The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-06-15
woxsTER FOSSIL ANIMALS.
soma sneclmens ar the National Muse.
A um at Washington.
New York Sun.

tIULhA A4GS0 - Aoo"oaJ oAo " ~ aASoe
in the world for the purposes Of exhibition
and investigation. That the two terms, Ma
tional Museum and Smithsonian Institute,
should cause confusion in the minds Of many
is not surprising, as to the visitor there is no
visible difference; but the workings of the
two institutions under the same roof are
widely divergent, and the rapid growth Of
the one and the development of the resources
of the other have necessitated a division.
The functions Of the National Museum and
the Smithsonian Institute are entirely differ
ent. The object Of the former is the estab-
lishment Of q collection of specimens, nat
ural and artistic, which shall exhibit the re-
sources Of the country, or present at q glance
the material essential to a high civilization
which exists in the different states Of the
Union to show the various processes Of
manufacture which have been adopted by US,
as we'll as those used in other countries in
short, to form 8 great educational establish
ment by means of which our inhabitants, as
we'll as foreign visitors, may be informed of
the means which exist in the United States
" Ii SAJCy hACAu VI ~ IL " utA ILL
provement. The Smithsonian Institute, on
the other hand, does not offer its results to
the physical eye, but presents them to the
mine in the form Of new discoveries derived
from investigations and an extended inter-
change of new ideas with al parts of the
world. It is the design Of the Museum to
increase its collection of material objects of
the Institute to extend the bounds of human
knowledge.
The choice collections that for years have
been buried in the dark rooms of the Smith
~sOnlan, or packed away, are to be arranged
IN the thirteen halls, and the amount of ma
terlal that has been accumulated in many
years can hardly be realized. The govern
ment surveys have been the richest sources
Of wealth, while the government officials
abroad, private persons and captains Of YES
sells have poured in their contributions until
the building is a necessity.
On entering the main hall of the Smith
sonlan the eye is caught by the Ward restor-
alton of gigantic extinct animals. TO the
left an immense sloth rears its massive limbs
twenty feet in the air, and when it is remem-
bered that the longest living sloth is hardly a
foot long, the depreciation of nature as re-
CARDS the size of her dependents can be ap-
preciated. II is difficult to imagine how these
monsters moved around on land, SO unwieldy |
are they. The huge claws were used in dig
ging up the roots Of trees. When clothed
with flesh the animal resembled our sloth in
general appearance, but having q snout-like
nose like that Of q tapir. The Irish elk with
its monster horns, capable Of holding seven
or eight men, is represented by q complete
restoration and q very fine skeleton. Their
remains are now rarely found in the Irish
boys, where years ago they ran, pursued by
some primeval monster, and were caught by
the treacherous soil and entombed. A fine
specimen Of the g%yptodon-a fossil land tor
toise-stands on an elevation. The fossils
are arranged according to the different ages,
and the sight-seer can follow along from the
Laurentian age, noted for being the first in
which life is supposed to have appeared, up
to the present day. In one case a row of
gaping eyeless skulls in al sorts of contorted
positions tells the story of the primeval pig
in America. They are from the bad lands"
of Kansas, and belonged to q pig-like animal
the oreodon.
Among the lower fossil forms are curious
corals (Halsytes) that resemble chains, and
of such rich design that they have been imi-
tated in jewelry. Large pieces came from
the Heidelberg mountains, near Albany,
which shows that at one time New York
S1Glo was LII lAc CoAlIu NOuc, OWlnB 10 al ar
rang5ment of zones different from the pres
ent. A strange animal, the Calceola Sandal
ina, has left its she'll as a puzzle to scientists.
It was q coral with a lid, according to some,
while others claim it as q mOllOsk. What
ever may be the solution, the three-sided,
pyramidal-shaped object, with its stony aper-
cnlun, is a great curiosity.
Here are slabs showing the ripples Of
waves that rolled on the beach untold ages
ago. The delicate zlg-zag marks in continu-
Gus lines are the tracks of insects that wan
dered over the muddy shore, while numerous
round spots perpetuate the fact that q shower
fell at the same time. Other slabs Of brown
stone comes from the new red sandstone of
the Connecticut valley, and standing against
the wall the tracks Of gigantic dinosaurian
reptiles Of the era can be followed as they
wandered along the flats in search of food.
These old beaches, the SANDS Of time that
bear the footprints OF 8 bygone age, are now
in demand for two decidedly different uses
building brown-stone houses and scientific
study. IN the collection of shells is the gi-
gantic clam, 11Jdacn0 g5gas, that has been
found six feet in length and weighing five
hundred pounds, the animal alone weighing
thirty pounds. They came from the South
~i''cldc, and are found growing imbedded in
the coral. The natives search for them at
low tide, and not many years ago one of
them accidentally got caught between the
two shells, and there was held until the tide
rose and put an end to his sufferings. In the
church of St. Sulpice, in Paris, one of these
shells is used as g baptismal fonts. !
Among the alcoholic specimens, Of which |
there is a rare lot, are found many curious !
~tube-making worms. One, called the OW- I