OTHNIEL CHARLES MARSH 305 



fossil cycads, to Yale University. The acceptance of this splendid 

 gift was recorded in the following resolutions offered by the Cor- 

 poration of the University: 



"YALE UNIVERSITY, 



"January 13, 1898. 



"The President and Fellows, having received a deed of gift 

 from Professor Othniel C. Marsh, presenting to the University 

 his very valuable collections now in the Peabody Museum, which 

 represent the labor of many years on his part and also the ex- 

 penditure of a large amount from his personal fortune, desire, as 

 they accept the gift, to communicate to him, and to place on record, 

 an expression of their grateful acknowledgment of his generosity. 



"In this grateful acknowledgment they are confident that all 

 the graduates and friends of Yale will unite, when they learn of 

 this most recent manifestation of his long-continued interest in 

 the University, even as they already appreciate the unselfish de- 

 votion of his time, his talents, and his energies, for more than 

 thirty years, to the scientific researches which have given him such 

 personal distinction and have brought such renown to the institu- 

 tion. 



"TIMOTHY DWIGHT, President." 



Although the collection of vertebrate fossils combined with that 

 of recent osteology constitutes by far the most important of these 

 gifts to Yale, yet science is also indebted to Marsh for his zeal in 

 gathering together a large amount of material pertaining to archae- 

 ology and ethnology. On his return from Europe in 1866, he saw 

 the importance of beginning a collection of American antiquities, 

 and both before and during his western expeditions large numbers 

 of ancient implements found their way to New Haven. Purchases 

 were also made from collectors in various states, and through the 

 liberality of friends of Yale many specimens have at various 

 times been added. No provision was originally made for installing 

 specimens of this kind in the museum, and a room on the fourth 

 floor was devoted to this purpose, but its size combined with other 

 disadvantages precludes the possibility of making an adequate 

 display of the large number of objects acquired, which have been 

 greatly augmented since Marsh's death. Notable in this collec- 

 tion are the thousands of specimens from the Province of Chiriqui, 



