Somewhat villose or glabrous; stems from small (annual?) root, slender, spreading; stipules ovate-lanceolate, setaceously-acuminate, entire; leaflets linear-cuneate, lateral ones rarely dentate, bifid or incised at the apex with a mucronate point between the lobes; peduncles twice or three times as long as the leaves; heads naked, six to twelve flowered, or more; flowers pedicelled, at length reflexed; calyx five-parted, dentate, subulate-setaceous, somewhat hirsute, and nearly equal to the persistent, rose-colored scarious corolla. Near Marsh’s Ranch, between Monte Diablo and the San Joaquin, among grass in a ravine near the water, May 29th. Stems six to sixteen inches long. Heads and flowers about the size of those of the small form of _T. gracilentum_, to which species it is allied. Ovary two-ovulate, seeds single. ASTRAGALUS L. _A. curtipes_, n. sp. (§ Phaca, *Inflati.) Minutely canescent, at length glabrate, a foot high; stipules connate, opposite the leaf; leaflets twelve to sixteen pairs narrowly oblong, retuse petiolulate, glabrous above; raceme in fruit short; calyx-teeth slender, subulate, slightly shorter than the campanulate tube; legume membranaceous, inflated, glabrate (1½ inches long,) semi-ovoid, (the ventral suture nearly straight, the dorsal very gibbous,) scarcely acute at either end, jointed to a rigid stipe, which does not exceed the tube of the calyx. Dry hill sides, San Luis Obispo. Corolla not seen. _A. oxyphysus_, n. sp. (§ Phaca, *Inflati.) Tall, very softly canescen-villous; stipules small, scarious, distinct; leaflets 8-11 pairs, oblong; peduncles much surpassing the leaf; raceme elongated; bracts small and subulate; teeth of the silky calyx subulate, half the length of the cylindraceous tube; corolla white or greenish; legume obovate-acuminate, the base attenuate into a recurved stipe which somewhat exceeds the calyx. Monte Diablo Range, near Arroyo Puerto, on dry hills. A most distinct and striking new species. _A. Breweri_, n. sp. Allied to _A. tener_ Gray, Rev. Astrag. (_Phaca astragalina, var._? Hook. and Arn., and probably _A. hypoglottis, var. strigosa_, Kellogg,) but more branched from the annual root, and with broader leaflets, (4-5 pairs, oblong-obcordate); head 5-7 flowered, compact; immature legume globose-ovate, silky-canescent, not stipulate, erect, six-ovulate, one-celled, the dorsal suture slightly intruded. Fields in Sonoma Valley, April. Common. Dr. Ayres read letters from Mr. A. Garrett, and presented the following paper: Descriptions of New Species of Fishes—No. II. BY ANDREW GARRETT, OF HONOLULU, SANDWICH ISLANDS. CHEILODACTYLUS Lacep. 1803. _C. vittatus_ Garrett. B. 6; D. 17-30; A. 3-8; V. 1-5; P. 8-6; C. 5, 1, 7, 6, 1, 4.