Vol. 52 1908 



Smithsonian 

 Miscellaneous Collections 



Vol. V Quarterly issue Part 2 



THE XETTELROTH COLLECTION OF INVERTEBRATE 



FOSSILS 



By R. S. BASSLER 



(With 3 Plates) 



One of the most important accessions in the division of strati- 

 graphic paleontology during the year 1907 was the collection of the 

 late Henry Nettelroth, acquired jointly by the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion and the U. S. National Museum from his sons, H. H. Nettel- 

 roth and Dr. Alexander Nettelroth, of Louisville, Kentucky. The 

 registration and installation of these specimens was recently com- 

 pleted, and it seemed in order, as well as very desirable on account 

 of Mr. Nettelroth's work in science and of the valuable nature of his 

 collection, to publish an article upon the subject. The collection is 

 composed entirely of invertebrate fossils, mainly from the Silurian 

 and Devonian strata of Indiana and Kentucky, although many other 

 American as well as foreign localities are represented. The total 

 number of specimens is rather small compared with the number of 

 species represented, the collection comprising about 8,000 specimens, 

 registered under nearly 1,000 entries; but all of the material is the 

 best that could be had. Mr. Nettelroth prided himself upon the 

 fact that his cabinet contained only choice specimens, representing 

 years of careful selection. Imperfect material was retained only 

 when it showed something of scientific interest. In exchanging. 

 Air. Nettelroth also insisted upon a few good specimens rather than 

 numerous poor representatives of a species. Likewise he paid par- 

 ticular attention to a class of fossils, the mollusca, which is seldom 

 well represented in the cabinets of even the best collectors. The 

 result of this continual selection was that in the course of years his 

 collection was unequaled along certain lines, and it was only fitting 

 that the specimens should be used for study and illustration in the 



