MEMOIR OF O. C. MARSH 523 



The. subject of the present sketch was born near Lockport, New York, 

 October 29, 1831. His parents were Caleb and Mary Peabody Marsh, 

 formerly of Danvers (now Peabody), Massachusetts. His early educa- 

 tion was obtained in the schools of Lockport and at the Wilson Collegiate 

 Institute, Wilson, New York. A residence in a region rich in minerals 

 and fossils is apt to attract the attention of a youth possessing healthy 

 intelligence, and young Marsh soon shared his vacation time between 

 the normal pursuits of shooting and fishing and the more unusual voca- 

 tion of collecting minerals and fossils. By the time he was nineteen 

 years old he had thus acquired the taste for scientific subjects which was 

 destined to grow and dominate the remainder of his life. 



In 1851 he entered Phillips Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts, and 

 continued his studies there until graduation in 1856. He immediately 

 entered the freshman class in Yale College, pursuing the regular classical 

 course, and receiving the degree of B. A. in 1860. Graduate courses in 

 the natural sciences were continued in the Sheffield Scientific School 

 during the two years following (1861-'62). The long summer vacations 

 from 1851 to 1862 were occupied in collecting minerals and fossils from 

 New York, New England, and Nova Scotia. To the latter region he 

 made five trips during this interval, and obtained much valuable ex- 

 perience and scientific material. On his second visit (1855) he found 

 some fossil vertebrae in the Coal Measures at South Joggins, representing 

 a new and important vertebrate animal (Eosaurus). This discovery 

 finally directed his studies into the channel which became his life-work. 

 At this time, however, his interests were about equally divided between 

 invertebrate paleontology and mineralogy, and it is worthy of note that 

 his first scientific paper was published in the American Journal' of 

 Science in 1861, under the title " The gold of Nova Scotia." 



The description of Eosaurus did not appear until 1862, seven years 

 after its discovery. Even then it cannot be said that he had developed 

 a strong liking for vertebrate paleontology. This closes the account of 

 his student life in American schools. 



The next three years were passed in study abroad, in the universities 

 of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Breslau. He attended lectures and took 

 special courses with H. Rose, G. Rose, Ehrenberg, Peters, Roemer, Grube, 

 and Gceppert. The vacations were occupied, as before, by geological 

 excursions. He visited the most important localities in Europe, and 

 obtained extensive collections. His official connection with Yale Col- 

 lege began by his appointment, in 1866, to the chair of professor of pale- 

 ontology. This title he held in high esteem, as it was the first established 

 either in this country or elsewhere. 



After attending the meeting of the American Association for the Ad- 



