Evening star., 1921-10-09
Edward Drinker Cope.

TN,the days before the civil war the
4skovernment sent out various expe-
SttSons to study the natural resources
of Sthe west. and especially for the
faYpose of. finding suitable routes for
tfAnscontinental railways. With each
81 these expeditions some eminent
scientist was5detai1ed.s frequently as a
physician, to accompany the party for
the purpose Of recording such new
facts Of a scientific nature as should
present themselves. These expeoi-
tions. under different names. conttn- :
csnssoiiass1d Sss a ne =. the The United Bsstes is6.
foceess~gyes . enne ly,a. . quaker by descent. a
natiYe+ OF. Philadefphia., and! studied
natural science at the University OF
Pennsylvania, after which ne con,
in the Smithsonian Institution. Then
for a time he held the chair of nat
ural science in Haverford College. out
the lure Of the open called him hrst 10
the Hayden survey and then to the
whe eler survey. and for more tnan q
decade he devoted hts life to the study
OF those many fossil forms. including
the great saurians. that are so abun-
dant in the west. It was said OF Cuvier
that, give him a bone. he could draw
on the blackboard a representation OF
the. animal. But so great was Cope,s
EnowIedre Of animal anatomy that II
he found a FOSSIL bone he was at once
able to create a new genus and prop
erly describe the species before 1t was
It. is said that during these fruit:
full years OF his career. he enriehed
forms. Of fossil life aud with an equal
number. Of recent forms. He. far SUI. ;.
passed any Of his predecessors, not
only by his knowledge OF morpho-
logical. details manifest in the ex-
tinct as well In: Isins forms; ,ra.,,at Sut ,nS nS
HIS home in Philadelphia was stored
from cellar to Karret with his collec-
fions. most of which are now. In the
American Museum in New York: or
In the, National Museum, In Washing
fon. His own room was piled waist
hixh with pamphlets fossils and alco-
frolic specimens. Occasionally an aged
tortoise would wander out from be-
meath q Isaprtap. and one OF. his latest
pets was GiYa monster. which. .cor-
trary to. the popular belief: was per
died BY its owner" Gill. his famous
coteThporarv. compares him with
CuyIer. Owen and Huxley. and says
that, he covered a field as extensive
as any and his ':knoWledge OF struc-
turai details Of ali the classes Of ver-
tebratrs wa. probably more symmet-
rical than that Of anv of these with
whom ne Is rompared: his'command
al material was greater than that OF
sny Of the others: his industry was
e0uai 10 owens: In the +clearness OF
his conceptions he was eoualed bv
RIxley alone: In the skill with which
hr,weirhed. discovered facts. in the
aStness OF hls presentation OF those
facts. and In the lucid methods by
1phich the labor Of the student was
saved. and in the conceptton OF the
numerous propositions facilitated. ne
HIS papers. more than four hum
A,eA In number. constitute a system :.
Stsc record of. the DEVELOPMENT OF
nsieof,tology in the United States. and
one of his reports was so large and
Ss,ity that IT was .facetiously known
as T,ope,s Rihle." He died In Phila-
dsipf, ia in 1897 at the comparatively
younR age Of fiftv-seven. hut recoe-
nixed TAR and wide as one OF the
xreaiest men of science ever born IN
this country.
1R..H>y Hu~>mn ChAvrou1 =