Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-05-28

Museum. There are on hand now in one
! OF the store-houses OF the museum, mate
/ rial enough 10 keep Mr.. Hornaday aud his
force busy for Il long time without recrN-
/ ing any further additions. One thing no
I rcpah.e in specimens Of modern taxi
dcrmy is the natural appearance OF the
/ ewes. Glass ewes are made for the Narl-
Gus animals. in which nature is counter
feited ia shade. color, depth and general
appearance rs closely as in those finnish
ed by ocuists tor the use OF men who have
occasion 90 supply an optical deficiency.
Ia little drawer in Mr.. Hornaday's room
can be found large assortment of eyes
that seem % lave leaped out OF their SOCK
cts. The fierce, glaring eve of the tiger,
and the meek, yelVety eye OF the tlmld
taWn lie down together in the milen-
NAL peace OF the taNidermists drawer
THE PSYCHOLOGIST AT WORK.
Separated from Mr. Ilornaday's room
by wooden partition IS another work
shop. One could fancy, upon peepinG lnlo
IL. that the skeletons. after being re-
lieved of their skins in the taXdermsts
sanctum. assembled in this room to eN-
press their indignation at such treatment.
skulls, complete skeletons. ribs, VertebrR
aud bones Of all kinds are scattered about
the room. From the timbcrs overhead are
suspended long rows Of skeletons, repre-
sentng every corner and crossroads Of
creation Among the lot Is cooled the
sinuous skeleton of "a large python. The
bleached bones of a little whale are laid
out on "a bench On one side of the room.
The other side Of the room is taken up
with the bony remains OF huge animal,
now in course OF reconstruction, and
looking like the sea-worn skeleton OF an
old wreck. This is the skeleton OF the
arctic sea COW, stelleriue. or fYtinQ. IL
is a second cousin Of the dUg0ng lying in
Mr.. Hornaday's room, but its line IS now
extinct. Tie remains are found on the
islands Of Behring's strait. The sea-coW
has been extinct for about 200 years. some
time ago the scientific community was
stirred to its very depths by a controversy
over the probable structure OF
THE SEA COWS TAIL.
Some Insisted that il was finished of
with a forked tail Ike the dugong, others
were equally positive that the proper tail
FOR the sea COW was round tail like that
OF the manatee. The breach that the sea
COW made when II charged upon the ranks
of the scientists has not vet been mended.
Even TO this day it is difficult for a natu-
ralist At the museum 10 mention the sea
cows tail without betraying emotion.
The sea cow now being rearticulated viii
be a sort OF composite affair. The ribs
ana homes OF NUMBER OF lueSO interesting
creatures have been collected. The este
ologist is engaged in bdilding up COM
plete sea COW from these fragments. In
the midst of these grim relics the osteolo-
gist. Mr.. Frederic A. Lucas, sits a. work
preparing and wiring bones, boring holes
with a drill and devsing mechanical eX-
pedents to take the place of the Jennings
of nature. Mr.. Lucas will tell the visitor
that nature is far ahead of man in the
matter Of putting bones together. One
problem the PSYCHOLOGIST has to solve in
preparing specimens for the museum is TO
so mount them that they VIII afford salts
faction to scientists as well as edify the
ordinary visitor. The scientist prefers
his skeletons disarticulated, so that he
may take each separate piece in hand and
studyit. The unscientifc visitor, how,
ever. cannot get any satisfaction out of a
pile of disarticulated bones. The OsteOlO-
gist views a skeleton not only from a sci
entitic standpoint. hut from a mechanical
point of view. Mechanically speaking,
the human skeleton is a simple structure.
Still. more than $50 holes have 10 be drill
ed in such a skeleton before the osteOlO-
gist can make il hang together well.