122 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



monograph of "Kentucky Fossil Shells" prepared by Mr. Nettelroth 

 and issued by the State as a memoir of the Geological Survey of 

 Kentucky. Practically all of the specimens figured by Air. Nettel- 

 roth in this work were from his own cabinet and are now preserved 

 in the U. S. National Museum collections. A list of these type 

 specimens is given beginning on page 135. 



I am under obligations to Mr. Nettelroth's sons for many courte- 

 sies extended to me during my work upon the collection. Dr. Alex- 

 ander Nettelroth has kindly furnished me with biographical notes 

 from which the following sketch was prepared. 



Henry Nettelroth was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, on June 

 6, 1835. His famil}' from a remote period were land-owners, in- 

 habiting that portion of German territory, with estates located about 

 the village of Nettelrode. Henry Nettelroth attended the German 

 universities and was graduated as a civil engineer just before the 

 w^ar between Prussia and Hanover ; he was an engineer officer in 

 the Hanoverian army, but came to America shortly after the battle 

 of Langensalza. Here he took up the practice of civil engineering. 

 His first employment as topographical engineer on the Elizabeth- 

 town and Paducah Railroad, then building, taking him to Kentucky, 

 determined his subsequent location in Louisville. In that city he 

 continued the pursuit of civil engineering, both active and consult- 

 ant, until incapacitated by ill health a few years before his death. 



He became an American citizen, having immediately on his arrival 

 in this country renounced allegiance to any European government. 

 In 1867 he was married, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Emma Vassmer, 

 also of Hanover. Mr. Nettelroth died on September 2, 1887. his 

 widow and two sons surviving. 



He had been interested in paleontology while still in his native 

 country, and it was but natural that the collection and study of fos- 

 sils should be continued in connection with a profession which 

 offered such good opportunities. In his spare time, therefore, dur- 

 ing more than fifteen years, he enthusiastically collected geological 

 specimens, wisely limiting his cabinets principally to those fossils 

 found in the immediate vicinity of Louisville and the Falls of the 

 Ohio, but including, however, related specimens from other sections 

 of the country. His zeal in this pursuit stimulated the local interest 

 in paleontology, and there appeared a number of collectors, several 

 of whom became known later as capable and discriminating paleon- 

 tologists. As a result of the enthusiasm of this coterie, a number 

 of excellent collections were brought together and some rich beds 

 and fossil-bearing strata were discovered which are now known 

 tmivcrsally to geologists. 



