ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



111 '92, during one of those pseiido- economic, or political 

 paroxysms that formerl}' afflicted our federal Geological Survey, 

 the writer, an employe of that organization, very naturally 

 found it necessary to seek other quarters vi'here his work in Ter- 

 tiary Paleontology could be advantageously continued. Through 

 a recommendation of Chief Paleontologist Walcott (now Secre- 

 tary of the Smithsonian Institution) such a haven was found on 

 the State Geological Survey of Texas, then being abl}^ adminis- 

 tered by Mr. E. T. Dumble. 



Field parties had for several years been bringing into the 

 Museum at Austin Tertiary material. A very little of this had 

 been reviewed by Heilprin of Philadelphia, but the great mass 

 was practically untouched. 



Two seasons' work with visits to Washington and Philadel- 

 phia to consult type material, and a trip through Alabama and 

 Mississippi for additional specimens resulted in getting together 

 a fairl}' complete monograph on the Texas Eocene Mollusca, a 

 MS of some 350 pages and 31 plates. The illustration was ex- 

 cellently done by the late McConnell and the plates were actual- 

 ly engraved. However, till this day the report has remained 

 unpublished. But the large share of the new species were long 

 since brought out in the Philadelphia Academy's Proceedings, 

 and the lists of fo.ssils from various localities have been very 

 largely quoted. Occasionally in the present report the writer 

 has made use of the proof plates from his old Texas Report. But 

 in general, it has seemed best to use photographs of material 

 now deposited in the University collection, for, aside from their 

 lack, perhaps, in sheer artistic beaut}', the\' do express the finer 

 specific idiosyncrasies oftentimes far better than do the best of 

 drawings. 



While conducting a Geological Survey of Louisiana for ten 

 consecutive years considerable additional trans- Mississippian 

 Eocene material was collected, especially during the early years 

 of reconnaisasance when young Veatch's (A. C.) delight in diffi- 



