204 MEMOIRS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 



remains of domestic and other animals of this region, which had been trapped 

 in the tar in comparatively recent time. 



During the past twenty years the writer has heard frequent mention of 

 bones present in the asphalt deposits, but has always been assured that the 

 remains were unquestionably those of Recent animals, mainly cattle and horses 

 which had been mired in the tar. 



So far as the writer has been able to learn, since the discovery by Denton 

 Mr. W. "W. Orcutt of Los Angeles was the first person to recognize the remains 

 at Rancho La Brea as evidently fossils, or as belonging to a geological period 

 preceding the present. In December, 1905, Mr. P. M. Anderson visited the 

 Rancho La Brea beds with Mr. Orcutt, and procured a number of fragmentary 

 specimens, including a portion of a saber-tooth skull, several teeth of the great 

 wolf, and a number of dermal ossicles of a ground-sloth. These specimens 

 Mr. Anderson very kindly placed at the writer's disposal. Realizing the im- 

 portance of the discovery, the locality was visited by the writer, in company 

 with Dr. Ralph Arnold and Mr. A. E. Preston, soon after seeing Mr. Ander- 

 son's material. With the assistance of Dr. Arnold and Mr. Preston a small 

 collection of typical specimens was brought together. It was upon this material, 

 together with that presented by Mr. Anderson, that the first descriptions of 

 remains obtained from these deposits were based by the writer. 5 



Some months after the first visit, the field was examined again by the writer 

 under the guidance of Mr. Orcutt, who furnished much valuable information 

 concerning the geologic relations of the region. Regular collecting was begun 

 soon after this, and has been carried on by the University of California since 

 1906. The total amount of field work aggregates about fifteen months of con- 

 tinuous excavation. 



Immediately after the first specimens from Rancho La Brea had been exam- 

 ined by the writer, application was made to the owner of the property for 

 permission to carry on excavations for scientific purposes, and Madam Hancock 

 Ross very graciously allowed the University to take up the work at that time. 



c Merriam, J. C., Science, n. s., vol. 24, p. 248, 1906. See also Bovard, J. F., Univ. Calif. Publ. Bull. Dopt. 

 Geol., vol. 5, p. 157, 1907. 



