New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-06
IN RICH FOSSIL FIELDS.
DESCRIPTION OF wYOMING's MAMMOTH
DINOSAUR.

,,,,----,rro.. OF THREE HUNDRED SCIENTISTS
,,.,,o Will, SPEND 4 MONTH DIGGING FOR
p-;rRrF1DD REMAINS OF PREHIS-
ToRrc ANIMALS
American scientists are no" 'o' ms 49,,
laboratory doors behind them ana se'''"s III"
,oces toward wyoming. The invitation eN'e"'
"A nv q Western railroad company 10 'n'ee "u"
ared well known scientists is Oeins se"V'""'
accounted and biologists and students OF A'"ui eN
sciences are gathering in Laramie. equipped io'
a months digging and hammering
a, tho head Of the expedition now forming
,or an advance into Wyoming's richest FOSSIL
ea,d are Professor Wilbur c. Knight OF 'he
- :. roo,oe,, IN the University of Wyoming
and his assistant. w. H Reed. Mr.. Reed IS tne
di.coverer of the petriied bones of the most
oo,ossa, animal ever taken from the earths
.,rote He Thus describes his discovery: WINE
osnectinp for fossils ninety miles northwest
1arauie last August. | discovered traces OF
b,nosaur measuring nearly one hundred anu
thirty feet in length and being perhaps thH'E-
fvc feet in height at the hips ana tWen'E-"'e
feet at the shoulders. Through calcuia''o"
believe the petrifed skeleton Will We'gh io''E
thousand pounds. on account OF large a'"ou"'
NJ work on our hands when TINS giant was us
covered the party in the field was ColNPVN
IN let II remain in its natural bed curing '''
winter and up 10 this time. some oil 'le p'o'i'-
IVAN, bones were uncovered. and sufficient DATA
secured 70 warrant one in believing that II rep
resents the largest dnosaur ever dls'oNereu'
Work on excavating for the skeleton WI" ho"
begin. and by autumn it will be removed 10 'he
university. where it will be restored ana pIaceu
unon exhibition as soon as the new museum Is
finished to receive H.
In contecturing as to the probable appearance
IN ufa ~ the animal Mr. Reed said: AN accu-
rate idea of living dinosaur is pracu'aHS out
Of the question According to my OPINION l
ho,,,d cav that the animal now being brought
N light weighed In life about sixty tons tha'
ho had q neck thirty feet long and a tan per
,ons s,xtv feet in length. His ribs are ABOUT
nine feet long and the cavity of his BODY, win
the lungs and entrails out, would nave flaue
hall thirty-four feet in length. sixteen lee' III
width covered by an arch probably Twelve iee'
IN height. Such a space if properly ARRANGED
would seat at least forty people. rouiu
,teak taken from the ham of the animal "ou'd
have been at least twelve feet IN diameter Vi
more than thirty five feet In circumference anu
would have had solid bone in the middle t"eNe
nv fourteen inches, with no hollow for marrow
Four cavalrymen could easily nave Huueh
abreast between his front and hind legs. proN'u-
sd he had not objected. Every time he put HIS
foot down It covered more than square yaru ol
ground. and must have fairly shaken the ear'h'
Tho sralness OF the head Of this animal is
necular thing | should say that the head Oh
This mighty dinosaur was probably not larger
than ten gallon keg He must nave oeeh
slugglsh creature as his brain cavity would
certainly not warrant the belief that that organ
weighed more than four or five pounds
indeed
recovering the greater part of the animals fos-
all remains; and It will be an almost invaluable
FOSSIL treasure There is no building In Laramie
large enough to contain it. and when we get IL
mere we shall probably place 1t temporarily on
the campus | have taken up the land on
which found the fossil under the placer mining
laws Of the United States, and we shall work
as RAPIDLY as possible in restoring our great
prize 10 a normal condition here at Laramie.
THE BRONTOSAUR AT YALE.
Mr. Reed was also the discOverer Of the IA
nous brontosaur in the Yale Museum In New
Haven. which was restored by Professor o. T.
Marsh in 1891. This and the dinosaur Tor
millions Of years slept together in the same
graveyard till resurrected by the same perse-
yering geologist. The brontosaur had died while
somewhat Isolated and, in consequence, seven
:enths Of the skeleton was found relatively IN
argest dinosaurs of Europe are small ana III
complete. But in turn IL is superseded IN mag
nitude and scientific value by the new dlscoV-
cry The Yale specimen of the prehistoric
,pecies Is believed to have been in life seventy
'eet long and 10 have weighed eighty thousand
pounds or fifty thousand pounds less than the
specimen about to be restored Inc former was
twenty-five feet high at the hips ana sixteen
,eet at the shoulders Its femur is slightly more
than six feet in length. while the femur of the
newly discovered specimen is eight feet long
&c 1fifr h1r fol
inches across the centrum while a correspond
ing vertebra In the new fossil is over sixteen
inches by similar measurement From the bones
already recovered il is estimated that in size
he dinosaur in Wyoming is 10 the Yale specimen
as three is to two.
Wyoming proves to be the resting place Of
he petrfed bones of the largest land animals
hat ever lived" Such is the opinion OF score
If biologists who have been operating on It's
:reeless wastes since 1877. Professor Marsh
IF Yale, and Professor Cope, of the University
of Pennsylvania the first 10 study sys-
:ematcally the Wyoming fossil fields TIL their
ieaths both directed annual explorations in To-
,alities then almost inaccessible. The construc-
ion of the Union Pacific Railroad through Wy
oming gave stimulus to research. and from
1877 till 1883 Professor Marsh had field parties
constantly at work in Eastern Wyoming In
charge of these expeditions Mr. Reed who
S now collecting on large scale for the
state University OF Wyoming, which began its
systematic field work in 1894, with the intention
II securing for its museum complete collec-
ion of the fossil remains of these animals. In
three years Mr. Reed has brought together
and arranged scientifically more than fifty tons
Of bones. His recent discovery is believed TO
make the universty's collection of dinosaur fos-
,ils the most complete In existence. This Is a
proud distinction for one of the youngest of the
State institutions.
GEOLOGICAL TREASURE HOUSE
Wyoming is a treasure house in a geologic
sense. Its fossil beds far as known to-day
richest in the south central part Of the
State. The bones are usually observed In banks
Of clay or mari. but occasionally in beds Of
sandstone Bones discovered in heaps five
eet deep. with the bones so closely packed and