NATURE 



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1879 



YALE COLLEGE AND AMERICAN 

 PALAEONTOLOGY 



ALTHOUGH notices have from time to time appeared 

 in European scientific journals of the scientific expe- 

 ditions sent out from Yale College to the Western Terri- 

 tories of the United States, probably only those palason- 

 tologists and geologists who have crossed the Atlantic 

 and have had an opportunity of seeing all that is yet 

 visible of the vast amount of material collected at New 

 Haven can adequately realise the enormous additions 

 which have been and are being there daily made to our 

 knowledge of extinct vertebrate life. Thanks to the 

 generous liberality of the late Mr. George Peabody, who 

 has endowed centres of scientific progress in various 

 parts of America, Yale College has been supplied with an 

 admirable Museum of Natural History and with a fund 

 for its maintenance. By his deed of gift the donor pro- 

 vided that after one portion of the money had been 

 employed in erecting the museum, a certain sum (820,000) 

 should be set apart and invested until it should reach at 

 least five times its original amount, when it might be 

 employed for further building ; while the interest of a 

 further sum of §30,000 should be devoted to the main- 

 tenance and extension of the collections, in the proportion 

 of three-sevenths to zoology, three-sevenths to geology, 

 and one-seventh to mineralogy. 



The wise intentions of the founder have been most 

 faithfully and successfully carried out by his trustees. 

 The building now erected, though forming only one wing 

 of the magnificent pile which they will ultimately com- 

 plete, is already amply filled with the collections of the 

 several departments. The rooms open to the public are 

 well-lighted, and the cases are carefully arranged and 

 easy of consultation. But by far the larger part of the 

 collections is still stored in the cellars, awaiting the 

 growth of the premises. Unfortunately, however, the 

 boxes are accumulating in these lower regions at a rate 

 which one fears must be greater than that of the building 

 fund. 



The mineralogical cabinet has been entirely rearranged 

 and displayed by Mr. E. S. Dana, who, with Prof. Brush, 

 is amply sust lining the old mineralogical renown of New 

 Haven. 



The unique feature, however, in the Peabody Museum, 

 is the vast collection of vertebrate fossils from the Western 

 Territories, made by the enthusiastic labours of Prof. O. 

 C. Marsh. Only a small portion of this enormous series 

 has yet been placed in cases for public inspection. But 

 the Professor, with infinite courtesy and patience, con- 

 ducted the writer of these lines through the stores from 

 cellar to roof, brought under his notice examples of the 

 more interesting and important of the "finds," and 

 furnished him with notes of the collection and permission 

 to use them, of which he now gladly avails himself. 



After having spent several years in bringing together, 

 from the Cretaceous and Tertiary strata of the Atlantic 

 coast, a very considerable mass of material, the Professor 

 came to the conclusion that this field was essentially 

 exhausted, and that it was to the unexplored territory 

 Vol. xxi. — No. 527 



beyond the Missouri River, that the palaeontologist must 

 now look for additional facts to help him to an intelligent 

 comprehension of the progress of vertebrate life in the 

 past. This conclusion having been confirmed by his 

 own observations during a short trip to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains in 1868, he, in 1870, organised the first of the Yale 

 Scientific Expeditions. After spending five months in 

 the field the party returned well laden with fossil treasures 

 from the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations. The suc- 

 cess of this experiment having been so marked the four 

 sueceeding years witnessed the departure of as many 

 expeditions, all of which were likewise successful. The 

 results may be briefly summed up in the statement that, 

 altogether, within six years, these expeditions under Prof. 

 Marsh brought to light more than four hundred species 

 of vertebrate fossils new to science, of which only about 

 two-thirds have as yet been described. At the time when 

 these explorations began, the West was almost wholly 

 unknown, and the investigators were exposed to great 

 hardships and to no little danger from hostile Indians. 

 It is to be hoped that Prof. Marsh may be induced to 

 write down and publish a narrative of his life and adven- 

 tures in the wild west in search of fossils. The samples 

 which in friendly talk he communicated to the present 

 writer were so entertaining, that the book could not fail to 

 prove most interesting, and would no doubt help on the 

 cause of palaeontology in America. 



Among the numerous extinct animals discovered during 

 the progress of these explorations are many groups which 

 differ widely from any forms of life previously known. 

 Prominent among these, and extremely interesting from 

 their bearing on questions of evolution, are the toothed 

 birds of the Cretaceous formation, the Odonlornilhcs, all 

 the known specimens of which are in the Yale Museum. 

 These constitute a new sub-class, and have been divided 

 into two well-marked orders : the Odontolca, which have 

 the teeth implanted in grooves, and the Odontolorma, 

 with the teeth in distinct sockets. The OdonL 

 large swimming birds, somewhat resembling the Divers 

 of the present day, but with rudimentary wings, of no 

 possible use to their possessor. The vertebra; were as in 

 modern birds. The typical genus is Hesperomis, and at 

 least three species are known. The second order includes 

 small birds, very' different in appearance and characters 

 from the preceding group, with large and powei ful wings, 

 and biconcave vertebra;. Two genera and several species 

 are known, which belong to this order. The type genus 

 is Ichthyomis. All the toothed birds known at present 

 come from the upper Cretaceous of Kansas, an 1 more than 

 one hundred individuals are represented in the Museum. 

 A memoir on this group, with forty quarto plates, by Prof. 

 Marsh, is now in the press. 



In the same formation this active explorer discovered 

 the first American Pterodactyls, or flying reptiles. These 

 animals are extremely interesting, not only on account of 

 their enormous size — for some of them have a spread of 

 wings of nearly twenty-five feet— but more especially from 

 the fact that they were destitute of teeth ; in this respect 

 resembling modern birds. They represent a new order, 

 Pteranodontia, named from the type genus, 1'toanodon, 

 of which several species are now known. Numerous 

 anatomical points of much importance will, no doubt, be 

 brought to light by a close study of this remarkable 



