KANSAS SCIENTIFIC SURVEY. 567 



mouth of the rivers would advance and leave their deposits of sediment, as the 

 water of the seas retired. 



But none of the rivers which emptied into those seas have a well-defined 

 Loess deposit except the Missouri. The Kansas, the Arkansas, and their tribu- 

 taries seem to have had their debouch into interior lakes during" the recession of 

 the water and their sedimentary deposits, which were very limited in amount, 

 were made in them. The Missouri was the only river, perhaps, which had an 

 uninterrupted gradual fall during the elevation of these lands for the last time. 



Most of the Post-Tertiary animals, which before had drawn abundant sus- 

 tenance from the country, were destroyed by unfavorable conditions and became 

 extinct during this last invasion of their province. 



Another important question remains to be answej-ed, i. e., whether man wit- 

 nessed these occurrences ? We have reason to believe that he did, and survived 

 the unfavorable surroundings which destroyed most of his humbler co-habitants. 

 His remains have been found, both in Europe and in this country, associated 

 with older formations. His bones and implements have been found in the 

 alluvial deposits of this era under conditions which leave but little doubt that 

 they were buried in, by natural agencies, during their pendency. His monu- 

 ments stand out, conspicuously, in unbroken lines, for hundreds of miles from 

 the summits of the graceful Loess hills which had their birth in this epoch. He 

 has sculptured the greatest of the extinct mammals, and could only have drawn 

 the conception from the living animal. The conditions were not very dissimilar 

 from those of to day ; and we may feel assured that he played a leading part at 

 this stage of the world's progress, as he has since done in a more conspicuous 

 manner. 



Before closing this paper it is but just that I acknowledge, on behalf of the 

 University of Kansas, the courtesy of the officers of the Southern Kansas Rail- 

 way extended to it, and thank them for the interest they have always mani- 

 fested in the advancement of science and the development of the material re- 

 sources of Kansas, especially .those great interests along the line of their road. 

 Personally, I must acknowledge the invariable kindness I everywhere received 

 from all the officers and employees of the road during my work along its line;^ 

 and the pick and shovel, associated with these courtesies,, will ever be among, 

 my pleasant remembrances. 



KANSAS SCIENTIFIC SURVEY. 



PROF. JOHN D. PARKER, U. S. A. 



The Kansas Academy of Science, at the late annual meeting at Lawrence,, 

 took steps to inaugurate a thorough scientific survey of the State of Kansas, In 

 the early history of the State two preliminary reports were made by Professors 

 Mudge and Swallow, and the members of the Academy have made valuable 



