154 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



cases, so that in that year there were probably not over 30,000 specimens, 

 though no actual count or catalogue of them has been made in recent years. 



On account of the failure of t le appropriation, the report for 1884 was 

 necessarily brief. A reprint of the geological map was made and sent out 

 with the volume. The latter contains what are called "Geological and Topo- 

 graphical Surveys of Hamilton and Madison Counties, by R. T. Brown, and 

 P''ayette and Union Counties by M. N. Elrod." Why the word "topographical" 

 was added to the title, unless to fill space in a brief volume, is beyond com- 

 prehension. 



A small cave was discovered in 1884 near Greeneastle, Putnam County, 

 and under the title "University Cave," a description of it is given. Two other 

 brief papers are entitled "Fish Culture in Indiana" by R. T. Brown, and "How 

 to Prepare and Cook Fish and other Animal Food," by E. T. Cox. 



"The Drift Deposits of Indiana" by Dr. J. S. Newberry, and a chapter 

 on the "Ohio River Floods of 1884," together with a reprint of the glossary 

 of the preceding report, complete the 122 pages of the first part of the volume. 



The second part is made up of a paper entitled "Post-Pliocene Vertebrates 

 of Indiana" by E. D. Cope and Jacob L. Wortman. The names of the authors 

 are a sufficient guaranty of its value. In their letter of transmittal they state 

 that "It has been our endeavors to present in the following list a popular 

 account of each species, d<'tailing at the same time, in cases of extinct ones, 

 whatever legitimate inferences can be drawn in regard to their size, probable 

 habits, range and relations to living allies." 



Keys, full descriptions, accompanied by .six plates, together with popular 

 accounts of their habits, give much knowledge regarding those strange 

 mammals that moved backward and forward in unison ^vith the advancing 

 and receding glaciers, over the area which we now call Indiana. 



It was at this period that politics began to play an imjjortant part in the 

 history of the Indiana Geological Survey. CoUett, a republican, had first 

 been appointed by Jas. D. Williams, a democrat, and afterward, for four 

 years, by A. (J. Porter, a republican. Isaac P. Gray, a democrat, was elected 

 Governor in the fall of 1884, and Collett, when he Avrote the last paragraph 

 I have quoted about the State Museum, had evidently seen the "hand- 

 writing upon the wall." According to a strict interpretation of the law, the 

 Governor was obliged to choose some one for the place, "who shall be skillful 

 in geology and natural science." Such a person was somewhat difficult to 

 find among worthy democrats in those days, as all of CoUett's assistants, 

 who had had experience in the work, were republicans. 



The Thompson Survey, 1885-1888. 



Maurice Thompson of Crawfordsville, a civil engineer and popular writer 

 of short stories, afterward the author of "Alice of Old Viiicennes" and other 

 novels, was finally picked for the place. Regarding (Jeology and Natural 

 Science, the onlj' writing which he had done up to that date, as far as I can 



