Maech 29, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



513 



geology and mineralogy of Brazil. It is ex- 

 pected that additional assistants will be ap- 

 pointed in the near future. 



The Brazilian people are to be congratu- 

 lated upon the establishment of this important 

 servica The development of the great min- 

 eral resources of that country and the growth 

 of a healthy, hopeful and helpful interest in 

 geology may now be looked for with confidence. 



The character, the professional high stand- 

 ing and the unselfish patriotism of the men 

 entrusted with the survey are a guarantee of 

 the abundant and trustworthy results to be 

 expected. 



J. C. Branner 



Stakfobd Uiovbesitt, Caiifobnia, 

 March 7, 1907 



THE FAYUM EXPEDITION OF TEE 

 AMERICAN MUSEUM 



In the Middle and Upper Eocene fluvio- 

 marine formation of Northern Egypt most im- 

 portant paleontological discoveries were made 

 between 1902 and 1905 by Mr. Beadnell, of 

 the Egyptian Geological Survey, and Mr. 0. 

 W. Andrews, of the British Museum of 

 Natural History. From being the terra in- 

 cognita of paleontology Northern Africa sud- 

 denly sprang into prominence as the center of 

 origin and evolution during the Eocene and 

 Oligocene periods of four great groups of 

 mammalia whose early history had previously 

 been entirely unknown. These were, in order 

 of importance, the Proboscidia or mastodons 

 and elephants, the Sirenia or manatees and 

 dugongs, the Hyracoidea or tree and ropk 

 conies and the Zeuglodontia or Archseoceti, or 

 primitive toothed whales. Together with the 

 primitive, or rather the early forms of these 

 mammals, because certain of them are already 

 highly specialized, occur a few members of 

 two other faunae, namely, of the upper Eocene 

 of France, and secondly a purely African 

 contingent including chiefly the giant horned 

 quadruped appropriately named Arsino'ithe- 

 riutn. This animal held an adaptive position 

 in the faunae complex somewhat similar to 

 that of Dinoceras in our western tertiaries. 

 Large collections of these mammals were 

 made by the Egyptian Survey for the Cairo 



Museum and by the British Museum, on 

 which was based the admirable memoir by 

 Dr. C. W. Andrews published by the British 

 Museum some months ago. 



This fauna has a peculiar interest for the 

 department of vertebrate paleontology in the 

 American Museum because three of these 

 great African or Ethiopian groui)s of mam- 

 mals sooner or later reached North America, 

 namely, the Zeuglodontia in the Eocene of 

 Alabama and Georgia, the Sirenia in the 

 Miocene of the western coast, the Proboscidea 

 in the Middle Miocene of the western ter- 

 tiaries. The subsequent American phases 

 are all represented in the museum collections, 

 and it was obviously desirable to trace the 

 ancestry back to the earliest known stages. A 

 further cause of personal interest to Professor 

 Osbom was the fact that in an address before 

 the New York Academy of Sciences in 1900 

 he had predicted that three or more of these 

 groups would most probably be discovered in 

 Africa. The publication of Andrews's memoir 

 made the field and the subject free for scien- 

 tific research by other workers and after con- 

 siderable correspondence and inquiry into the 

 probabilities of success the project of an ex- 

 pedition was approved by the president and by 

 the director of the American Museum. With 

 his usual liberality President Morris K. Jesup 

 decided to defray the chief expenses of a three 

 or four months' expedition, and preparations 

 were made to leave New York on January 5 

 and to begin work in the Fayum as early as 

 possible in order to take advantage of the 

 cool months of the Egyptian winter. Pro- 

 fessor Osbom selected as his assistants Mr. 

 Walter Granger and Mr. George Olsen, of the- 

 museum staff. President Roosevelt, Mr. 

 Joseph H. Choate and Director Charles D. 

 Walcott sent letters to Lord Cromer and other 

 officials of the English protectorate supporting- 

 the chief objects of the expedition. 



The party reached Cairo on January 24, 

 expecting to occupy ten days or more in out- 

 fitting with camels, water tanks, supplies and 

 men. But Director H. G. Lyons, of the 

 Egyptian Geological Survey, entirely altered 

 this estimate by most liberally placing aU the- 

 necessary equipment from the survey at Pro- 



