REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I9II 43 



PALEONTOLOGY 



The collection of invertebrate fossils has been augmented by 

 several interesting and valuable acquisitions from the field. Among 

 these is an extensive series of the Devonic fishes from the beds at 

 Migouasha in the Province of Quebec. In ni}- report of last 3^ear I 

 gave some special attention to the stratigraphy of these remarkable 

 beds which probably surpass in the abundance and perfection of 

 their remains any other known locality of Devonic fishes. An ex- 

 perienced collector has been engaged to watch the natural outcrops 

 which are so exposed to the sea and weather as to break down read- 

 ily and thus afford a continuous supply of the fossils. Some of the 

 specimens thus acquired have been of a quality and interest to justify 

 brief notice here, and there is given elsewhere in this report notice 

 and illustrations of certain remarkable specimens prepared by Dr L. 

 Hussakof. 



The investigations of the anatomy and distribution of the Euryp- 

 terida to which of late years I have had occasion to make frequent 

 reference have led to a final search for their remains in rocks of the 

 State. The old and historic localities in Herkimer county have again 

 been examined. Last year it was found desirable to remove part 

 of the cellar walls of a barn near Crane's Corners, the rocks of 

 which had been taken long ago from Eurypterus-bearing outcrops 

 now no longer productive. That experience was attended with such 

 success as to justify this year the removal of the remainder of this 

 cellar wall, from which several hundred examples of these inter- 

 esting creatures have been obtained. Further search for these 

 remains in other parts of the State has revealed them in formations 

 where they were least expected — in the Frankfort shales of the 

 lower Mohawk valley and in the still earlier Normanskill horizon 

 near Catskill. These have been discoveries of high paleontological 

 significance and though the material from these earlier beds has not 

 the superior preservation of the later examples, it has widely ex- 

 tended our knowledge of the history of the arachnid group to which 

 the animals belong. 



The explorations for these eurypterid remains in late years have 

 been very fruitful and these accessions to our understanding of their 

 geological range. and significance, their anatomy and their abundance 

 have been considerations which are fully considered in the mono- 

 graph of the Eurypterida of New York, a publication which, after 

 years of preparation, is about leaving the press. 



