The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-13

that is very remote, the Jurassic,
ana also because the dinosaurs are
not as well known by scientific men
as they might be. For time almost
the only evidences that these animals
had existed in America were footprints
on Connecticut valley sandstone. But
within comparatively few years par
t1al or complete skeletons have been
recovered from the rocks in the west
ern part of the continent, and the pc
cularities of this link between reptiles
and birds are now the subject of eager
inquiry. Professor Osborn himself led
the expedition of 1897, which went from
the American museum of natural his
tory hunting for fossil dinosaurs in
wyoming, and he superintendent the ar
rangement and mounting of the ma
terial brought back last year by DR..
J. L. Workman and Dr. w. D. Mat
thew, his assistants.
Each of the four specimens was a
right hind leg. The original possess
sors of two We're carnivorous creatures,
megalosauri, one full grown and the
other about tWo-thrds grown. The
other two belonged to herbivorous din
csaurs, probably brontosauri. The lat
ter also represent two stages of growth.
Dinosaurs were four legged creatures,
with long tails and necks. The herb
ivorous members of the family may
have attained a horizontal length of
70 feet. although the particular speci-
mems represented by the largest of Pro-
fessor Osborn's recent acquisitions
probably did not measure more than
so feet from nose to tip of tail. From
the level of the toe tips to the head
of the thigh bone the biggest of these
fossil legs is about II feet long. With
his flesh and skin on the animal must
have been at least Is feet high at the
hips.
A notable characteristic of the car
nivorous dinosaur is the slender talon
like digit Owing to inferior size, it
could be mancured in less time no
doubt. than the corresponding member
OF the brontosaur's anatomy. But when
II came to depreciation the megalOSaur'S
claws were capable of working fear
full havoc,' and there is circumstantial
evidence that the megalosaur had no
scruple about chewing up his big cousin
on occasions. Professor Osborn thinks
that he has detected marks of this ere
ature's teeth on the bones of one of his
brontosaur Differences of structure
between the two sets of animals are
also to be found in their ankles. Ger
tain small bones found that exist in
this joint in other animals are missing
in the brontosaur. And it is not un-
likely that this omission was one of
natures, and is not due merely to a
failure to find the proper bone.
When these remains We're discovered
they were broken into fragments,
which, fortunately, lay close to each
other. What was normally a single
bone would consist perhaps, of 20
pieces. The work of removal, there
fore, was an exceedingly delicate one,
requiring the skill Of an expert in an
atomy as well as this particular kind
of research. An important aid to the
investigation was the difference in the
color and hardness between the fossil
and the adjacent rock. The original
bone, converted into stone by the sub
stitution of silica for osseOus matter
was black and adamantine, While the
enveloping material was a light hued
and soft limestone
After examination the remains were
covered with large quantities of pas-
ter of paris, mixed with water, and
then incased with rawhide. Thus pro-
tected against accident, the fossils were
taken by wagon to the railroad station
and shipped to New York without a
change of cars. Then the supplement
tary plaster was carefully removed and
the fragments of each bone united. So
thorough and fortunate had been the
recovery of the pieces that only to the
smallest extent did the task of res
oratiOn-performed by Professor Os-
bern himself-require any filling up of
holes with eXtraneous material. The
bones were then mounted on gas pipe
frames in such a manner that each
bone may be handled separately, with
derrick if necessary. The supports
are completely hidden from the obser-
Yer in front.
Among the other exhibits of the Mu-
scum of Natural History were the por-
tons of the skeleton of a species of fos-
sill camel never known before last
year, when DR.. w. D. Matthew found
it in Northeastern Colorado. In Ger
tain respects, notably the toes and
teeth. the animal possessed the char
acteristics of the true camel But the
American camel was never more than
about eight feet high. whereas this
creature stood fully u feet in his stock
ings. Thus he was able to look down
on the rest of creation exactly as a
giraffe does. His exceedingly long
neck and legs permitted him to feed
off palms and other foliage. The whole
skeleton of this remarka BILE animal was
not found. The portions recovered
were one hind leg. part of the other,
the neck and the skull. These, how
ever, afforded ample evidence of the
unique size and form of the creature.
The discovery is a notable one.-Chi- ]
cago Chronicle.