312 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM tol. 90 



phinus calvertensis. On April 29, 1846, the National Institute was 

 directed by Congress to deposit its collections in the Smithsonian 

 Institution. In 1850 Jeffries Wyman » announced that Louis Agas- 

 siz (who was appointed professor of natural history in Lawrence 

 Scientific School of Harvard University in 1846) was commencing 

 a study of the Cetacea. At a meeting of the American Academy 

 of Arts and Sciences in October 1848 Professor Agassiz ^° exhibited 

 skulls of fossil cetaceans, including the type of Delphinus calvertensis. 

 In 1858 and 1862 the collections of the National Institute were trans- 

 ferred to the Smithsonian Institution. From ithis chronological 

 record, it appears quite evident that the Delphinus skull was lent 

 to Professor Agassiz for use in his studies of the Cetacea and was 

 probably in his custody when the actual transfer of the National 

 Institute collections to the Smithsonian took place. 



Recently the chronologic events in the history of this specimen 

 were laid before Dr. Thomas Barbour, director of the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, by Dr. Alexander Wetmore. 

 assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and the former 

 acted promptly in having the specimen returned to the national 

 collections. The type is in excellent condition and shows every evi- 

 dence of careful handling throughout its unusual history. As an ex- 

 ample of true scientific interest and generous cooperation this re- 

 covery of an important type, whose ownership was obscured by the 

 lapse of time and by the passing of an earlier generation of natu- 

 ralists, is an event of more than ordinary significance. 



In 1868 a complete skeleton of Megaceros hihermicus ("Irish elk"), 

 from the peat bogs of Ireland, was purchased from Thomas & Sons in 

 Philadelphia, and a fine head with antlers of this animal was received 

 as a gift from Prof. O. C. Marsh. 



In 1872 Prof. E. D. Cope collaborated with the Hayden survey 

 and explored the Bridger, Green River, Washakie, and Wasatch 

 horizons in Wyoming, and large collections of fossil vertebrates 

 were made. Some of these specimens reached the National Museum's 

 collections, but I have been unable to learn from the published 

 records what the precise arrangement was between the Interior De- 

 partment and Professor Cope concerning the disposition of the 

 fossils collected. In a letter to his father, dated May 24, 1872, Cope 

 remarked : "I will have every facility furnished by the Interior 

 Department, expenses paid, orders for men, wagons, beasts, pro- 

 visions, etc." " This statement implies that, since the expenses for 

 the trip were borne by the Government, all the specimens collected 



» Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. 10, p. 230, footnote. 1850. 

 ™Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci.. vol. 2, p. 5, 1852. 

 " Osborn, H. F., Cope : Master naturalist, p. 183, 1931. 



