ii 4 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



sion of fossil-beds — have been principally elucidated by Heer, who was 

 professor at the University of Zurich, and for many years the leading 

 authority on fossil plants and insects. There were found more than 

 450 different kinds of plants, over 470 species of insects, and many 

 fishes, reptiles and other animals. In America the corresponding 

 locality, much more recently discovered, and much less extensively 

 worked, is Florissant, in Colorado. 



The first notice of Florissant as a locality for fossils was given by 

 Mr. A. C. Peale in the " Annual Eeport of the U. S. Geological Survey 

 of the Territories," in 1874. It was remarked that in the upper part 

 of the valley on the South Platte Eiver, a few miles from Pikes Peak, 

 there was an ancient lake basin, marked by extensive deposits in which 

 were found remains of leaves. In the years following, the place was 

 visited by various naturalists, several of whom made collections. In 

 1877, Dr. S. H. Scudder, accompanied by Messrs. Arthur Lakes, of 

 Golden, Colorado, and F. C. Bowditch, of Boston, spent the summer 

 there, and made an enormous collection, especially of fossil insects. 

 Mrs. Charlotte Hill, a resident of Florissant, also became interested, 

 and with the aid of the neighboring children gathered together many 

 valuable specimens, which are now to be found in various museums. 

 An expedition from Princeton University, including the well-known 

 paleontologists, W. B. Scott and H. F. Osborn, also went to Florissant, 

 and the collections obtained were in part sent to the British Museum, 

 and probably to other institutions. Another large collection was made 

 by Dr. G. Hambach, of St. Louis, Mo., forming the basis of a paper 

 on the fossil flora by Mr. W. C. G. Kirchner. 



After a period of activity lasting a number of years, interest in 

 Florissant died down, and not only were the fossil beds neglected, but 

 hundreds of precious specimens already gathered were allowed to 

 remain hidden away in various museums and colleges unstudied. When 

 the material first came in, all the fossil plants were referred to Leo 

 Lesquereux, who was at that time the one great authority on paleo- 

 botany in this country. Lesquereux published many descriptions of 

 Florissant plants in his great works on the " Tertiary Flora " and 

 " Cretaceous and Tertiary Floras," issued in sumptuous form by the 

 U. S. Geological Survey in 1878 and 1883, respectively; while Dr. 

 Scudder took charge of the insects, and wrote several very important 

 monographs, the largest being that on " Tertiary Insects," published 

 by the Geological Survey in 1890. When Lesquereux died, and later 

 Dr. Scudder was incapacitated by paralysis from doing any further 

 work, it was natural that Florissant should be neglected, for these two 

 men were almost the sole authorities upon the subject. Furthermore, 

 although the Geological Survey had in former years used funds for the 

 Florissant work, and in particular had published the results at great 



