorite, while I have found a little lime and
traces of sulphur and chlorine in the specimen you sent to me. The
specific gravity I have stated to be 7.39; this was taken on about 12.5
grammes of the iron, and probably is somewhat higher than the
portion which I analyzed, as the two surfaces of the larger mass had
been rubbed down, and as thus a considerable portion of the exposed
silicate would be mechanically removed, it would make the density
correspondingly higher.
I regret that I had not more of this interesting meteorite at my
command, in order to have determined more definitely and
satisfactorily the character of the insoluble residue. I shall be glad to
make a further investigation of this point if you will supply me with
more material.
Very respectfully yours,
GEO. J. BRUSH.

After reading the above letter, Professor Whitney added some

remarks on the form and locality of the meteoric iron analyzed by
Professor Brush, stating the circumstances under which it came in
possession of the city of San Francisco.
On the twenty-fourth of November, 1862, the Board of Supervisors
of this city received, through Mayor Teschemacher, a letter from
General George Wright, commanding the Department of the Pacific,
stating that he had received a mass of meteoric iron from General
Carleton, commanding the “Column from California,” and which mass
he, in accordance with General Carleton’s request, placed at the
disposal of the city authorities.
General Carleton’s letter is here appended:
 Head Quarters Column from California,
Tucson, Arizona, June 30th, 1862.
To General George Wright, U. S. Army, Commander Dep. of the Pacific,
San Francisco, Cal.
My dear General:—Soon after my arrival at this place I sent by a train
to Fort Yuma, to be shipped to your address at San Francisco, a very
large and beautiful Aerolite, which I found here and which I had
heard and read of for many years. In Bartlett’s Explorations, vol. 2,
page 297, it is described as follows: “In the afternoon,” July 18th,
1853, “I called to take leave of General Blanco, and at the same time
examine a remarkable meteorite, which is used for an anvil in a
blacksmith’s shop. This mass resembles native iron, and weighs about
six hundred pounds. Its greatest length is five feet. Its exterior is
quite smooth, while the lower part which projects from the larger leg
is very jagged and rough. It was found about twenty miles distant on
the road towards Tubac and about eight miles from the road.”
I desire that you present this aerolite to the City of San Francisco,
to be placed upon the Plaza, there to remain for the inspection of the
people and for examination by the youth of the city forever. It will be
a durable memento of the march of the Column from California.
I am, General, sincerely and respectfully,
Your friend and servant,
JAMES H. CARLETON,
Brigadier General U. S. A.

Soon after this mass of meteoric iron came into the possession of
the city, I obtained permission from the Board of Supervisors to have
sawn from it a small piece for analysis and for distribution to a few of
the principal public institutions in this country and Europe having
collections of aerolites; this has been done, and also a fine
photograph of it taken by Mr. C. E. Watkins, of which copies will be
forwarded, with the specimens of the mass itself, as convenient
opportunity offers.
 The piece intended for analytical examination was sent to Professor
Brush of Yale College, and a letter has just been received from him
giving the results, which will be found in the preceding pages, and
which may appropriately be followed by a few remarks on the size
and general appearance of the mass, with such other facts in regard
to it as may be of general interest.

The weight of the mass of which the analysis is given above was six
hundred and thirty-two pounds, when it arrived in this city, and about
two pounds have been since cut from it.
Its shape is irregular, but in general it is that of a flattened
elongated slab, having a length of four feet one inch and an average
breadth of about eighteen inches; its thickness is irregular, varying
from two to five inches. It has evidently been long used as an anvil,
having been partly buried in the ground in an upright position, having
a flat face of about four inches square on the top, with two holes
drilled in the projecting edge for adding to the convenience of its use
as a blacksmith’s anvil.
The mass is now placed in the Mayor’s office, it having been
deemed inadvisable to expose it on the Plaza, as desired by the donor,
on account of its liability to rust in the damp atmosphere of San
Francisco, and the difficulty of securing it from injury by careless or
mischievous handling.
Professor Brush remarks that “the composition of this meteorite
corresponds very closely with that of another meteoric iron from
Tucson” discovered by Mr. Bartlett and analyzed by Professor J.
Lawrence Smith. A comparison of the analyses of Professors Brush
and Smith and a reference to Mr. Bartlett’s work seem to render it
highly probable, to say the least, that the two analyses were of pieces
cut from the same mass.
In this connection I will add to General Carleton’s quotation from
Mr. Bartlett’s book a few lines which complete what is said in regard to
the meteorites seen by him at Tucson. Mr. Bartlett adds, after stating
that the mass was found about twenty miles distant towards Tubac
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