248 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



natural history of the country in its fullest detail. An im- 

 portant geological discovery made by him is that the appear- 

 ance of dry land on the Isthmus is of tertiary date, and that 

 it is coeval with the period of volcanic excitement in the 

 California sierra. 



PROFESSOR ORTON'S EXPLORATIONS. 



Professor Orton has returned to the duties of his chair at 

 Vassar College, after a very interesting and successful expe- 

 dition to South America. His general route was up the Ama- 

 zon to Yurimaguas, on the Huallaga, by steamer, thence by 

 canoe up the Parana-pura to Balsa-Puerto, thence on foot 

 over the mountains, via Moyobamba, to Chachapoyas, and 

 thence by mule, via Balsas and Cajamarca, to Pascamayo, on 

 the Pacific. Descending along the coast (or, in the local 

 phrase, ascending), he visited Lima, and afterward Mollendo 

 (south latitude, 17). He then proceeded, via Arequipa, to 

 Lake Titicaca, being the first traveler to go from the Pacific 

 to that lofty lake by the railroad just completed. His prin- 

 cipal object was the study of the physical geography of the 

 Maraiion and its tributaries; and he succeeded in securing a 

 large amount of information throwing light on that interest- 

 ing region, hitherto visited mainly by collectors, and in ob- 

 taining data for a very accurate map of the entire Montana, 

 shortly to be constructed. 



Numerous collections were made by Professor Orton along 

 his route, to illustrate the geology and the distribution of 

 life. A very prolific bed of fossil shells was found at Iquitos, 

 in the same "Tabatinga clay formation" in which he had dis- 

 covered them at Pebas in 1867, but with additional species. 

 He also collected brachiopods and ammonites on the Andes. 

 His most important collections, however, consisted of fishes, 

 reptiles, and shells from the Maraiion and the Andes. The 

 cold-blooded vertebrates collected by Professor Orton have 

 been placed in the hands of Professor Cope for identifica- 

 tion. 



Professor Orton also made some archaeological investi:a- 

 tions in several localities, and brouo-ht home with him a rich 

 assortment of mummies, skulls, earthen and copper utensils, 

 and textile fabrics. The round burial towers'which he visit- 

 ed at Sillustani he considers as doubtless pre-incarial. 



