88 The American Geologist. August, 1900 
insects, several rodents had been found, among them a new species of 
porcupine (Erethizon cloacinus), and an astragalus of very large spe- 
cies, almost equal to the Anguilla rodents. Perhaps it is Castoroides. 
The sloths are much the most numerous; there are at least twelye in- 
dividuals, and two species of Megalonyx, which seem to be both dif- 
ferent from the known M. JefTersonii." * * 
"Haddonfield, N. J., April 30, 1871. "* * * j have on my own 
part found the only spiritual rewards to be granted to industry in a 
cause designed to be of ultimate benefit to mankind. Though there 
are callings of apparently more real use than mine into which I would 
have been willing to be led, and though it takes a great deal of such 
work as mine to produce much result, yet I am as well adapted to it 
as any, and have the means of prosecuting it more conveniently than 
most. In thy last thee speaks of the theory of development being cal- 
culated to do incalculable mischief in disturbing faith, etc. This thee 
would not say, I suppose, if thee thought the doctrine true. If Thee 
can place thyself in the position of one who believes it to be true, thee 
would see in it an aid to the cause in which thee is most interested. 
viz: a shaker of false faiths, and an aid to that which is founded on a 
rock, "that which cannot be shaken may remain." If it aid in re- 
ducing religion down to a personal thing, a matter of the heart and 
not of the head, it will do more for it than any one worldly thing has 
done for a long time. And this is one of the missions of science, to 
mark precisely the limits of knowledge by the understanding, and the 
boundaries of that realm of knowledge by spiritual discernment alone." 
* * "I have been studying the fish skeletons, and am fast build- 
ing up an analytic system, which will straighten some things up. The 
opportunity is fine." * * "MacNeil has sent some very valuable 
things latterly." * * "The Phoenixville cave awaits the beginning 
of excavations." * * "I am temporarily at work on a collection of 
fishes from the Ambyiacu river in East Equador. I find nearly 100 
species and have gone only over the catfish (Siluroids) and find 22 
species. Among these are 6 new genera and many more new species. 
Two of the former remind one of iron-clad gun boats and have im- 
mense swim-bladders to float their armament." 
Topeka, Kan., September 7, 1871. 
"My dear Sister: I have some time this morning, and think per- 
haps thee and Philip would be refreshed by a little breeze from the 
prairies. This town is on a rise of ground and overlooks in some 
directions, the most interminable prairies. I never saw these land- 
oceans before, and truly they are worth a trip out here to see. 
"The flowers we have often heard of, but I did not suppose they 
were so tall; as high as a man's head or a steer's back. Sunflowers, 
goldenrods, and various Compositae, flax, sage. Euphorbia, endless 
Verbenas, etc., etc., cover the great expanse in every direction. The air 
is delightful, and it is impossible not to be taken with the spirit of push 
of the far west. The plains are said to be alive with bufifalo, so much 
as to stop the trains on the 'K. P.' " 
