﻿8 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  and 
  Doctor 
  Bassler 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  considerable 
  collection 
  of 
  

   these 
  needed 
  for 
  the 
  Museum 
  study 
  series. 
  He 
  also 
  secured 
  several 
  

   large 
  exhibition 
  specimens 
  illustrating 
  various 
  geological 
  phe- 
  

   nomena, 
  among 
  these 
  being 
  a 
  large 
  mass 
  of 
  limestone 
  composed 
  en- 
  

   tirely 
  of 
  the 
  dismembered 
  calices 
  and 
  columns 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  species 
  of 
  

   irinoid 
  or 
  sea 
  lily 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  individual 
  fragments 
  are 
  perfectly 
  

   preserved 
  and 
  admirably 
  illustrate 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  a 
  limestone 
  

   through 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  this 
  type 
  of 
  animal 
  remains. 
  

  

  An 
  interesting 
  stratigraphic 
  observation 
  was 
  made 
  on 
  the 
  efficacy 
  

   of 
  the 
  coral 
  reefs 
  of 
  the 
  Ordovician 
  in 
  rock 
  formation. 
  A 
  massive 
  

   limestone 
  bed 
  about 
  15 
  feet 
  thick, 
  representing 
  a 
  middle 
  Ordovician 
  

   formation, 
  here 
  contains 
  but 
  a 
  single 
  coral 
  reef, 
  but 
  within 
  10 
  miles 
  

   the 
  number 
  of 
  intercalated 
  coral 
  reefs 
  has 
  so 
  increased 
  that 
  the 
  for- 
  

   mation 
  attains 
  a 
  thickness 
  of 
  over 
  250 
  feet. 
  

  

  In 
  April 
  Mr. 
  C. 
  W. 
  Gilmore, 
  associate 
  curator 
  of 
  vertebrate 
  pale- 
  

   ontology, 
  was 
  authorized 
  to 
  undertake 
  a 
  trip 
  into 
  New 
  Mexico 
  " 
  for 
  

   the 
  purpose 
  of 
  making 
  collections 
  of 
  geological 
  material 
  for 
  the 
  Na- 
  

   tional 
  Museum 
  and 
  determining 
  the 
  advisability 
  of 
  preserving 
  cer- 
  

   tain 
  lands 
  in 
  northern 
  New 
  Mexico 
  for 
  national 
  monumental 
  pur- 
  

   poses." 
  Mr. 
  Gilmore 
  was 
  obliged 
  to 
  report 
  that 
  — 
  

  

  Since 
  the 
  many 
  square 
  miles 
  of 
  " 
  bad 
  lands 
  " 
  surrounding 
  the 
  reserved 
  area 
  

   are 
  equally 
  fossiliferous 
  and 
  in 
  places 
  present 
  much 
  more 
  favorable 
  territory 
  

   for 
  the 
  recovery 
  of 
  fossil 
  remains 
  than 
  any 
  observed 
  within 
  the 
  boundaries 
  of 
  

   the 
  monument, 
  and 
  also 
  since 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  these 
  surrounding 
  areas 
  lie 
  

   within 
  Pueblo 
  grants, 
  over 
  which 
  Federal 
  control 
  has 
  been 
  relinquished, 
  there 
  

   would 
  be 
  no 
  advantage 
  in 
  retaining 
  governmental 
  control 
  of 
  so 
  small 
  a 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  area 
  as 
  is 
  represented 
  in 
  the 
  proposed 
  monument. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Gilmore 
  did, 
  however, 
  find 
  a 
  contiguous 
  fossiliferous 
  area 
  in 
  

   the 
  Santa 
  Clara 
  Pueblo 
  grant 
  and 
  secured 
  for 
  the 
  Museum 
  a 
  well- 
  

   preserved 
  skull 
  and 
  other 
  bones 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  rhinoceros, 
  and, 
  in 
  an 
  

   adjoining 
  Pojoaque 
  Pueblo 
  area, 
  remains 
  of 
  an 
  extinct 
  camel. 
  The 
  

   most 
  promising 
  area 
  for 
  collecting 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  lie 
  within 
  land 
  

   grants 
  over 
  which 
  the 
  Government 
  has 
  at 
  present 
  no 
  control. 
  

  

  In 
  January, 
  this 
  same 
  year, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  W. 
  Gidley, 
  assistant 
  curator 
  of 
  

   this 
  division, 
  was 
  authorized, 
  in 
  cooperation 
  with 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   Geological 
  Survey, 
  to 
  conduct 
  field 
  explorations 
  in 
  the 
  San 
  Pedro 
  

   and 
  Sulphur 
  Springs 
  Valleys 
  of 
  southern 
  Arizona, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  com- 
  

   pletion 
  of 
  this 
  work 
  to 
  visit 
  the 
  La 
  Brea 
  asphalt 
  deposits 
  of 
  southern 
  

   California, 
  and 
  from 
  there 
  go 
  to 
  Agate, 
  in 
  Nebraska, 
  for 
  the 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  of 
  securing 
  other 
  exhibition 
  material. 
  The 
  work 
  in 
  Arizona 
  

   was 
  eminently 
  successful, 
  Mr. 
  Gidley 
  shipping 
  some 
  24 
  boxes 
  having 
  

   an 
  aggregate 
  weight 
  of 
  5,000 
  pounds. 
  The 
  bulk 
  of 
  this 
  collection, 
  

   he 
  reports, 
  represents 
  " 
  a 
  practically 
  new 
  Pliocene 
  fauna 
  containing 
  

   about 
  60 
  vertebrate 
  species, 
  most 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  mammalian." 
  

  

  