SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I93O 85 



of Judge J. G. Creagh in Clark County, Alabama, in 1834 that the 

 precise relationships of Basilosaurus were recognized. Included among 

 the fossil bones that Dr. Harlan brought with him were teeth which 

 Professor Richard Owen was permitted to section and study. On the 

 basis of a microscopic examination of these teeth, Professor Owen was 

 enabled to demonstrate conclusively the mammalian nature of the 

 animal. Consequently, Owen proposed to substitute for Basilosaurus 

 the name Zeuglodon cctoidcs, in allusion to the yoke-like appearance 

 of the cheek teeth. 



The next important discovery was made on the plantation of Judge 

 Creagh in Clark County, Alabama, in 1842 by Mr. S. B. Buckley, who 

 excavated a skeleton of Basilosaurus that consisted of portions of the 

 head and of the fore limbs, and a vertebral column extending to a 

 length of 65 feet. These remains were shipped to the office of the 

 Geological Survey of New York at Albany where they were studied 

 and described by Ebenezer Emmons. The subsequent history of this 

 particular specimen is somewhat interesting in that some time later 

 it passed into the possession of the Warren Museum at Boston. In 

 time the Warren Museum passed out of existence and some years 

 past this skeleton along with other vertebrate fossils was purchased 

 by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. 



The interest aroused by these discoveries induced Dr. Albert Koch, 

 a German collector, to visit Alabama. Koch arrived at Claiborne, Ala- 

 bama, in January, 1845, aiK ' after a brief reconnaissance in that vicin- 

 ity moved his headquarters three weeks later to Clarksville. He was 

 not entirely successful there, although portions of a zeuglodont were 

 found nearby. While at Clarksville, however, Koch received the news 

 that remains of this animal were rather plentiful near the Old Court 

 House in Washington County. Arriving at the Old Court House on 

 March 16, 1845, Koch immediately commenced excavating a skeleton 

 that was found in the same neighborhood. Several wagon loads of 

 bones were assembled at Washington Old Court House, from which 

 Koch reconstructed an animal measuring 114 feet in length, but com- 

 posed of five or more individuals. This composite skeleton of Basilo- 

 saurus was exhibited for some weeks as a sea serpent in the Apollo 

 Rooms on Broadway in New York City. 



Later on this skeleton was shipped to Germany and exhibited in the 

 principal cities of Europe. The King of Prussia having purchased 

 this skeleton for the Anatomical Museum in Berlin, Dr. Koch with 

 the proceeds of the sale was enabled to visit Alabama again in 1848 

 and to resume his search for zeuglodont remains. A second skeleton 

 was assembled in the vicinity of Washington Old Court House and 



