‘aa 
1890.] Scientific News. 399 
detained him from the museum, such as’ buying Jersey cows, orchids, 
etc. A calving cow has detained him till dark—that, too, at a time 
when he was to leave the next day to be gone a fortnight. With even 
moderate industry his Sauropoda contract could not have lapsed, nor 
could his Stegosauridz and Brontotheridz contracts have shared a like 
fate. In all justice, however, to Professor Marsh, it should be stated 
that the best interests of the Survey demand that he should have the 
utmost freedom in going, coming, or absenting himself outright from 
the laboratory. But this does not excuse him for leaving his force 
without some one to systematize, plan, and direct the work effec- 
tively. Then his inefficient business methods as regards the salaries of 
his assistants lead to endless friction and general dissatisfaction. Not 
only does he dole out the pay quarterly,—not monthly, as the Govern- 
ment does,—but often, even then, postpones the pay-day from two or 
three days to as much as three weeks, and then at the end of this time 
makes matters still more annoying by all sorts of petty quibbles, and 
what we called ‘‘ Marsh’s tricks.’ On one occasion, during my 
_ earlier experiences on the Survey, he handed me the vouchers and a 
receipt in full, all of which were duly signed. He in turn signed a 
check for payment in part (deducting some fifty dollars), which he 
handed over, explaining in all candor that “the balance would be 
made good at the end of the year.” ‘‘It’sa way they have on the 
Survey.” But as it was a way I didn’t have, and ‘‘ though his word 
was as good as his bond,” another check was forthcoming. Forget- 
ting this failure, the same untrue and unfair game was tried again later 
with like results. 
His unpardonable neglect of proper superintendence costs the Gov- 
ernment far more than all his sumptuous high art works on paper and 
in plaster. The only time when Prof. Marsh does show signs of real 
industry is when he rushes precipitately into the description of a 
‘“ new genus.” Utterly disregarding the advice of his ablest assistants, 
and neglecting those thorough investigations which might check his 
growing list of useless generic names, he oat his specimen on the 
first impulse, and his list is swelled by one more name. A sacrum 
comes in ‘‘ consisting of only three vertebra "” sett other two knocked 
off ): he sees in it a “ totally different genus,’’ and though it is contrary 
to all probability and to the advice of his assistants, he industriously 
founds a new genus and species on it. (See American Journal Science, 
Vol. XVII., January, 1879; also text-books of geology.) Should the 
Geological Survey by any chance be crippled by the recent overhaul- 
ing of Prof. Marsh’s methods, it would be a national loss, but it is 
