398 The American Naturalist. [April 
plates, but he makes all drawings on a large scale, necessitating many 
double and quadruple folded plates. 
He even goes to an extreme that is simply culpable, and makes 
some drawings natural size. To be specific, one such plate, represent- 
ing a full-length drawing of an enormous caudal vertebra of ‘‘Bronto- 
saurus’’ excelsus, is not far from three feet wide by four feet long, 
nearly equaling sixteen plates of ordinary size. Any lithographer can 
tell you about what the Government doles out for luxurious display of 
this sort. One plate would have given a very liberal space indeed for 
the figure of this unimportant caudal, The idea that to be scientific 
drawings must be full length! Let us rejoice that Professor Marsh is 
not called upon to write up, at the expense of the people, the natural 
history of the whale. But the cost of gorgeous plates is a mere 
bagatelle to the public treasury compared with the waste resulting 
from his natural indolence and mismanagement, Just think of leaving 
a large force of men without superintendence; no one to direct or 
advise! As a matter of practical business experience such a method 
is simply disastrous, and right here we may look for a rational expla- 
nation of the fact that Professor Marsh accomplishes but little, although 
his force is large and competent. He actually compels the men to 
hunt for work, instead of so appointing it as to secure their best efforts, 
and in general manages with such culpable deliberation that Govern- 
ment contracts for monographs lapse unnecessarily,? and in twenty- 
five years two monographs only appear to show for the talent and 
appropriations expended! But Ease finding itself outwitted by In- 
dustry, ingeniously catches up with all rivals by an antedate,‘ and we 
record one more quibble in the growth of a monograph. 
On consulting my books I find myself writing indignantly about 
this matter as much as four years ago, and mentioning his spending 
every moment on trivial details which concerned the workmen only, 
instead of inspiring greater effort, or urging on the work as a whole. 
Or, as Mr. Harger has often told me, to illustrate Professor Marsh’s 
eye for the small things, ‘‘ I have seen him sign his approval to a plate 
having the name spelled wrong, and even the bone upside down, 
without seeing either mistake, but a comma with a broken tail had 
been carefully marked.’’ (The entire edition of two plates was 
printed with the bones wrong end up.) Countless petty things 
3 As the author remembers it, each = three contracts for monographs have lapsed, 
been renewed, and lapsed a second tim 
t The reference is, of course, to the Dinocerata, goons lowe T sci 
Tertiary Vertebrata, published in ‘aie: but before the Dinocera’ 
i 

