The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-29

Wasatch Lake in northern Wyoming. They
was the mud OF the Eocene period and then they
got other bones from higher strata of rocks un-
I'll they have eight links in the chain connest-
And all these links are arranged so that tho
practical borseman can take them In at q
and how tho toes wore eliminated, until only
q hoof At for o blacksmith remained.
Less interesting than tho pedigree. OF the
horse, perhaps, TO the practical man, but sttll
worth consideration, Is the exhibit OF the Amer
can rhlnooeroses. The bud-lands region once
boosted two kinds, and one had the limbs and
barrel of a horse, with q head that, to the un-
learned eye, looked like a horse, too. 1t was
a racer In Its way especially when the mesonyx
came along looking for a square meal, the mes.
onyx being the largest meat eater that the old
days knew, ltis to be learned that tho rhi-
ion they were no larger than q burro, II SO
large; but as the ages of the Eocene period
p %ssSS S SSSs c tSsy S' w,sS : S sH,S a York Sft'i tr tSSt
swimmer, aud a very big brute at the last, as
For real able-bodied uglincss OF features there
was nothing to surpass the four-horned Uin-
horns and tusks and nattened Tower jaw bone,
his head was az full OF knobs and projections
as that of anything that ever walked, the earth.
appetite. and when the elevation of his country
DESTROYED an herb on which he fed he died out
Then there were the ancient cats. New
York has tho only skull OF the original cat:
Paris Is well pleased to have the fragment OF
old days--tha ancestors, perhaps. OF the we'll
groomed. visitors at the museum who look at
the old homes of tho titanothere with interest
because they are large and ignore the tiny re-
mains OF the first man because they. are SMALL.
tc The w FEN h visitor, mnr. VINO ,nis are learned rsrr IN i sgsh mat n
the chain OF proofs, completed this year. which
shows that.the origin Il ancestor % the sloth ana
originated no. In tho San Juan River region
Of the United Staes, The museum has only
the real bones OF the father OF that whole race.
And here NETWORKS museum leads the world.
II from the region OF the extinct races the
reader will 20 down to the exhibit Of North
American mammals OF tic present dav, he
will find By standing at the right spot nenr the
entrance how easy 1t is to look at a bull moose
through the autumn leaves and not see him.
He may also see the diferense. between q
stuffed and mounted walras. The mounted
He will also see, if able to, distinguish the
marks, that there are four kinds OF reindeer
as naturaii:ts used to suppose. the fourth kind
being that found in Newfoundland. 1t was
Prof. Allen who determined that this was q
The exhibits thai VIII delight tho amateur
naturalist and ought, to delight everybody who
the charge of the ornithologists.. 1t Is, not
that thousands of beautiful birds have there
number on exhibition is prodigious and their
beauty manifest. But there are three distinct
s E las 6s II. all llorI One Is u a general "a e I6rfb Of the
can exhibit. and q third shows all the birds OF
which Mr.. Frank Chapman has written so in
within fify miles of New York.
Then in addition to this are n number OF
studies In birds nests and eggs with birds
Alongside. For instance. a plover ard n meadow
lark, stand together. and an egg of each is at
hand, The birds are very nearly, of a size: but
the plover's egg is i've times the size OF the
other egg. II the spectator wonders AT this,
no can learn from a printed card that the
wall alla tn shift for itself IL lakes n large
egg shell to hold such an sble-bodied feath-
cred citizen as, he. The newly born meadow
lark is more heluless than a blind puppy.
There is a collection of nests that shows also
the difference in the needs OF the yonng-the
as we'll as inc ubators. and the ragged cnllec.
tons of sticks or scooped holes in sand that
serve US ircubators only.
they must be covered before Matching the big,
thick-shelled ostrich eggs, that require fifty.
SIX days OF patient care from their father, and
tho tiny white pearls OF the humming bird.
that hatch after ten days beneath their mother
There are collections showing the normal
proof that where one bird was Systematically
robbed IL laid seycnty;two Ell gs IN seventy
in five days. So the visitor may ask II the
mother bird IS able to count and can tell when
s sine mas ia Tos en- co 5Isn Gnae sbo oriinar tsx fircaln Of
nests are beautiful. and they show that birds
haze trades like ~men-.hey, are m-sons and
and they have an eye for colors ts vel.
Tho shapes OF nests. from the fiat bed of
sticks 10 the orioles purse four feet long. are
shown. The shapes Of eggs AMI the textures
AID co.ors of s~hells-the rude. rough barrel
that a sea fowl lays Is beside r ths eI *.
ton in colors Of shells is shown In be so great
that no one can determine the eggs of some
birds save by observing the bird that lays them.
But quite as interesting as all this to tho gen
eral observer is the exhibit which shows the
Ing the season. There are tie booolinks. for
instance. and the snow bunting. and the orchard
oriole: The beautiful black and white bobolink
that in June makes the Northern welkin glad
with his buhbling song. becomes. after monlt-
ing. the yellow and brown fellow that; under
the name of reed bird or rice, bird. is tho pest
OF southern planters. And he goes away to
Brazil, when the crops of rice are out OF the
way. and there tprns again inso tho black and
Of his feathers are ended In brown in a way
that would make his Yankee friends stare II
rubbed off. Just as the white ends of the festh-
ers OF the snow bunting are rubbed of under
nesting haunts in the dress that pleases his old
friends so much.
Ali the changes can be seen. not. indeed. on
live birds. but on birds that have been mount
ed with rare skill IN surroundings that make
them appear at home: The snow bunting is in
and daisies. So. too. appears the orchard
orloIe and the scarlet tanager.
1t is NOT unlikely that. vita all the rest which
may not he considered here. the men OF the mu.
scum will be quito as interesting to some OF
| the visitors az are the results OF their laDors,
now. and In owe :alls. flannel shirts. and Slet-
son hats in the season., They car handle the
S esn a ana ssH p1c 4 glass %i 81 % mats a hard they I hsss
| often existed on alkali water. They know the
flavor Of terrapin cooked to the Baltimore
standard. and the fish oil as served by the Hud
son Bay Eskimo. They have shrivolled under
the desert sun whore the THERMOMETERS rose
side icebergs and glaciers. and they nave
smoked a soothing cigar while resting on silk
IN rooms that were heated from registers. Bet
TOR than Il Rlgn fhRy nTH nnAasnminU. ADfhf-
~siustic. and'so expert in TIER branches nj science
that. when they do speak. every one who knows
their subjects listens with attention.
Two Patieats Compnre Notes.