Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-07-01

uiV lalu along the vertebrp indicated
length OF 70 feet, The tail alone
measured "a feot. aud evidently taperod
down TO a delicate point. The row,
OF terrible teeth were vises for holdino
prey. but "a thoy werp nf no nsp fot
euttingit up, II must have been avail.
lowed whole The only sound fhat
the snake could utter was a hiss Tbal
u had forked tongue Is proved by
,he laoE OF room in the mouth for q
itEer one. tuttle was found with a
shell 20 feet IN width aud 80 feet in
length Pr0f Cope has named This
KiRnhtic tortoise Pr0t0SfeoG mus. the
drst or generic term referring pfobH.
bly, 10 the peculiar condition uf It's
seemingly undoyeloped ribs and con.
tiguous parts which are like those of
AN ordinary turtle Just hatchnd. Here
u the most gigantic OF all turtles In ma
turi'y having the uudcveloped struct-
ure OF the immature state.
One Of the largest reptiles OF this
period that has been found Is the liodon
The lower jaw was discovered project
lug from IA chalk cliff and, on rcmOv-
ing the earth, long projecting muzzle
was disoerned, This resembles the
head of the blunt-nosod sturgeon OF the
present waters, The Heroddctgi umbro-
Shs, the veritablo flying reptile OF
dragon of that remote era, was also un.
earthGd. The specimen was found nc
the base Of bluif II measured twenty
nine feet from finger to finger. and
when alive must have been one Of the
most terrible Of the inhabitants Of the
ancient world. IL derived its powers of
light, not by membrane stretched
over four elongated fingers, with
rudimentary thumb, like the bats.
nor by wing without distinct
fingers, as in birds. but by wing
sustained principally on very
elongated toe. while the other members
possessed their normal shortness. and
were armed with claws. With this re-
markable conformation were associated
a long neck and heak. 1t could lly in
the air. remain on the wing a long
time, and suspend itself to trees aud
rocks by its short toes. Another won.
der discovered was the Hcsper0niS.
large water-bird seven feet in height.
and having kniie-like teeth. The teeth
were set in grooves, the wings were
radimentary aud useless, while the legs
were like those of duck A study OF
It's skeleton shows il TO have been close
" related TO the ostrich Another
wonder was iiying-bird, the ich-
thyornis, having still more reptilian
characteristics, It's teeth. like the alli-
gators, were in distinct sockets, and,
stranger yet, its vertebrG is bi-concaye
IA peculiarity only found in the
fishes aud few REPTILES
One of the most gigantic reptiles dis
covered was the 5mp4tcrcilds The
thigh-bone was SO heavy tina. the find
ers were forced To harness a mule TO II
to drag il out of the hole. IL measured
over eleven feet in length. a section
OF the vcrtebr1, from the dorsal por-
tion, was heavy lit for four men, and
when placed upon the ground in the
position assumed by the animal, II tow
cred above the tallest of the party,
being over six feet in height. To ap-
preciate this, the reader must remem-
her that the corresponding bone Of the
nearest living representative Of this ami
NAL can be lifted by the little finger.
Other fossil saurians, whose thigh
bones are six feet in length, have been
given a length of Ove- loo feet IL they
Increased in proportion TO the size Of
this bone, we should have creature
over 200 feet in length, but, of course,
lhis is merely suppostjon, though
quite probable one. This saurian be-
longed 10 the genus .iBIphfcrciids A
thigh-bone Of an allied genus over six
feet long can be seen in the Museum
OF Natural History, Central Park.
lt is in case in Geological
Hall, and side by side with
the same bone of the nearest allied
form. Near by are other creatures
the same age, Some of
the whales of this and later times were
$50 feet long, and the State of Ala
bama was on o their roaming-ground
In some localities now the enormous sec
tions Of the back.bones are so numer-
Gus that the farmers are obliged 10 burn
them and build fences with them.
In another case in the Museum is ar
ranged n magnificent collection OF fossil
sharks teeth, some of them rs large as
a mans hand They belonged 20
shark over 100 feet long They came
from the later beds of the Ashley and
Cooper Rivers. South Carolina, and
were collected by Prof. Holmes, the vet.
eran geologisl. of Charleston In tall
vase are some beautiful crinolds, pre-
sented TO the Museum by Robert l..
Stuart In the same hall are curious
armored and war-like fishes called
Chimaeroids, which measure 80 feet in
length. and the bones Of an animal
quite as large as the living elephant,
six Of which are like those of the rhinoc-
eros. This is known TO science as the
dinoceros. The curious oreoion, too,
is here an extinct animal that seemed
TO combine the characteristics Of tho
hog, camel, and deer. ~ u Times
To REMOVE MILpEw II the stains
are recent. rub the fabric with lard. aud