(Dictated.)

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WASHINGTON, D. C., January 7, 1891.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,
In charge of
Division of Vertebrates,
New Haven, Ct.

Sir:

I am requested by the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, in a letter dated January 3rd, 1891, to prepare and submit a brief report upon the work of the branch of Paleontology for the six months ended December 31st, 1890, and the condition of the work in charge of each division at the close of that period.

To enable me to comply with that request, I have the honor to ask that you will, at your earliest convenience, send to me an account of the work done under your charge during the period mentioned, including office and field work, and of the condition of said work at the close of the period specified.

I am also directed, in the same letter, to furnish you with an account of the amount of money that has been expended and charged to your division and the amount due the division for

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C., January 12, 1891.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,

In charge of

Division of Vertebrates,

New Haven, Ct.

Sir:

In compliance with the wishes of the Director of
the U.S.Geological Survey, as expressed to me in his letter
of January 3rd, 1891, I have the honor to submit to you the
following statement of the amount of money allotted to your
division for the present fiscal year, the amount that has been
expended and charged to you up to December 31st, 1890 (including
the salaries of yourself and the persons under your charge),
and the balance due on the allotment to your division for the
fiscal year ending June 30th, 1891:

Amount of allotment for present fiscal year, ... $11,500.00
Amount expended to Dec. 31st, 1890, ... $7,480.15
Salaries to June 30th, 1891, ... 3.000.00 10.480.15
Balance due to June 30th, 1891, ... $ 1,019.85

Yours with respect,

Paleontologist.

(Dictated.)

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C., January 15, 1891.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,
New Haven, Ct.

Dear Professor Marsh:

I wish to acknowledge the receipt of
your report upon the work done in your division for the six
months ended December 31st, 1890. Mr. McChesney told me that he
had already sent you a statement in regard to your allotment;
but to comply with the wishes of the Director I sent the
statement requested by him.

We have organized the local committee of the Geological
Congress here, placing Gardner Hubbard as chairman. The com-
mittee includes Hague, Emmons, Becker, Powell, Gilbert, Men-
denhall, Langley, Goode, and a number of others, and I think
that it will prove fully equal to the task it has to accom-
plish. We expect to organize the sub-committees this after-
noon.

I have been looking up the question as to the correct
pronunciation of the word Cambrian, and find that your view of

2

it is in accord with the best authorities, and I shall here-
after pronounce it as if it were spelt with a _k_ -- Kambrian.
The pronunciation I used is that, as I mentioned to you, which
I obtained in Wales.

I am very glad that you are going to send on some materi-
al here for exhibition. The non-presence of the Vertebrates
has been commented upon by those who wish to criticise the
administration of the Survey.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C., April 2, 1891.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,
New Haven,Ct.

Dear Professor Marsh:

Since my return I have not had the opportu-
nity of talking to the Director about the large restoration. As
he has gone to Hartfort, Ct., you may possibly see him before his
reture. In any event I will bring the subject up as soon as possi-
ble.

As chairman of the committee on communications of the Biologi-
cal Society, I was handed a note which you wrote to Mr. Lucas regard-
ing the publication of Osborn's paper. I have not received any no-
tification that he wished it published, and I do not think that it
will be published by the Society; at least I should not approve of
publishing a controversial paper of that character.

I stopped in Philadelphia to see Dr. Leidy's collection, but was
not fortunate enough to find him at his museum. If he is here at
the time of the meeting of the National Academy, I will talk with
him then, and go over to Philadelphia later, if necessary.

I made a short verbal report to the Director regarding the
collections under your charge at New Haven, and he appeared to be
very much pleased with it. Personally, I was delighted to see such

2

made the subject of a separate communication.

Being intended for publication, the reports should avoid
various things which might otherwise with propriety be included.
They should especially avoid all complaint or criticism of offi-
cers or divisions of the Survey or of other departments of the
Government.

The "accompanying papers" for this volume should be in the
Director's hands not later than June 15, in order that they may
be edited, and that any illustrations they ~~may~~ contain may be
properly inspected, revised and redrawn if necessary.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,
New Haven, Conn.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,

In charge of Division of Vertebrates,
New Haven, Conn.

Sir;

The Director will make the following allotment for
the work of your division for the ensuing fiscal year, viz;
eleven thousand five hundred dollars.

You are requested to submit a plan of operations, based
upon this allotment. In outlining the plan of work it is
desirable that special attention be given to the determination
and correlation of geologic formations by their contained fos-
sils. This is of especial importance at the present time, as
the geologists of the Survey are now preparing a large number
of geological maps for publication.

By order of the Director;

June 24th, 1891.

Dear Professor Marsh:

Can you not work into your annual report a paragraph stating that you have a careful record of the exact localities of all the specimens collected, both geographic and stratigraphic; and that when the geologists of the Geological Survey come to construct the areal geology, you will furnish them with all of your paleontological data for the purpose of correlating the formations.

I suggest this, as it has been a frequent criticism that your work was of a purely biological character, and would not afford data to the geologist in correlating geological formations. Such a statement could be referred to and I think would be of service at the present time.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C.

June 24th, 1891.

Dear Professor Marsh:

Can you not work into your annual report a paragraph stating that you have a careful record of the exact localities of all the specimens collected, both geographic and stratigraphic; and that when the geologists of the Geological Survey come to construct the *area* of geology, you will furnish them with all of your paleontological data for the purpose of correlating the formations.

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NORVIN GREEN, President.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C., October 14, 1891.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,
In charge of
Division of Vertebrates,
U.S.Geological Survey,
New Haven, Ct.

Dear Sir:

Enclosed please find statement of your Allotment
Account for the month of September, 1891. Upon an examination
of the same should you discover any discrepancies please ad-
vise me of the same.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. 10th, 1891.

Dear Sir;-

At the request of the Director I went to Phila-
delphia and looked over the collections from Florida, that Dr.
Joseph Leidy was working on at the time of his death. I found
them in most excellent condition and Mr. Lucas goes over to-
day to pack and bring them on to the National Museum. Dr.
Charles Dolley sent over the drawings and the manuscript that
Dr. Leidy left, and I find on examination that all the drawings
are completed, the plates arranged, descriptions of the plates
written and a full description of the Mastodon prepared. Pre-
liminary notes on the genera and species have already been
published, and there now remains the preparation of the de-
scriptive details of the species such as measurements, &c. It
seems to be desirable that this last work of Dr. Leidy's should
be published without further additions than descriptive de-
tails, as otherwise it would not be his work. After consulta-
tion with the Director of the Survey and the Director of the
National Museum Mr. Lucas has been directed to bring the col-

2

lections here.

The Wagner Institute people of Philadelphia wished to
publish the paper as the last work of Dr.Leidy. If they had
taken it in charge there was no one in Philadelphia but Pro-
fessor Cope to attend to it. This is not considered advisable,

Knowing of the immense amount of work that you had in
hand in the preparation of your great monographs, I have sug-
gested that Mr. Lucas undertake the completion of the descrip-
tive work of Dr. Leidy's memoire as being the most unpreju-
diced man who could take it up. He has had a long training
in such details and will I think do it conscientiously and
thoroughly. This meets with the approbation of the Director
but I will not speak to Mr. Lucas about it until after hearing
from you. Please let me hear from you at your earliest con-
venience upon this subject, and oblige,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

DIVISION OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY

NEW HAVEN, CONN.,

November 17, 1891.

Charles D. Walcott, Esq.

Dear Sir: -

Your letter of November 10th, in regard to
the Florida fossils and Dr. Leidy's memoir, was duly received. I am
glad to know the specimens in Dr. Leidy's hands are so soon to be in
Washington, as those I sent him, collected by Mr. Hatcher, are especially
good, and all are interesting. I think Mr. Lucas just the man to finish
Leidy's work to which you refer, and I gladly turn it over to him.

I was absent in New York, at the National meeting, when your letter
came, or I should sooner written in reply.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Dec. 9th, 1991.

Prof.O.C.Marsh,

In charge Division of Vertebrates,
U.S.Geological Survey,
Washington,D.C.

Dear Sir:

I hereby acknowledge the receipt of your report of
the operations of your division for the month of November,
1991, addressed to the Director.

If prepared, will you not forward duplicate catalogue of
the specimens in your charge belonging to the U.S.Geological
Survey.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Dec. 21st, 1891.

Dear Professor Marsh:

Your letter of December 12th reached
my office during my absence from the city. Your report upon
the collections in your charge has been received. It will be
of service when referring to the collections of paleontolo-
gists not in Washington, especiall in replying to the criti-
cism that nothing is known of such collections.

When you are here in January I hope that we will have
time to talk over several matters relating to paleontological
work.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Dec. 31st, 1991.

Dear Professor Marsh:

Your article on the skull of Torosaurus
came to me a few minutes since. I am very glad to see it and
your study of
to know that you getting along so successfully with the mag-
nificent material that you have collected during the past few
years. "Our friends the enemy" keep up a "ding-dong" about
the accumulation of material and the non-publication of re-
sults, all of which is effectually answered by such work as
you are now doing.

Wishing you a Happy New Year, and hoping to see you in
January, I remain,