398 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



Merriam, John C, and associates. Continuation of Palceontological Researches. 

 (For previous report see Year Book No. 20.) 



In the course of the year 1922 the general program of work by Mr. Merriam 

 and associates has been conducted in close cooperation with the Museum of 

 Palaeontology of the University of California, the Los Angeles Museum, the 

 United States National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, 

 and many other institutions working upon similar or related problems. 



As in the year 1921, the group of investigators engaged upon problems 

 involving the history of life in the Great Basin and Pacific Coast regions has 

 included especially Dr. Chester Stock, Assistant Professor of Palaeontology 

 at the University of California, Mr. Remington Kellogg, of the Bureau of 

 Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Ralph W. Chaney, 

 Research Associate of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Dr. L. H. 

 Miller, Professor of Zoology, Southern Branch, University of California, Mr. 

 E. L. Furlong, Curator in the Museum of Palaeontology, University of Cali- 

 fornia, and J. C. Merriam. 



Although the persons undertaking this study have approached the subject 

 from different directions, the aim of the group has been to secure information 

 on the history of animal and plant life of the Great Basin and Pacific Coast 

 regions which can be fitted into an established geological sequence for this 

 region. The ultimate goal is the relation of data on life history of western 

 North America to the general scheme of world history. It involves the 

 significance of climatic fluctuations, difference in distribution of land and 

 water, migration of faunas and floras, and all physical or biological factors 

 which through their expression in history may have value in attempting to 

 interpret the growth movement, or evolution, in the life world. 



Dr. Chaney has been engaged in an attempt to secure additional materials 

 from a wide range of localities, both in the Pacific Coast and Great Basin 

 regions, in order that he may have a succession of floras related to the geologi- 

 cal deposits of definitely determined age. The lack of systematic and inten- 

 sive study of the history of plants on the Pacific Coast has made it difficult 

 for those palaeontologists who have studied West Coast floras to secure typical 

 stages in plant life such as are needed as a basis for comparison in all historical 

 studies. Dr. Chaney has also given close attention to an investigation of the 

 relation of the plants discovered to their environment. This has involved a 

 study of the character of the strata and the nature of the sediments composing 

 the geological formations. This work has been done in cooperation with Dr. 

 Clements, of the Division of Ecology, Dr. W. D. Matthew, of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, Dr. George W. Louderback, of the University of 

 California, and Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan of the U. S. National Museum. 



Dr. Chaney has also paid especial attention to the relation between the 

 sequence of stages in plant life and the corresponding sequence in higher 

 animals (especially the mammals) and the lower forms of animal life as repre- 

 sented by the mollusks in the marine formations of the coastal region of 

 California and Oregon. 



The work on the history of plants conducted by Dr. Chaney has also 

 involved a much more careful study of the types of life or the species than 

 has heretofore been possible with materials from the Pacific Coast region. 

 Palaeobotanists have worked at a disadvantage in the past in the study of 



