86 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



shipped to Dresden where the work of preparation for exhibition was 

 begun. This zeuglodont was exhibited for some weeks at Vienna, 

 Austria, and later, although the exact details are unknown, it was 

 sold to the Chicago Academy of Sciences where it remained until 

 destroyed during the Chicago fire of 1875. 



These discoveries and current stories in regard to the unusual abun- 

 dance of remains of zeuglodonts in the Gulf states led the United 

 States National Museum in 1894 to consider field work in this region. 

 Accordingly Professor Charles Schuchert was detailed to investigate 

 these occurrences and to collect if possible a specimen for the exhibi- 

 tion series. On arrival at Cocoa, Choctaw County, Alabama, on 

 November 2, 1894. Schuchert began his search and within a short 

 time successfully excavated the head of one individual and twenty- 

 four consecutive vertebrae of another, beginning with the atlas and 

 ending with the third lumbar vertebra, in addition to the ribs and the 

 major elements of the fore limbs. This material formed the basis 

 for the restoration of the Basilosaurus skeleton exhibited at the At- 

 lanta Exposition in 1895. Inasmuch as the assembled skeleton was 

 incomplete, Schuchert again returned to Alabama and in November, 

 1896, found near Fail in Choctaw County the tail portion of another 

 zeuglodont which consisted of thirty-five consecutive vertebrae count- 

 ing from the penultimate one forward, as well as the pelvis and one 

 vestigial thigh bone ( femur). This material was prepared for exhibi- 

 tion in the laboratory of the United States National Museum and 

 for some years this mounted skeleton has been on exhibition in the 

 hall of fossil animals. 



After a rather hasty trip through Clark County, Alabama, Mr. 

 Boss and I arrived at Silas, where we began our paleontological ex- 

 ploration of the Jackson exposures in Choctaw and the adjoining 

 Washington County. Inasmuch as we were unsuccessful in our search 

 for well preserved specimens of zeuglodonts in this area, we departed 

 for Melvin, also in Choctaw County. In that vicinity and under the 

 guidance of Mr. Robert Land, we were shown the places where 

 Schuchert had excavated the major portion of the material now in 

 the United States National Museum. 



Associated with the gigantic Basilosaurus cetoides, which attained 

 a length of from 50 to 70 feet and whose skull measured approxi- 

 mately 5 feet from extremity of snout to back of braincase, was the 

 little short bodied Zygorhiza kochii, which may have had a maximum 

 length of from 12 to 15 feet. In the vicinity of Melvin and across 

 the line in Clarke County, Mississippi, we were fortunate enough to 



