AvGuST 13, 1897. ] 
dustry and energy, as well as cares, of Cope 
were rewarded with many well-preserved 
fossils. These were described in many 
communications to the Academy of Natural 
Sciences and the American Philosophical 
Society, and later in large volumes pub- 
lished by the general government as re- 
ports of the respective surveys with which 
he was connected. 
The various investigations thus opened 
were continued through the succeeding 
years. His collections continued to grow 
in spite of reduced means. He refused 
even to sell portions for which he was of- 
fered liberal sums and, at the cost of per- 
sonal discomfort, held on to them and made 
his home, for much of the time, in the 
midst of them, having sold his residential 
house but kept his museum. i 
In 1878 he purchased the rights of the 
proprietors of the American Naturalist and 
removed it to Philadelphia. Professor 
Packard, one of the original proprietors, 
cooperated with him in the editing of it 
for some years, and he was also assisted by 
various eminent specialists. In this journal 
numerous articles of all kinds, including 
reviews and editorial comments, were pub- 
lished by him. His last words appeared in 
numbers issued after his death, the leading 
article in the number for June having been 
written shortly before his death ; it treats of 
the remarkable mammals of South America, 
known as Toxodontia. 
In 1886 he received an appointment to 
a chair in the University of Pennsylvania 
and became professor of geology and 
paleontology. Such a man naturally awak- 
ened the interest of apt pupils, and he was 
a facile and entertaining lecturer. From the 
stores of a rich memory he could improvise 
a discourse on almost any topic within the 
range of bis varied studies. His views 
were so much in advance of those in any 
text-book that for his own convenience, no 
less than for the benefit of his pupils, he 
SCIENCE. 229 
felt compelled to prepare a ‘Syllabus of 
lectures on geology and paleontology,’ but 
only ‘ Part III., Paleontology of the Verte- 
brata,’ was published. It appeared in 1891 
and is still a valuable epitome of the classi- 
fication of the vertebrates, recent as well 
as fossil, giving in dichotomous tables the 
essential characters of all the groups above 
families and also the names of all the fami- 
lies. His own industry and investigations 
did much to render this antiquated in even 
six years and a new edition or work became 
necessary. ‘‘ Upon the Tuesday preceding 
his death he sent to the press an elaborate 
outline of his University lectures contain- 
ing his latest ideas of the classification of 
the Vertebrata.’ 
The enormous mass of publications con- 
stantly flowing from his own pen might 
lead one unacquainted with the author to 
suppose that he was probably a recluse, 
but there were few men of his intellectual- 
ity who were less disposed to seclude them- 
selves. He enjoyed and gave enjoyment 
to intellectual company and was a brilliant 
conversationalist. He was especially fond 
of academical meetings and was an unusu- 
ally frequent attendant at the meetings of 
the American Association as well as of the 
National Academy of Sciences. His elec- 
tion to the Presidency of the American As- 
sociation was highly esteemed by him and 
doubtless his address would have been a 
notable one. 
In February (1897) Cope’s health be- 
came seriously affected by nephritic disor- 
der, which, it is said, ‘might possibly have 
been remedied by a surgical operation,’ 
but this he would not submit to. Notwith- 
standing failing health, he continued active 
almost to the last. Finally the insidious 
disease invaded his entire system and he 
died on the 12th of April, in the room he 
had long used as a study, surrounded by 
the objects of his life-long attentions. 
* Osborn in SCIENCE, May 7, p. 705. 
