22 INTRODUCTION. 



is now a rapidly growing desire for more detailed information 

 than is contained in the meager accounts of a quarter of a 

 century ago, or than can be picked up by the individual un- 

 aided and alone. 



But aside from the purely intellectual culture to be derived 

 from the consideration of geological phenomena, there is an- 

 other feature in the study that is well worthy of the most 

 serious consideration, especially in the light of the pre-emi- 

 nently utilitarian tendencies of modern education. The early 

 geological information and methods acquired in the school- 

 room lay the broad and solid foundations for the future en- 

 gineer and artisan. They do much toward encouraging the 

 intelligent development of the boundless resources which 

 Nature has bestowed with lavish hand on a great state. At the 

 same time they protect the citizen from the wiles of prowling 

 speculators, so numerous in all localities where mineral wealth 

 is developing rapidly. 



The literature relating to the fossil organisms found in the 

 rocks of Missouri is widely scattered, and to a large extent 

 inaccessible to any one but the specialist^ The few descrip- 

 tions printed by the State were issued nearly forty years ago. 

 The reports containing them were rather sparingly distributed, 

 and during the period which has elapsed since their publication 

 most of the copies have been lost, destroyed, or passed beyond 

 the boundaries of the State. In the meantime the population 

 has greatly increased, so that, even if the reports were all at 

 hand, the supply would be inadequate. Only a small propor- 

 tion, therefore, of the citizens can avail themselves of these 

 volumes. A goodly number of descriptions have appeared in 

 the transactions ,of learned societies, and have had a limited 

 distribution, the larger share of which has been foreign. In 

 many cases these sketches have been brief, unsatisfactory, and 

 nearly all of them unaccompanied by illustrations. Much con- 

 fusion, consequently, has arisen ; and in many instances the 

 same species has received several different names. The large 

 majority of the fossils found in Missouri have been described 

 and figured in the voluminous reports of other states, most of 



