viii PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS. 



He discovered a number of previously unknown geological formations 

 and has made clear the order of succession of the various Tertiary hori- 

 zons. As the pursuit of this object led the party into unexplored regions, 

 many geographical discoveries resulted, the importance of which has not 

 been diminished by the subsequent and much more elaborate surveys of 

 the Argentine and Chilian Boundary Commissions. 



While the collection of fossils and the determination of stratigraphy 

 were, as already stated, the main objects in view, zoology and botany 

 were by no means neglected, and very valuable collections of the recent 

 mammals, birds and plants were secured from the wide regions explored, 

 together with smaller, but still most useful series of the amphibians and 

 fresh-water fishes, of the molluscs and other invertebrate groups. Much 

 that was new to science was thus gathered and the whole forms a monu- 

 ment of energy and skill, which it is difficult to characterize without using 

 terms that seem to savour of exaggeration. 



This additional material, as it may be called, is described in Volumes 

 II., III. and VIII. of the Reports. 



An undertaking of such magnitude could not have been carried out 

 without the interest and cooperation of many friends, both at home and 

 in South America, and it is a pleasant duty to express here our grateful 

 thanks to those whose help made success possible. The expenses of the 

 expeditions were borne by many graduates and friends of Princeton Uni- 

 versity, who have supported several enterprises of a similar kind, though 

 on a more modest scale. In particular, thanks are due to the following 

 gentlemen, who rendered indispensable services, both by contributing to 

 the fund and by giving freely of their time and labors to the support 

 of the work: Messrs. John W. Garrett and the late Horatio W. Gar- 

 rett, of Baltimore; Mr. Henry G. Bryant, of Philadelphia; Messrs. J. 

 B. Hatcher, (now of Pittsburgh), Charles W. McAlpin, Junius S. 

 Morgan and M. Taylor Pyne, of Princeton; Messrs. John W. Aitken, 

 James W. Alexander, C. Ledyard Blair, Arthur A. Brownlee, John 

 L. Cadwalader, Cornelius C. Cuyler, Cleveland H. Dodge, Harvey 

 Edward Fisk, R. T. H. Halsey, Parker Handy, Morris K. Jesup, 

 Rollin H. Lynde, John J. McCook, Henry Fairfield Osborn, William C. 

 Osborn, Stephen S. Palmer, James Tolman Pyle, W. Scott Pyle, Percy 

 R. Pyne, Philip A. Rollins, Rudolf Schirmer, Charles Scribner, Fran- 

 cis Speir, Jr., and M. Allen Starr, of New York; Messrs. David B. 



