236 Field Museum of Natural History — Reports, Vol. III. 



in the vicinity of Ripley, Mississippi, where several hundred specimens 

 were obtained. Collecting in this locality has hitherto been very 

 unsatisfactory, owing to the rapidity with which the specimens 

 decomposed after removal from the soil. In order to obviate this 

 difficulty the Curator employed a device which permitted covering 

 the specimens with paraffin, immediately upon their removal. In this 

 way the specimens obtained were well preserved and the collection 

 is probably the first large one of permanent value that has ever been 

 secured of these fossils. At Pontotoc a fine series of fossil oysters, 

 echinoids, and shark's teeth was collected, numbering six hundred 

 and twenty-two specimens. Of these the echinoids were exception- 

 ally fine and at least four of the species are new. The Selma beds 

 of Houston yielded four hundred and eighty-six specimens of in- 

 vertebrates representing sixty-five species, and a sandy limestone 

 in the vicinity two hundred and thirty-one specimens representing 

 twenty-five species. The collecting of Tertiary fossils was carried 

 on chiefly in the vicinity of Vicksburg and about thirty-two hundred 

 specimens representing one hundred and fifty species were secured. 

 While the work of collecting here was considerably interfered with 

 by excessive rains and high water, the amount of material obtained 

 was on the whole very satisfactory. The assistance of Dr. Crider, 

 State Geologist of Mississippi, Professor Sullivan of Millsaps College, 

 and Professors Lowe and Brown of the State University, is gratefully 

 acknowledged in connection with the work. About twenty photo- 

 graphs illustrating the formations were made and a considerable 1 

 amount of modern molluscan material was secured and transferred 

 to the Department of Zoology. At Traverse Bay, Michigan, the 

 Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology also collected one 

 hundred and twenty-eight specimens of Devonian corals, sponges, 

 etc., which on polishing exhibit especially well-marked structure. 

 A series of peculiarly eroded pebbles was also secured at this locality. j 



The results of the expeditions in the interest of the Department 

 of Zoology to Central America, and Venezuela, South America, in- 

 cluding adjacent Islands, during the early part of 1908 by Messrs. 

 Dearborn and Ferry, proved most satisfactory. Their combined col- 

 lections contained 3,215 bird skins of which Mr. Ferry secured 2,100. 

 A fine series from the Dutch islands of Curacao, Oruba, and Bonaire 

 were nearly all new to the collections. During the summer Mr. Ferry 

 made several short collecting trips to local points^in Illinois and one 

 to northern Wisconsin, the results of which added 90 specimens, 



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