Personal Liberty Laws (Statutes of Mass.), and Slavery in the Territories (Case of Dred Scott). 8vo pamph. Boston. 1861. Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Notices of the Proceedings at the Meetings of the Members. Vol. III. Part 10. Nov. 1859 - July, 1860. 8vo. London. 1860. List of the Members, Officers, &c. for the Year 1859. 8vo. London. 1860.

Radcliffe Trustees.

Radcliffe Catalogue of 6317 Stars, chiefly Circumpolar, reduced to the Epoch 1845.0; formed from the Observations made at the Radcliffe Observatory, under the Superintendence of Manuel John Johnson, M. D., late Radcliffe Observer; - with Introduction by Rev. Robert Main, M. A., Radcliffe Observer. 1 vol. Roy. 8vo. Oxford. 1860.

Four hundred and ninety-seventh meeting.

August 14, 1861.- STATUTE MEETING.

The PRESIDENT in the chair.

The Corresponding Secretary read letters relative to the exchanges of the Academy; also letters from the Rev. Professor Peabody and Mr. Ferrel, in acknowledgment of the official notification that they had been chosen Fellows of the Academy, and from the family of the late Chief Justice Shaw, and from that of the late Judge White, in acknowledgment of the reception of copies of the resolves of the Academy adopted upon the occasion of the announcement of their decease.

A quorum for the transaction of business not being present, scientific communications only were received.

Dr. Beck gave an account of the principal manuscript copies of the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter preserved in various European libraries, and which he had examined; and he presented to the Academy a collation of the various readings of these manuscripts, with a view to the construction of an amended text of this author.

The Corresponding Secretary communicated, from the author, the following paper:

Musci Cubenses, or Mosses collected by Charles Wright in the Eastern Part of the Island of Cuba during the Years 1856, 1857, and 1858. By WILLIAM S. SULLIVANT.

Gen. SPHAGNUM, Dill.

1. S. CYMBIFOLIUM, Ehr.; Sch. Nat. Hist. Sphaig. p. 73, t. 19.. Wet places on the tops of high mountains. Specimens without fruit: the cortical utricles of the branches often destitute of fibres.

Gen. POTTIA, Ehr.

2. P. TORTULA, C. Mull. Synop. Musc. 1, p. 559; Schwægr. Suppl. t. 175. On rocks.

3. P. BARBULA, C. Mull. l. c. p. 558; Schwægr. Suppl. l. c. - On rocks along mountain rivulets. Remains of a peristome resembling that of Barbula were found on some of the specimens.

Gen. WEISSIA, Hedw.

4. W. EDENTULA (sp. nov.): dioica, capsula oblonga gymnostoma exannulata, cæterum W. crispata simillima. - On the ground in shady thickets.

5. W. viridula, Brid.; Bryol. Europ. t. 21 & 22. On banks by road-sides.

Gen. PHYSCOMITRIUM, Brid.

6. P. SPATHULATUM, C. Mull. Synop. Musc. 1, p. 118? - Wet places by road-sides in woods.

Gen. GYMNOSTOMUM, Hedw.

7. G. IMMERSUM, Sulliv. Icones Muscorum, ined. t. 56. Moist places along shaded roads.

8. G. RUPESTRE, Schwægr., var. statura majore, cæspite laxa, foliis lineari-lanceolatis acutis: forsan species propria. banks, along rivulets.

Gen. FUNARIA, Schreb..

On steep, shaded

9. F. HYGROMETRICA, Hedw.; Bryol. Europ. t. 305. On the ground; common.

Gen. FISSIDENS, Hedw.

10. F. POLYPODIOIDES, Hedw. Musc. frond. 3, p. 63, t. 27. — On banks in dense woods.

11. F. MINUTULUS, Sulliv. in Mem. Amer. Acad. n. ser. 3, p. 58, t. 2;

Icones Musc. ined. t. 24. On calcareous banks in thickets.

12. F. MINUTULUS, var. foliis latioribus, capsula inclinata. locality.

13. F. SIMILIRETIS (sp. nov.): dioicus exiguus simplex; caule rigido inferne nudo; foliis 20-30-jugis confertissimis subhomomallis linearibus acutis minute subopace guttulato-areolatis toto ambitu immarginatis minutissime crenulato-serrulatis, duplicatura producta, lamina dorsali angusta ad basin vel supra desinente, costa valida pellucida flexuosa sub apice dissoluta; capsula terminali brevius pedicellata oblongo-obovata; operculo et calyptra desideratis. On cliffs among mountains. A larger species than the last: fronds 4-5 lines high and about one line wide, pale olive-green above and reddish-brown below: leaves not crisped when dry.

14. F. DISSITIFOLIUS (sp. nov.): dioicus simplex erectus mollis remoti-folius; foliis elongato-oblongis lineari-oblongisve breviter acutis fere ad apicem subdenticulatam anguste marginatis, lamina dorsali lata ad basin sensim vel abrupte desinente, e cellulis laxis amplis hexagonorotundatis (illis duplicaturæ basilaribus oblongis amplioribus) areolatis, costa infra apicem evanescente; capsula terminali ovali-oblonga; operculo longirostrato; calyptra dimidiata. Wet rocks in shaded ravines. -Somewhat larger than the last species, with distant, dark green, and when dry crisped leaves.

15. F. DENSIRETIS (sp. nov.): dioicus parvus gracilis simplex rigidus; foliis 20 – 25-jugis confertis subsecundis linearibus sensim acutatis minutissime crenulato-serrulatis opacis ad apicem usque pellucido-costatis, lamina duplicaturæ producta limboque pellucido intromarginali instructa, lamina dorsali apicalique immarginatis; capsula terminali brevius pedicellata obovato-oblonga; operculo longirostrato; calyptra dimidiata. On the bottom of dried-up rivulets.- Fronds slender, 5 – 8 lines high, gradually increasing in width from the base upwards, but nowhere more than about half a line wide: leaves dark green, opaque, with very minute cells, remarkable for the band composed of three rows of pellucid, linear cells, just within the margin of the duplicature.

16. F. CUSPIDULATUS (sp. nov.): dioicus pusillus simplex gracilis ; foliis 16 - 20-jugis elongato-oblongis obtusiusculis costa pellucida excedente cuspidulatis opacis crenulato-serrulatis minutissime guttulato-areolatis, lamina duplicaturæ - productæ hyalino-marginata, lamina apicali et dorsali ad basin late rotundata immarginatis; capsula termi

-

nali oblonga; operculo et calyptra precedentis. On rocks in ravines. -Fronds slender, 4-5 lines high, dark olive-green. Near F. Ravenelii, but a taller plant with more oblong leaves, their dorsal lamina broad and obtuse at the base.

17. F. RUFULUS (sp. nov.): synoicus perparvulus simplex; foliis 5-7-jugis lanceolato-linearibus sensim acutis rufulis integerrimis immarginatis, e cellulis majusculis hexagono-rotundatis pellucidis areolatis, duplicatura producta apice inæquali, lamina dorsali latiuscula ad basin abrupte desinente, costa concolori percurrente; capsula breviter pedicellata ovali-oblonga; calyptra conica longum operculi rostrum solum tegente. On reddish earth, attached to the roots of trees uptorn by wind. - A minute species, 1-2 lines high, of a pale brownish-red color: agrees in many respects with the description of a Surinam species, F. pellucidus, Hornsch. in Linnæa, 1841, p. 146, but the leaves are of a firm texture, and the areolation, though large, not splachnoid; furthermore, the inflorescence is synoicous, which is not asserted of the Surinam plant.

18. F. ANGUSTIFOLIUS (sp. nov.): dioicus pusillus conferte flabellatim foliosus; foliis linearibus angustissimis longissimis acutis circumcirca marginatis integerrimis densius pellucido-hexagono-areolatis, duplicatura producta, lamina dorsali ad basin desinente, costa cum apice dissoluta; capsula terminali ovali-oblonga seu oblongo-obovata ; operculo capsulam excedente; calyptra dimidiata operculum vix tegente. Wet places on the ground in dense wooods. Fronds 1-2 lines

high and nearly as wide. Leaves bright green, crisped when dry, short below, rapidly increasing in length as they ascend. Pedicels 4-5 lines high.

19. F. SPHAGNIFOLIUS (sp. nov.): dioicus pusillus; fronde declinata; foliis flaccidis 5-9-jugis confertis flabellatim expansis longe lineari-lanceolatis integerrimis hic illic submarginatis, cellulis amplissimis subrhombeis flexuose circumscriptis utriculo primordiali valde evoluto, duplicatura inæquali vix producta, costa longe infra apicem dissoluta; capsula terminali in pedicello geniculato-ascendente inæquali-oblonga incurva; operculo longe rostrato calyptram lineari-conicam excedente. Found growing with No. 17.-Fronds similar in size and outline to those of No 18; pedicels longer.

20. F. CLAVIPES (sp. nov.): dioicus perpusillus simplex vel parce ramosus laxifolius; foliis 8-10-jugis lineari-lanceolatis ubique densius pellucide rotundato-areolatis basi duplicaturæ productæ laxius oblongo

areolata excepta, lamina dorsali ad basin sensim evanescente, marginibus omnibus limbo angusto integro e cellulis linearibus constructo circumcinctis, costa cum apice evanida; capsula terminali ovali-oblonga, pedicello apice incrassato; operculo longirostrato; calyptra dimidiata. - Wet banks of rivulets. - A very small species; remarkable for the apophysate appearance of its capsule, owing to a thickening of the upper part of the pedicel. Stems 2-3 lines high, with bright-green foliage, crisped when dry.

21. F. PETROPHILUS (sp. nov.): monoicus rigidus gracilis, basi nudiuscula fasciculatus, prolifero-elongatus; foliis circiter 30-jugis confertissimis erectis longissimis angustis e basi ad apicem sensim acuminatis, duplicatura inæquali et ultra producta, lamina dorsali angusta supra basin sensim evanescente, cellulis firmis pellucidis flavidis subrotundis illis secus costam sub apice evanidam majoribus; capsula terminali inæquali-oblonga subinclinata brevipedicellata; operculo et calyptra precedentis. On rocks in ravines. Fronds 8-10 lines high, slender, gradually increasing in width towards the top, where they are nearly one line wide. Foliage of a firm texture, dark green dashed with light brown, not crisped when dry.

Gen. TREMATODON, Rich.

22. T. LONGICOLLIS, Rich.; Schwægr. Suppl. t. 126. On banks,

rare.

Gen. TRICHOSTOMUM, Hedw.

23. T. CANALICULATUM, Hampe. Same as a Venezuelan specimen from Hampe: where described? - On the rocky banks of streams. 24. T. MACROSTEGIUM (sp. nov.): dioicum gregarium; caule simplici brevi gracili; foliis e basi pellucide ampliuscule areolata longa vaginante superne latiore undulata erecto-patentibus ovato-acuminatis vel lanceolatis, perichætialibus longioribus margine flexuoso-involutis, omnibus superne dense quadrato-areolatis apice plus minus serratis, costa percurrente; capsula anguste cylindracea curvula inclinata; operculo longissime aciculari capsulam superante; perist. dentibus longis leniter contortis atropurpureis papillosis filiscenti-attenuatis.— On rocky banks. The distinguishing characters of this species are, the sheathing base of its leaves, particularly the perichætial, the remarkably long operculum, exceeding in length the slender, cylindrical, inclined, and often horizontal capsule, and the finely attenuated apices of the teeth of the peristome.