New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-08-11
TREASURES OF SCIENCE.

CURIOSlTTES OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM.
THE BOMBS OF THREE HUNDRED NEW ANNALS DIS
COVERED 81 TIE wFsT-vASr ADDITIONS 10
KNOWLEDGE OF EXTINCT LITE-YAIUABiE MIN
rRAIs-POTrERY. GOLD IMAGES AND sCULP-
TVGEs FROM CENTRAL AMERICAN ToHDs.
lrRoM STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF rig TEmUNEi
NEW HAVEN, Aug. I'm previous letter
some account given OF the representative specimens
in the Peabody Museum, illustrating Che forms OF animal
lie at .he present day. From tac creatures That
are now existing the globe 10 those That
persisted in by-gonc geological epochs thousands Of ecu
turtles ago. 81. in this museum only step TO alover story
TIE vertebrate fossils have room 20 themselves ana
even when ouiy the choices, Of uiom are picked iT'm
Prof. Marrs abundant collections they VIII more thn
m space auoG. Already in tie eases intended Tor
rastoGons and fossil Elephants the great bones Of ihe
Oisvo mastodon have crowded ont al else. This fossil
IS familiar 20 TRIBUNE readers from it, description IN
the corr, spouGcucc entitled 4 Chase FOR MasJdon"
after,yagds rcpubishod IN TRIBUNE Extra No 80. The
hone, st produce the Impression OF great s1e and spec
tators view them with apparent awe The enormous
teeth aad jaws are complcte the skull is $50 feet long,
,ho great arch ~ the pcyis is feel across aud SIN pears
the maIk-uow historic-whcre an inquisUFe country
man pokcd 20 with his ius to find oC; no" h"Id ue
bones were IL the best preserved astodon yet as
covered.
Ten years AGO there was scarcely a specimen 'l
existing OI fossil vCrebracs among the COLLECTIONS OF
Yale tQllCrC-uufsS lnotfo some el uNi li'NS''7 WV
themselves uuc1nscOusly shclyeG To-day these c"hte'
tous cspeciav # the rarer forms, have no equal in The
world see 10 other way present The facts taH To
rive ull credit Prof o. &. Marsh, ana STATE some OF
ms discoveries TN iew words as possible lls iossh
horses-or rather animals Of the horse iamy-rcm he
a. toed Quddrupcd 10 bigger tnan fox 10 tuy dove.
opeJ and siuglh0ofcd siccds not to he distinguished
from those Of the present day-iliusirate the Sue
cessive strata OF the rocks from the lowest eocene
epoch upward by no less than 40 species all
different yet al indicative Of the gradual de-
velonincnt of the modern The leading features
OF ths important discovery have been described and
Illustrated ia prcyioas letters to TAI TRIBUNE repuo-
lishrd in TrnUNE extras. The scientific value Of this
series - examples showing the development OF animal
forms. was also very thoroughly cNp'unded IN Prof.
Huxieys lecture last Fall. at Chickerng Hall NewIork
Anothcr series o. animals forming The connecting links
between reptiles and birds has been very largely Illus
tratcd 10y Iro Sarshs labcrs All tie steps OF this most
important chain OF development have not Yet been
ascertaiucd bat contributions il from the fossils Of
the west hst are the Peabody Museum make the few
other discoveries this Held Of research comparatively
insinGclnt OF birds that existed in The cretaceCus
epoch ther, are, for instance only two known from
faeuens) Europe; here there the remains Of not
less than twenty distinct species there being OF each
average Of about dozen specimens These include tie
wonderful birds with teeth, appropriately named the
Od9HfofHitts which now divided into two orders
according a. they have their teeth in grooves in
almost complete as individual birds; and Prof Marsh
Is at present engaged upon large and elaborate mono
graph on this subject describing and Illustrating the
forms by copious engraved drawings; one of The
rooms the second floor present occupied by the
skilled assistants and the draughtsman engaged upon
this important memoir Another Of the alliances between
bird and reptiles OF which the birds with teeth
supply such remarkable examples, is suggested by
the pterOdactylS flying lizards Of hc same cctaceOns
beds 10 KANSAS. Prot Marsh WAS The first to find euy
pter0dac:yiS In America; these Of enormous size, Tie
spread their wings being from ten TO twenty-five feet.
The singular about these reptiles from American
rocks they had teeth and hence this respect
they resemble the modern birds The remains Of other
reptile, have discovered u the beds OF
the West and the specimens here brought together include
the bones Of several thousand individuals From these
abundant remains Prof Marsh has been able 70 determine
many doubtful points, such for instance that the
sasaurs had hind limbs or paddles. aud that they were
covered at least part WITH hard, bouy scales. Tie
seaserpents from ten 10 sixty feet IN
length. Besides these there here also Che
remains gigantic crocodlc lizards, turtles and snake,
any group OF which would make the reputation Of
ordinary museum OF the enormous reptiles OF geology
yet known surpassed In size which Prof Marsh
has recently described. It's remains found in the
cretscecus beds Of Colorado; il IS named TqHosGnUs
iaOnluS it herbiyorou'. and attained Length OF
fifty TO sixty feet Believers in a vegetarian diet should
take OF these facts, that saurGn thc largest
laud animal known 20 have existed on this planet.
The reptile will also supply bone TO pick. that
will puzzle people who have assumed that animal
life in this hemisphere hos been in general repre-
scented by smaller forms than the corresponding
Of other continents. II the question OF size
should be raised 90 the mammals Of the West tie
Peabody Museum show the remains of than 100
distinct individuals of the dnOcera, kinda new order
OF mammals from the eOceue Of The Rocky Mountains
nearly equal 10 the elephant in point OF Sz and armed
with four TO horns. well fOrmd bic tUsks;
point to the brontoborium Of the mocenc rOcks-a
ture large the dinOCeras. and also armed with
horns The oldest known member OF the rhnOceros fam
iy perhaps progentoT has also been discovered by
Prof Marsh in the upper OF Utah From the
beds Of the formation Wyoming Territory came
the tlcdonts, perhaps tie stranrest Of all
nals they to combine characteristics of the
nivora, rodents, and unguatcs. There Also the
discoyeTcr first found the North American monkeys
which allied the side to the emuS Of the East
Hemisphere, and the other to the monkeys OF
South