362 Coe — A Century of Zoology in America. 



American systematic zoology into the front ranks of the 

 science. This opportunity was offered by the United 

 States Exploring Expedition under the command of 

 Admiral Wilkes. With James D. Dana as naturalist, the 

 expedition visited Madeira, Cape Verde Islands, eastern 

 and western coasts of South America, Polynesia, Samoa, 

 Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaiian Islands, west 

 coast of United States, Philippines, Singapore, Cape of 

 Good Hope, etc. 



Of the extensive collections made on this four-years' 

 cruise, Dana had devoted particular attention to the 

 study of the corals and allied animals (Zoophytes) and to 

 the Crustacea. In 1846 the report on the Zoophytes was 

 published in elegant folio form with colored plates. 

 Six years later the first volume of the report on Crus- 

 tacea appeared, with a second volume after two 

 additional years (1854). These reports describe and 

 beautifully illustrate hundreds of new species, and 

 include the first comprehensive studies of the animals 

 forming well-known corals. They remain as the most 

 conspicuous monuments in American invertebrate zool- 

 ogy. Unfortunately the very limited edition makes them 

 accessible in only a few large libraries. The other, 

 equally magnificent, volumes include: Mollusca and 

 Shells, by A. A. Gould, 1856; Herpetology, by Charles 

 Girard, 1858; Mammalogy and Ornithology, bv John 

 Cassin, 1858. 



Principal investigators. — Of the many writers on ani- 

 mals at this period of descriptive natural history, the fol- 

 lowing were prominent in their special fields of study : 



Ayres, Lesueur, Mitchill, Storer, Linsley, Wyman, 

 DeKay, Smith, Kirtland, Rafinesque and Haldeman 

 described the fishes. 



Green, Barton, Harlan, Le Conte, Say, and especially 

 Holbrook, studied the reptiles and amphibia. Holbrook's 

 great monograph of the reptiles (North American Her- 

 petology) was published between 1834 and 1845. 



Wilson, Audubon, Nuttall, Cooper, DeKay, Brewer, 

 Ord, Baird, Gould, Bachman, Linsley and Fox, were 

 among the numerous writers on birds. 



Godman, Ord, Richardson, Audubon, Bachman, De- 

 Kay, Linsley and Harlan, published accounts of mam- 

 mals. 



On the invertebrates an important general work enti- 



