66 ` Scientific News. [January, 
the head of an expedition from Williams College to South 
America. On this occasion he crossed the continent by Quito, 
the Napo and the Amazon, discovering the first fossils found in 
the Amazon valley. In 1869 he became Professor of Natural 
History at Vassar College. In 1873 Professor Orton madea 
second journey across South America, from Para up the Amazon 
to Lima and Lake Titicaca. About a year ago Professor Orton 
returned once more to South America, to undertake alone and with 
limited means, the exploration of the Great Beni River, which 
carries the waters of Eastern Bolivia to the Amazon, by way 
of the Madeira. His works are: “ The Miner’s Guide and Met- 
allurgists’ Directory” (1849); “The Proverbalist and Poet” 
(1852); The Andes and the Amazon” (1870); “Underground 
Treasures ; How and Where to Find Them ” (1872); and “ Com- 
parative Zoology” (1875). 
— Messrs. S. H. Scudder, of Cambridge, and F. C. Bowditch, 
of Boston, have just returned from a two months’ tour in Col- 
orado, Wyoming and Utah, where, under the direction of Dr. 
Hayden, they have been exploring for fossil insects, and collect- 
ing specimens especially in the high regions. They report having _ 
secured many specimens of fossil insects at different points along _ 
the railways from Pueblo to Cheyenne, and from Cheyenne to — 
Salt Lake, as well as at Lakin, Kansas, and Garland, and George- “ 
- Six or seven thousand specimens of insects, and 2,000 or 3,000 
of plants have already been received from Florisant, and as many 
more are expected before the close of the year. Arrangements 
were also made with persons who have found a new and rich de- 
posit of fossils in the tertiary strata in Wyoming, to forward all 
the specimens obtained there. 
Mr. Scudder believes that the tertiary strata of the Rocky 
Mountain region are richer in the remains of fossil insects than 
any others in the world, and that within the next few months the 
~ amount of material at hand for the study of the subject, will be 
_ greater than was ever before possessed by any single naturalist. 
; tions during the past season, was the country about Fort Bridget, 
Unitah Mountains and the Salt Lake Basin. The specimens he has — 
collected comprise the lowest and simplest forms of animal life, 
