The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-06-11
e says: The hypothesis

tism," and in another place. $50 W,
see it is a matter of necessity hat nsen
tai phenomena lie at the back OF evo
luton, provided always that the con
Meeting link of the argumenr-that mo
ton has ever affected structure-bt
true. That is a point which, of course
admits of much discussion. have
placed myself on the affirmative sid
Of the question:; and if l live Ions
demonstrated
He worked out the hypothesis with
a great deal Of skill, and it af- ords an
excellent example Of his power as a
l9giclan. but to some it seems to land
Linn, when carried to its ultimate con-
c%lusion, in an untenable position. The
appearance Of Weismann'S book in
,SS2, announcing his germ plasm'
hypothesis, and asserting the non-in-
h~eritability Of acquired characters
which would. if proved, be fatal to
Copes hypothesis, in no way discon-
certed him, and the controversy be.
tween the Weismannians, mostly Ger
mans; the Darwinians, mostly Eng
llsh, and the Neo-Lamarckians, mostly
Americans. still goes on.
Perhaps Professor Cope's most i'm
most indebted for his reputation, and
portant Work-that to which he is
which at the same time shows to tile
pest advantage his varied qualifca-
tlons, accuracy OF observation, nicely
OF comparison, powers of generaliza-
Ton and general mental grasp-was in
'he working out of the lines of descent
oi organic forms, p~hylogenesis.
II is only possible here to indicate
some of these. Among them NAV he
mentioned the tracing of all the orders
OF reptiles down to an order, Cotylo-
saurla, which, with another order,
lheromora, inhabited the earth during
the Permlan epoch. and which ap-
proaches structurally the Batrachia,
and at the same time presents charac-
'ers mat render it probable that all
other reptiles derive their being from
them. The descent of the camels from
the lower Mlocene Poebrotherium, and
that OF the horses from the four-toed
Hvracotherlum Of the Eocene, the two
most perfect lines yet deciphered he
vas also largely instrumental in solv-
ing. Inc universally of the trituber-
culate molar, which may prove to be
tne Key TO mammalian phylogeny, was
OF his inductions. Probably
the most interesting of all was that
"hlch parallels a discovery in another
line OF science, namely, that OF the
discovery of the planet Neptune by
Gale on the calculations and predjc-
tons Of Leverrier.
IN mis- case the prediction was made |
lhat a t1ve-toed plantigrade animal
would be found that would satisfy all
Ihe conditions, structural and geologi-
necessary to the ancestral type of
Lne hooted animals, and was verified
oy the discovery, in the Eocene forma-
Ion OF Wyoming, Of Phenacodus de-
'crlbed by Professor Cope in 1874. and
"hlch ne has with two other fossil
ANIMALS included in his order Con-
aylarthra, which he regarded as the
order for the Diplarthra
.hoofed animals); Proposcidia (ele-
'hants); Toxodontia (Toxodonts); Hy-
'acoldea (Hyraces), and A~nthropoldea
monkeys, apes and NAM. He also
showed the affinities between this or
Ter, Condylarthra, and another order.
Jreodontia, which he considers the
stock of the u%nguiculate (claw-
ed) animals, which indicate the iunc-
Ion OF the two lines, in some form vet
% be found lower down geologically.
fhe amount of work, research and
study necessary to the u%nraveling of
.hese questions, it is hard to convey an
dea of, but when it is remembered that
.ossll remains are rarely found, and
hose that furnish links" in a phylo-
yenetlc chain still more rarely. some
dea may be formed of the patience and
perseverance required.
Only those wno knew Professor Cone
n his work can fully appreciate what
lis loss means to the world of learning.
\ mind richly stored with facts known
o no n else and endowed with quail
les capable Of making the best use OF
hem, untimely ended at an age: of ma
judgment, is truly a calamity.