In a most interesting treatise on the characteristics of the insect fauna of the “White Mountains,” by Samuel H. Scudder, (Boston Journal, Vol. VII, Part IV), I find the description of the Caterpillar of _Chionobas Semidea_, Edw., with a notice that it was found on Lichen. This would prove a most remarkable exception, as all the other _Satyrides_ feed on Monocotyledoneous plants. Nevertheless, larvæ of Artic types are generally polyphagous, and adapted to some degree, to accommodate themselves to circumstances, and so I would not entertain any doubts about the feeding plant of the _Chionobas_, if it were not for the circumstance that Mr. Scudder confesses that he did not succeed in bringing the Caterpillar, with Lichen, to perfection. Perhaps the Caterpillar fed on grass, or perhaps some _Carex_, and was only, by some accident, compelled to crawl to the lichen-covered stone, where that gentleman found it. I hope to hear very soon about this most interesting object, for I consider the discovery of the metamorphoses of one insect, a more valuable fact than the diagnoses of ten new species, of which we do not know more than the external appearance. Prof. Wm. P. Blake presented the following papers: Note on a large lump of Gold found on the Middle fork of the American River. BY PROF. WM. P. BLAKE. In July last, a mass of gold nearly free from quartz, was taken out of a placer on the Middle Fork of the American River, about two miles above Michegan Bluffs. It weighed, as taken out, 187 ounces troy, and sold for $17.50 per ounce, netting the finder $3,272.50. In melting, a loss of six ounces was experienced. There was a further loss to the purchaser, from the poor quality of the gold, the assay return of which I have not yet been able to obtain. The ordinary gold of the claim is worth $17.50. It is a singular fact, often remarked by dealers, that the large lumps of gold are almost always poorer in quality than the smaller ordinary grains from the same placers. Note on the Fossil remains of the Horse and Elephant, mingled, at Mare Island, San Francisco Bay. BY PROF. WM. P. BLAKE.