The times., 1899-03-19
DEATH OF PROF. o. c. MARSH.
His Labors for Science md HIS Ser
vices to Yale.

His Labors for Science md His Ser
vices to Yale.
New Haven. March 1s.-Prof. Othniel c.
Marsh, of Yale University, of the Chair OF
Palaeontology and curator OF the geologic
al collection of the university died at his
residence in this city at 9:55 a. m. of
pneumonia
Prof. Marsh took bad cold about three
weeks ago, but got better, About week
later he TOOK anotner cold, accompanied
with some symptoms of grip. which last
Saturday night developed into pneumonia.
For some years he had not been in good
health, and it was pretty well understood
when, about year ago, he transferred his
invaluable collection at the Peabody Mu-
scum to the university, that he did SO part
ly because Of fears as to his own physical
condition. Since then, however. his health
had greatly improved, and almost up to
the last he continued work at the Peabody
Museum and had very recently written ar
ticles on archaeological subjects. Even
his near neighbors were unaware OF his last
illness.
Apart from his work and gifts in palaeon-
tology, Prof. Marsh's greatest benefaction
to Yale was in securing from his unc' O.
George Peabody, the fund out of which was
built the Peabody Museum, and a part of
which is now steadily accumulating for the
construction of the central structure and
south wing. To see the museum finished
before his death was Prof. Marsh's greatest
wish, and in a few years more he would
probably have seen work begun on the cen
tral structure. Under the terms of his It
his great collection is to be kept together
very large part of it, including some of
his most important finds in the Bad Lands
still remains unpacked in the basement of
Peabody Museum, where it has been stored
for years.
Owing TO his large expenditures in his
work during his lifetime, 1t is not believed
that Prof. Marsh leaves a large property.
He received no salary from the university
or college, and during his life paid out
large sums for assistants, whom he chose
with great skill. and not few of whom
have won fame in archaeological work.
0thniel Charles Marsh was born in Lock-
port. N. Y, on October %, 1881. He was
graduated from Yale in 1860, and for the
next two years studied in the Scientific
School. devoting his attention especially to
mineralogy and palaeoutology, distinguish
ing himself at this early period by the dis
covery and description of the fossil of a
large reptile In the coal formation of Nova
Scotia. From 1862 to 1865 he studied 20
ology, geology, and mineralogy in the prin-
cipal German universities under the most
eminent teachers of the time, passing his
vacation time in field work in various parts
of the Continent and especially in the
Alps.
In 1866 he returned to this country to
accept the chair of palaeontology estab-
lished for him at Yale in 1866, a position
which he retained to the day of his death.
All through his life he devoted himself
with indefatigable energy to the original
investigation of extinct vertebrate anima s.,
especially of those which he collected in
the Rocky Mountains region in various
scientific expeditions organized and led by
himself. In these researches he crossed and
recrossed the Rocky Mountains between
twenty and thirty times. and he often PEN
etrated regions which had never been Wis
ited before by white men, encountering
much danger and enduring great hard
ships. More than once he required the
protection of United States troops against
the assaults of hostile Indians. 1t was on
one of these expeditions that he became
aware of various frauds practiced upon
Indians by Government agents, and he
made vigorous representations at Wash
ington which resulted in a reform Of the
abuses.
In the course of these various explora-
tions he brought TO light the remains of
hundreds of new species Of extinct verte-
brates, many of which were of the highest
possible scientific value. Many of them
were wholly new to science, and others
had never been discovered before in this
country. Among the more important of
them were q new subclass of birds with
teeth. the first known American pterodac-
tyls two new orders of large mammals of
elephantine bulk with horn-cores on their
skulls, various specimens of the earliest
known ancestors of the horse, the first
monkeys, bats, and marsupils ever found
in the country, and number of examples
of several new families of dinosaurs. Some
Of these reptiles were the largest land
animals ever discovered. All these treas
ures Prof. Marsh presented to the Peabody
Museum at Yale.
In 1876 Prof Marsh began the prepara-
tion of a series of monographs describing
his discoveries, which have been published
| from time to time under Government di-
rection. These volumes have been issued
| by the United States Geological Survey, OF
which Prof. Marsh was the palaeonto.o-
gist. Up to 1882, however, all his explora-
tions had been at his own expense. Charles
| Darwin wrote TO him, Your work on these
old birds and on the many fossil animals OF
North America has afforded the best sup
port to the theory of evolution that has
appeared within the last twenty years.
Prof. Marsh was member of large num-
| ber of the most important European and
American scientific societies, and was the
recipient of special honors from many oi
them. He has been President of the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science and of the National Academy OF
Sciences. He was a fellow of the Geo ogi-
| cal Society of London, and received degrees
| from various European universities and
| from Harvard.