12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 65 



factory that the completion of a monograph upon the subject is 

 now assured. 



EXPLORATIONS FOR FOSSIL ECHINODERMS IN WESTERN 



NEW YORK 



The field explorations conducted under the supervision of Mr. 

 Frank Springer, associate in paleontology in the U. S. National 

 Museum, for the purpose of adding to the Springer collection of 

 fossil echinoderms. were devoted mainly to careful work in the 

 Silurian rocks exposed along the new Erie Canal in western New 

 York. Here Mr. Springer's private collector, Frederick Braun, 

 spent some weeks during the summer of 1914 searching especially 

 the waste material thrown out in excavations for the canal. The 

 most valuable specimens from this part of New York occur in the 

 Rochester shales of Niagaran age, which weather rapidly into mud 

 upon exposure to the elements. It was necessary, therefore, that 

 the new outcrops exposed along the canal be examined at once if 

 valuable returns were to be expected, and Mr. Braun was directed 

 accordingly to concentrate his efforts upon this area. The results 

 were highly satisfactory, as numerous specimens of crinoids and 

 cystids were found, a number of them having, as is rarely the case, 

 root, stem, and crown preserved. These specimens were prepared 

 for exhibition during the fall of 1914 and form a valuable addition 

 to Mr. Springer's unique collection of fossils. 



FOSSIL COLLECTING AT THE CUMBERLAND CAVE DEPOSIT 

 In continuation of the work of the previous year in the Pleistocene 

 cave deposit near Cumberland, Maryland, Mr. J. W. Gidley, assistant 

 curator of fossil mammals, again visited this locality in May and June 

 of 1914. This expedition was highly successful and has added over 

 400 specimens to the fine collection from this deposit, including a 

 good skeleton of the large extinct peccary, a partial skeleton of the 

 wolverine, and several nearly complete skulls of these and other 

 species. Among the latter are five good skulls of extinct species of 

 the black bear and eight skulls, in more or less good state of preserva- 

 tion, of the extinct peccary. 



Some new forms not before found in this deposit were obtained, 

 the most important being a new species of badger and a second type 

 of extinct peccary known as Mylohyus. The collection of the 1914 

 expedition far exceeds, both in numbers and quality of specimens, 

 those previously taken from this deposit. The cubic space excavated 

 was also much greater than before, yet at the end of the season's 

 work the deposit showed no signs of immediate exhaustion of fossil- 



