MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



L5 



REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE 

 PALAEONTOLOGY. 



By Charles R. Eastman. 



A notable increase has been made during the past year in the 

 department of fossil fishes, especially those from Palaeozoic hori- 

 zons, and negotiations for still further accessions are in progress. 

 A number of valuable specimens have been presented by friends 

 of the Museum, and other desiderata have been acquired through 

 purchase or exchange. August and a part of September of last 

 year were spent by the Assistant in the highly fossiliferous local- 

 ities of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin ; on this trip a number of 

 public and private collections were examined, and as guest of 

 the Iowa Geological Survey, some valuable field-experience was 

 enjoyed. 



The generosity of Professor Calvin, Director of the Iowa 

 Survey, and his assistant Professor Udden, in presenting the 

 Museum with some of the most important Devonian fishes yet 

 found in that region has greatly enriched our series of Devonian 

 fishes. One of the earliest collectors of Ohio Placoderms, Rev. 

 H. Herzer, has donated some choice specimens of Corniferous 

 fishes, and from the family of the late Mr. S. A. Miller, of Cincin- 

 nati, a number of Devonian and Carboniferous fossils have been 

 received. Mention should be made also of interesting new matt - 

 rial discovered by Mr. N. H. Darton in the Jurassic of the Black 

 Hills, South Dakota, which, exclusive of the types, has been 

 freely offered to the Museum. Many valuable specimens have 

 been borrowed from different sources during the year for pur- 

 poses of study, and a review has been undertaken of the Pa- 

 laeozoic fishes of % North America, to appear in a forthcoming 

 Memoir. 



With the aid of a dental engine procured for the Department, 

 a large number of specimens have been placed in better condi- 

 tion for study or for exhibition, and others have been carefully 



