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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Fig. 1. Portrait of Floeentino Ameghino, October, 1910. 



Courtesy of W. J. Sinclair. 



in volume, learning and acrimony. In 1889 he published a revision of 

 the fossil mammals of Argentina in two large quarto volumes abundantly 

 illustrated. During thirty years of work Ameghino described over 500 

 new genera, with probably some thousands of species of fossil mammals. 

 These papers made known to science a whole new world of animal 

 life. The Tertiary mammals of South America were as different from 

 those of the rest of the world as is the modern Australian fauna, and 

 for most of our knowledge of them we are indebted to Ameghino. Be- 

 sides the Santa Cruz with its wonderful riches of fossil mammals, he 

 described a series of older faunas no less interesting. That so much 

 should be accomplished by one man is remarkable enough. It is far 

 more remarkable that he should achieve so much in spite of straitened 

 means, and bitter official opposition, which he had, it must be admitted, 

 brought upon himself by his vehement, combative and controversial 



