758 Richard Rathbun. 



results of Rathbun 's own collections and in it is incor- 

 porated a discussion of the relationships of the Devonian 

 fauna of Brazil and North America. 



The Devonian Trilobites and Mollusks of Erere, 

 Province of Para, Brazil, collected by Professor Hartt in 

 1870-71 are described in a joint paper by Hartt and Rath- 

 bun, published in the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural 

 History, New York. 3 



The study of the Cretaceous fossils of the Hartt col- 

 lection required access to the collections in the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology of Harvard College, and here 

 Rathbun remained from 1873 to 1875. At the same time 

 he served as assistant in Zoology at the Boston Society of 

 Natural History. These studies resulted in a prelim- 

 inary report on the Cretaceous Lamellibranchs, including 

 detailed descriptions of twelve new species. 4 During the 

 years 1875 to 1878 Rathbun served as geologist to the 

 Geological Commission of Brazil, where he made a study 

 of the geological formations and the scanty mineral 

 resources of several different provinces. "While in Brazil 

 he published a report of these geological studies includ- 

 ing an account of his search for coal deposits and an 

 extended survey of the coral reefs which lie along the 

 coast. 5 



Several additional papers recording the results of his 

 work in Brazil were published between 1876 and 1879. 

 In one of these 6 the arrangement and formation of the 

 Brazilian coral reefs and the characteristic life of the dif- 

 ferent faunal zones are explained with great clearness. 

 The Extinct Coral Reefs at Bahia, 7 and the Coral Reefs 

 of the Island of Itaparica, Bahia, and of Parahyba do 

 Norte 8 are the titles of other articles on the same subject. 

 His geological papers include an interesting description 

 of the Brazilian sandstone reefs and the agencies con- 

 cerned in their formation 9 and reviews of the current lit- 

 erature on the geology of Brazil. 10 



After Professor Hartt's death from yellow fever early 

 in 1878, Rathbun returned to the United States and pre- 

 pared two papers describing the life and scientific work 

 of his honored friend and teacher. 11 



Rathbun had already acquired some experience in the 

 investigation of marine life from his connection with the 

 explorations of the IT. S. Fish Commission as voluntary 

 scientific assistant during the summers of 1874 and 1875, 



