 Alfred finally gave in to Edward 's wishes and paid for university classes . Cope attended the University of Pennsylvania in the 1861 and / or 1862 academic years , studying comparative anatomy under Joseph Leidy , one of the most influential anatomists and paleontologists at the time . Cope asked his father to pay for a tutor in both German and French , " not so much for their own sake , " wrote Edward , " but as for their value in enabling me to read their books of a literary or scientific character . " During this period , he had a job <unk> the herpetological collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences , where he became a member at Leidy 's urging . Cope 's job lasted two years and he visited the Smithsonian Institution on occasion , where he became acquainted with Spencer Baird , who was an expert in the fields of ornithology and ichthyology . In 1861 , he published his first paper on Salamandridae classification ; over the next five years he published primarily on reptiles and amphibians . Cope 's membership in the Academy of Natural Sciences and American Philosophical Society gave him outlets to publish and announce his work ; many of his early paleontological works were published by the Philosophical Society . 
