41 2 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVIII. 



tyum, consisting of the initial cup alone, and also others with first 

 lateral buds, young Bryozoa showing initial chambers. Such 

 material selected with infinite care and patience formed the basis 

 of a number of papers by Beecher and others. He etched also 

 some very choice fossils from the Hamilton of Canandaigua 

 Lake, New York. One sees and hears so much of poorly pre- 

 served fossils, that such exceptionally fine material is refreshing. 

 He made a special point of seeking small and embryonic material 

 by sifting clay from fossiliferous regions with a stream of run- 

 ning water. In this way he obtained choice material from Wal- 

 dron, Indiana. 



In June, 1899, Beecher gave his large and exceedingly valuable 

 collections to the Peabody Museum as he said, "in grateful 

 recognition of the honors and favors conferred upon me during 

 my connection with the University. These collections, made 

 previous to his New Haven appointment, represent the result 

 of twenty years' labor, they were collected wholly by himself 

 and comprised upwards of one hundred thousand specimens, 

 mostly from the Devonian and Lower Carboniferous of New 

 York and Pennsylvania. They contained about five hundred 

 type specimens, published in the Palceontology of Neiv York, 

 Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, and various scientific peri- 

 odicals. They also contained hundreds of specimens represent- 

 ing series in development, rare species, and choice specimens 

 exquisitely prepared to show structural detail. 



His specimens were always fully labeled as regards locality 

 and identification of genus and species, so that his collections of 

 land and fresh-water molluscs previously mentioned and his col- 

 lections of fossils represent an immense amount of labor and 

 experience in the field and also in systematic zoology and palseo- 

 zoology in working up the collections, and this all as a side- 

 show to his regular work in official positions. 



In his bachelor days at New Haven Beecher with Pirsson, 

 Penfield and Wells roomed in "the attic," the top story of the 

 Sheffield Scientific School, which was comfortably fitted up in 

 true Bohemian style. One of the pleasantest recollections of 



