Othniel Charles Marsh. — Bccclicr. 139 
covery finally directed his studies into the channel which be- 
came his life-work. At this time, however, his interests were 
about equally divided between invertebrate paleontologv and 
mineralogy, and it is worthy of note that his first scientific 
paper bore the title of "The Gold of Xova Scotia." 
The description of Eosaiirns did not appear until 1862, 
seven years after its discovery. Even then it cannot be said 
that he had developed a strong liking for vertebrate paleon- 
tology. This closes the account of his student life in Ameri- 
can schools. 
The next three years were passed in study abroad, in the 
universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Breslau. He attended 
lectures and took special courses with H. Rose, G. Rose, 
Ehrenberg, Peters, Roemer, Grube, and Goeppert. The vaca- 
tions were occupied, as before, by geological excursions. He 
visited the most important localities in Europe, and obtained 
extensive (;ollecticns. His official connection with Yale Col- 
lege began by his appointment, in 1866, to the chair of pro- 
fessor of paleontology. This title he held in high esteem, 
as it was the first established either in this country or else- 
where. 
After attending the meeting of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science at Chicago, in 1868, Marsh 
went as far west as Nebraska and Wyoming, along the route 
of the Union Pacific railroad, then just opened. This trip 
gave him a foretaste of the inexhaustible fossil riches of the 
Rocky Mountain regions, and thenceforth his enerp'ies were 
mainly devoted to their exploration. Scientific expeditions to 
the western country were undertakings of considerable magni- 
tude in those early days. There was but one railroad in the 
United States across a region measuring fifteen hundred miles 
square. White settlements were sparse and remote. Most of 
the country was unmapped, and with the exception of a few 
transcontinental trails, ahiiost the whole western half of the 
continent, save the regions bordering the Pacific, was a bound- 
less expanse of unknown arid plains, mountains and valleys. 
Added to these conditions were the indigenous tribes of war- 
loving Indians, hostile to the whites. Under such circum- 
stances, travel was slow, difficult, and dangerous. It was 
necessary to have an escort of soldiers and guides, experienced 
in western life and Indian warfare. 
