Geological Papers. 223 



feet and end of his tail; nor did he jump like a frog, as this would 

 be a physical impossibility, with a weight of 5000 pounds or more. 

 I greatly regret that our large museums are willing to make the 

 absurd mounts they often make in order to satisfy the credulity of 

 ignorant people. Marsh once said that to doubt evolution is to 

 doubt science, and science is only another name for truth. Con- 

 sequently men of science have no right to mount extinct forms in 

 a sensational manner to satisfy a sensational public. This wonder- 

 ful specimen is still in my possession, but I hope soon to ship it 

 to some noted museum, where it may be correctly mounted and 

 preserved. 



I also discovered a wonderful deposit of figs a few rods from the 

 Ti'achodon quarry. They fell in the sard among teeth and bones 

 of reptiles and fishes, as well as the impressions of rushes and 

 other water plants, and shell fishes. The sand packed solidly 

 around them, and when they decayed their form was'firmly molded 

 in the sand. The cavity thus formed was filled with sand, and an 

 exact cast of the figs was produced. Until now, less than a dozen 

 fossil figs are known to me. I also discovered five beautiful pal- 

 metto palms eighteen inches in width, showing the country at the 

 time they grew was like the everglades of Florida, ridges between 

 great marshes, through the center of which ran sluggish streams 

 almost at a level with the near-by ocean. The water was beyond 

 tidewater, however, as it was sweet. 



