JOSEPH LEIDY. 441 



one was more ready than himself to acknowledge and correct an error 

 when found. 



There remains still another field of scientific research in which Dr. 

 Leidy achieved a world-wide reputation, namely, paleontology. His 

 first paper on this subject appeared in 1847, "The Fossil Horse of 

 America." Although he was almost the first person in this country 

 to take up the subject of vertebrate paleontology, and had at first very 

 meagre opportunities for the study of the comparative osteology of 

 many recent forms, he produced in the next few years a series of bril- 

 liant papers, which entitle him to be considered as the equal of any 

 paleontologist produced by this country or Europe. 



The following are among the more prominent of his many contri- 

 butions to this subject: "Ancient Fauna of Nebraska," 1853; "Me- 

 moir of the Extinct Sloth Tribe of North America," 1855 ; " Cretaceous 

 Reptiles of the United States," 1865 ; " Extinct Mammalian Fauna of 

 Dakota and Nebraska, together with a Synopsis of the Mammalian 

 Remains of North America," 1869; "Contributions to the Extinct 

 Vertebrate Fauna of the Western Territories," 1873; "Description of 

 Vertebrate Remains from the Phosphate Beds of South Carolina," 

 1877. 



The interest aroused by these wonderful discoveries led others 

 to enter this field of investigation. Great rivalry and many acrimo- 

 nious disputes regarding priority and nomenclature arose, so that, 

 rather than become entangled in controversy, Dr. Leidy gave up 

 this work in which he had achieved such success, and devoted him- 

 self to other fields of scientific work. He however contributed from 

 time to time small paleontological papers, the last appearing in May, 

 1890. 



Dr. Leidy acted as surgeon to the Satterlee Military Hospital dur- 

 ing the war, and the results of the many interesting autopsies made by 

 him are recorded in the "Medical and Surgical History of the War." 



He was elected a member of the National Academy of Science, in 

 1863, at the time of its organization. In 1871 he was appointed Pro- 

 fessor of Natural History in Swarthmore College; and in 1884, upon 

 the establishment of the Biological Department of the University of 

 Pennsylvania, he was appointed Professor of Zoology and Comparative 

 Anatomy. In 1885 he was elected President of the Wagner Free 

 Institute of Science in Philadelphia; and in 1889, at the time of its 

 organization, President of the Association of American Anatomists. 



Many honors, both at home and abroad, were conferred upon this 

 distinguished naturalist. In 1886 Harvard University conferred upon 



