54 



increased, so that eventually the whole subject will be adequately 

 revised. This, however, will not occur until there are better 

 publishing facilities, including means of presenting adequate 

 illustrations. Thus, for example, under existing conditions it is 

 futile to attempt to revise the Cretaceous plant remains accumu- 

 lating in the University of Colorado, since no provision exists for 

 the publication of a report. The Rocky Mountain Cretaceous 

 strata are at present furnishing great quantities of oil and coal, 

 and the volume of wealth produced is almost incredible. Yet 

 no provision is made for a complete and systematic survey of 

 the Cretaceous rocks and their fossils, and the prevailing ignor- 

 ance leads to great waste and no little fraud, for all of which the 

 public eventually has to pay. Scientific men, who should be 

 conducting fundamental researches, are many of them induced 

 to spend their time working for private companies, so that the 

 general situation tends to get worse rather than better. The 

 proper remedy would be to tax the oil and coal industries for the 

 purpose of securing adequate funds for a continuous scientific 

 survey of all the strata concerned and problems involved. 

 Then young men and women of ability might be induced to 

 devote their lives to research, knowing that they would have 

 fair pay, opportunities for getting the work done, and would be 

 rendering important services to their country. We may still 

 believe that there are many who, under such conditions, would 

 resist the temptation of the money bags. 



It must not be supposed that Dr. Knowlton's Catalogue is of 

 interest only to students of fossils. It should be in the possession 

 of every botanist who cares anything about the wider aspects 

 of his science. The lists of species by strata and localities will 

 be especially instructive, and will tend to correct the impression 

 produced by the combined list (as if of a single flora) given in 

 Harshberger's great work on the distribution of American plants. 

 It will be noticed that nearly all the genera of woody plants 

 well represented today in North America also abounded during 

 Tertiary times. The climate during at least the greater part of 

 Tertiary time was evidently warmer than now, but aside from 

 this, the genera were more widespread apparently independently 



