FLORISSANT; A MIOCENE POMPEII 



i 2 5 



comparable Prodryas perseplionc. During the same season we secured 

 a second butterfly, much larger, but very poorly preserved. 



When the fine butterfly was discovered, it was naturally expected 

 that the new locality would yield other like treasures. Alas ! it was 

 worked all one day, with practically no result. Such are the fortunes 

 of fossil hunting. While the first season yielded no butterfly, it did 

 produce a wonderfully preserved caterpillar, still showing the bristles 

 it bore in life. It is not the usual custom to describe a lepidopterous 

 insect from the caterpillar alone; but in this case we had no option, 

 since it could not be ignored, and it certainly could not be raised to 

 maturity ! Its characters were peculiar, so that it did not fit com- 

 fortably into any modern family, so far as we were able to judge. 



Tfrifc.. 



A**-t**tju^t~ ^a 



m. 



Fossil Neuropterous Insect (Halter americana) of a Family not now found 

 in North America. (Much enlarged.) 



Among the plants, one great treasure was a branch of the narrow- 

 leafed cottonwood, with about ten leaves upon it. Although the 

 leaves of this tree are exceedingly common in the shale, such a mag- 

 nificent specimen is very rarely obtained. During the second season 

 another nearly as good was found; we packed it up with the greatest 

 care, and sent it by express to Yale University Museum, where it ar- 

 rived in safety. 



The large specimens, however, are not necessarily the most valuable. 

 One small but unique object was a tuft of moss, with the fruiting 

 bodies upon it. This was the first really recognizable moss ever found 



