MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 39 



REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE 



PALAEONTOLOGY. 



By Charles E. Eastman. 



The most important additions to the collection since the date of 

 the last Report consist of a unique series of Devonian Fishes from 

 Iowa, and a number of choice specimens from the Cleveland Shale 

 of Ohio. Several boxes of material from a newly discovered fish- 

 bed in Johnson County, Iowa, were very generously presented by 

 the State Geologist, Professor Samuel Calvin, and arrangements 

 have since been made by which the Museum is enabled to partici- 

 pate in the further exploitation of this interesting deposit. A 

 second instalment of Ohio material, purchased of Dr. William 

 Clark, secured to the Department a valuable lot of specimens ; and 

 the representation of fossil Vertebrates from this State has been 

 still further increased by exchanges, as noted below. It is fortu- 

 nate that the faunal series should have become thus enriched in a 

 direction wherein there formerly existed a deficiency. 



The time of the Assistant has been devoted principally to the 

 care and study of the collections under his charge. The display of 

 specimens in the Systematic Exhibition Rooms has been rearranged, 

 and the selection of fossils for the Palaeozoic Room brought to a 

 completion. During the present summer a field trip of a month's 

 duration is contemplated. The success that has attended the 

 operations of professional collectors in working up small but 

 productive fields systematically, instead of skimming over a large 

 area superficially, is sufficient demonstration of the economy 

 and advantage of this method as applied to institutions. Con- 

 centration of effort in localities where there is a natural concen- 

 tration of material, well known examples of which occur in this 

 country, insures much better results than desultory gatherings 

 over a wide district. 



Additions to the Collection during the Year. 



1896. Specimens of Macropetalichthys, Gonatodus, and other remains 

 from the Corniferous Limestone, near Columbus, Ohio. Exchange with 

 Dr. Edward Orton, State Geologist. Received December 23. 



