EDWARD DRINKER COPE 325 



in the Trias, the Eocene, the Loup Fork epoch, and Post-pliocene 

 of the Sandia Mountains. The first vertebrate fossils ever de- 

 termined from the Trias of the Rocky Mountains are included 

 in the report. The first discovered were obtained by Professor 

 Newberry while attached to Captain Macomb's expedition and 

 one now described for the first time. The determination of the 

 ages of the respective horizons necessarily follows the first deter- 

 mination of the fossils." 



He continues: 



"An especial advantage enjoyed in the preparation of this re- 

 port consists in the fact that the author obtained the fossils him- 

 self and is thus familiar with their local relations. This is a point 

 of much importance since the fragmentary condition in which 

 the skeletons of extinct vertebrata are usually found, furnishes 

 opportunities for error or doubt which greatly curtailed the value 

 of the work. In the present instance the author has admitted no 

 correlation of fragments without the clearest evidence, and where 

 any uncertainty exists, has stated it." 



The number of specimens of extinct vertebrata obtained during 

 the season of 1874 was as follows: Triassic, 4; Cretaceous, 13; 

 Eocene, 87; Upper Miocene (Loup Fork), 30; and Post-pliocene, 

 2, making a total of 136 specimens which now form part of the 

 collections contained in the U. S. National Museum. 



His specimens increased to such an extent that subsequent to 

 1874 he was obliged to devote more and more attention to working 

 up the material that he had accumulated and consequently less 

 time to field-work; although in 1876 he led an expedition to the 

 Bad Lands of the Upper Cretaceous and returned again in 1877 

 to further investigate the chalk deposits of Kansas. On both of 

 these trips he was accompanied by Charles H. Sternberg, who has 

 recently pleasantly described his experiences. 1 



For a time he maintained parties in the field, paying their 

 expenses from his private purse. One of these expeditions was 

 sent as far away as South America and returned with a valuable 

 lot of material; however, for the most part they were confined to 



1 See Life of a Fossil Hunter, by Charles H. Sternberg, New York, 1909. 



