400 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



In connection with the work of Dr. Stock and Mr. Merriam on the faunas 

 of Rancho La Brea and McKittrick, Mr. John L. Ridgway, formerly con- 

 nected with the Carnegie Institution of Washington, has rendered most 

 valuable service in the preparation of illustrations for the forthcoming mono- 

 graphs. 



Of peculiar interest in connection with the study of the history of West 

 Coast faunas is the work of Dr. L. H. Miller, of the Southern Branch of the 

 University of California, on the fossil birds found in the asphalt deposits at 

 McKittrick, California, and on the remarkable collection of bird remains 

 found in the great deposit of diatomaceous earth at Lompoc, California. 

 The history of birds is one of the most interesting chapters in the whole story 

 of evolution, but the material known up to the present time is comparatively 

 scanty; the contributions of Dr. Miller are therefore of extraordinary interest. 



One of the most important features of the year's work is an evidence of the 

 importance of cooperative work. In connection with the studies of Dr. R. W. 

 Chaney on the succession of floras of the gold-bearing gravels on the west 

 slope of the Sierra Nevada it became necessary to make an investigation of 

 the floras at Tuolumne Table Mountain. The suggestion of such investiga- 

 tion was made by Dr. F. E. Matthes, of the U. S. Geological Survey, who 

 has secured interesting information regarding plants in their relation to the 

 geology of this region. In visiting this locality to secure further plant 

 material Dr. Chaney discovered a number of fossil remains of horses and 

 camels embedded in the volcanic deposits of the Table Mountain region. 

 These remains give the first unequivocal evidence as to the age of these 

 deposits. The remains of horses included in this collection are closely similar 

 to those from the Ricardo Pliocene formation in the Mojave Desert region 

 on the east or southeast side of the Sierra region. This evidence of early 

 Pliocene age of these deposits at Table Mountain has a very important bearing 

 on the whole question of the age of the Sierras and on the significance of 

 crustal movements which have affected the climatic character of the Great 

 Basin region to the east. 



The work of the past year has demonstrated more clearly than ever the 

 necessity for close cooperation and correlation of effort in order to secure 

 the best results in study of the history of life. The materials are neces- 

 sarily fragmentary, widely scattered, and difficult of interpretation, and only 

 by such cooperation as will give perspective by viewing the subject from 

 different positions can we expect to secure data which will lead to a correct 

 interpretation of the sequence. 



Chaney, Ralph W., Berkeley, California. Research Associate in Paleobotany. 

 Report of progress in palaeobotanical research in the Tertiary of the 

 West during the year 1922. 



The work of the year has again centered in the northern portion of the 

 Great Basin. Further collections and areal studies in the Crooked River 

 Valley indicate that the Tertiary section there exposed is probably identical 

 with that of the John Day Basin 40 miles to the north. An ecological analy- 

 sis of the Upper Clarno flora indicates the presence of numerous valley or 

 lake border trees with a mixture of upland types, the whole denoting a tem- 

 perate-climate assemblage in a region of moderate relief. Collections from 



