PUBLICATION BY VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGISTS 365 



that museum administrators and the public are far more interested in an 

 elephant and a dinosaur than in an oyster or a coral. 



The output in puldication of the vertebrate workers is large and of 

 the greatest import. It is, moreover, varied in its relation to paleo- 

 zoology, zoology, evolution, and stratigraphy. In spreading their knowl- 

 edge they are wonderfully active in presenting it, not only in the way of 

 scientific publications, but even more so in museum exhibitions and in 

 poi)ular books that arc ''good sellers.'' Think of the wonderful vertebrate 

 exhibitions of the xlmerican Museum of Natural History, the United 

 States National Museum, Yale University, the Carnegie Museum, and 

 the Los Angeles Museum; and of such readable books as "Men of the 

 Old Stone Age," ''The Age of Mammals," "The Origin and Evolution of 

 Life," "A History of Land Mammals in the Western Hemisphere," "Ani- 

 mals of the Past,'' "Animals before Man in North America," "Organic 

 Evolution," "Water Reptiles of the Past and Present," and "American 

 Permian Vertebrates." The upwelling of American vertebrate paleon- 

 tology came with the great pioneers, Joseph Leidy, Edward Drinker 

 Cope, and Othniel Charles Marsh. Today the spirit of their work is 

 perpetuated mainly by Henry Fairfield Osborn, William Berryman Scott, 

 William Diller Matthew, John Campbell Merriam, and Eichard Swann 

 Lull. And is there anywhere in the world a better or more united band 

 than that of the American Museum, in cooperation with Columbia Uni- 

 versity? This is an eminently constructive group, one for all of us to 

 "sit up and take notice" of, and to strive not only to emulate but to sur- 

 pass. A healthy rivalry is what is needed in paleontology; for, after all, 

 in this world, based as it is on the struggle for existence, the golden 

 nuggets of paleontologic progress will be won only through friendly 

 interaction. 



Next allow me to diagnose the condition of the paleobotanists. With 

 Wieland, we agree that "what paleobotany most needs is men. The 

 dearth of men conversant with fossil plants, not merely in America, but 

 taking the world over, is to be deplored." The American clan numbers 

 only 8, and, what is most important, but 4 of these can be said to be 

 active. Think of the further fact that in all of our American and Cana- 

 dian imiversities, and some of them are greatly endowed, there is but 

 one paleobotanist who can be said to be teaching the science successfully. 

 To be sure, the problem is to a certain extent a practical one, for after a 

 student has been trained he expects to be placed so that he can make a 

 living, and it is true that not many paleobotanists can be employed as 

 such on our national surveys and in our universities. Think, however, 

 of the many institutions that teach historical geology; and what more 



