Catalogue of North American Animals, chiefly in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution by Spencer F. Baird WASHINGTON: SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Scope and ContentUSPRR Plates: In the 1850s the United States Army conducted extensive surveys to ascertain the best route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. The final reports consist of 13 quarto volumes with hundreds of full page lithographs and numerous maps. The itineraries of the field parties, together with the illustrations, gave Americans their first comprehensive descriptions of the West. Spencer Fullerton Baird, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, arranged for naturalists to accompany the field parties. A wealth of biological material was obtained and the greater portion of the reports is devoted to descriptions of the plants and animals (mainly vertebrates) found in this vast region. Below are some of the mammals that the Surveys chronicled and that were also published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1857. |
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Antique and Vintage Natural History prints | |||