412 Othniel Charles Marsh. 



tions in the West. He successively projected the publication 

 of a number of large monographs on various groups of verte- 

 brate fossils. It is a great misfortune that but two of these 

 were ever finished by the author. The monograph of the 

 Odontornithes appeared in 1880, and that of the Dinocerata in 

 1885. The others were left in various stages of incomplete-, 

 ness at the time of his death. The proposed volumes treated 

 of the Sauropoda, the Brontotheridse, the Stegosauria, Thero- 

 poda, Ornithopoda, Mesozoic Mammals, and the Ceratopsia. 

 Most of the investigations had been completed, a large part of 

 the plates and figures engraved, and preliminary descriptions 

 published, but the philosophical and phylogenetic problems are 

 largely untouched. The loss to science is greatest in the vol- 

 umes relating to Reptiles, especially the Dinosauria, for in 

 this subject Marsh stood as the sole possessor of an acute 

 and comprehensive knowledge of one of the most wonderful 

 and difficult groups of vertebrates known. He planned his 

 life-work on the basis that immortality is here and not in the 

 hereafter. It seemed difficult for him to realize the limita- 

 tions of human existence and worldly accomplishment. 



In the closing years of his life he had two ruling ambitions, — 

 first, to see the main building of the Museum erected, and, 

 second, the completion of his monographs. The accomplish- 

 ment of the first is imperative and would permit of the proper 

 care and display of the priceless treasures he has accumulated. 

 The attainment of the second would cancel his obligations to 

 science. Neither was realized. 



As one of the trustees of the Peabody Museum and as 

 Curator of the Geological Collections, Marsh performed his 

 chief duties in connection with Yale University. The final 

 transfer to the University, of all the collections he had accumu- 

 lated, was made January 1st, 1898, and soon after the gift was 

 accepted by the Corporation. These collections are so exten- 

 sive as to merit particular attention, especially since they rep- 

 resent the most valuable part of the work of a lifetime, and 

 form the chief monument of one of Yale's most noted men. 

 As expressed in the deed of gift, the collections comprise : 



