Evening star., 1901-10-02
PREHISTORIC AN IN AIS
PREPARATION AND CLASSIFICATION
OF THEIR REMAINS.
Work in Charge Of Prof. Lucas of the
National Museum-Extinct
Horses.

Prof. Lucas chief palaeontologist of
the National Museum, has taken up, with
a view to completing, the work OF Drepar-
ing, classifying and setting up, the vast
collection of remains of prehistoric ami
mails taken from strata of late tertiary
age in western Nebraska, and willed to the
museum by the late Prof. o. c. Marsh of
Yale. With some few exceptions, the whole
of Prof Marsh's valuable collection has
remained untouched since the date of its
arrival at the museum in 1888, and now
that Prof. Lucas has begun work on the
material, interesting results are antici-
pated.
Indeed, Prof. Lucas has already brought
to light fact of considerable Importance.
= The largest of American fossil horses was
one "Equus Scottii," abundant remains of
which were unearthed by the late Prof.
Cope. from a marty formation known as
the "equus beds, In western Texas. This
animal was a contemporary of the masto-
don, and in size was a trifie larger than
the largest Belgian or Percheron draught
horse of today. A complete skeleton of
the "Equus Scottii' is on exhibition in the
American Museum of Natural History In
New York city.
In Prof Marshs collection there are a
number of skulls Of prehistoric American
horses, and on one of these Prof. Lucas is
now at work. InfS specimen arrived at
the museum imbedded in a matrix of soft,
marty sandstone, which, by reason Of the
dry atmosphere of the museum interior,
has crumbled to pieces and resolved itself
back into sand, causing the skull, which
was imbedded In the rock, to also break up
into fragments.
Skull Restored.
Prof Lucas has about completed the
task of putting this skull together, piece
INV no or nf Paris
and wire supports The teeth Of this ex-
tinct horse do not differ much from those
of the "Equus Scottii." but when Prof.
Lucas applied the calipers to the skull he
found it was about four inches longer than
that Of the "Equus Scottn. SO that TINS
prehistoric equine must have been OF a
variety larger even than the largest OF
American fossil horses. The skull Is that
of young though adult male.
Speaking of the fossil horses Of America,
Prof. Lucas said to Star reporter:
THE most puzzling feature OF Americau
ton. We know, from the evidence right
before us, that they ranged all over North
and South America. up until period tnat'
from the standpoint of geology, was quite
rived they had long since disappeared, the
Indians having no record or tradition OF
such animals.
''The minute the European horse was in
troduced in America he began to thrive
increase and multiply, and what could
have happened in the interval between tne
extinction of American fossil horses-the
| varieties ranging in size from the largest
Percheron to the smallest Shetland pony
and the introduction of the European horse
to render the continents of North and
South America unfit for their existence Is
a question that may never be solved.
Where Remains Are Found.
1.-The remains of prehistoric horses are
found all over this country-up into Alaska
even, where their remains are associated
with mammoth bones. 1t is reasonable to
suppose that in the early ages of the world
herbivorous animals travelled about in large
herds. and 1t may be that while the pre-
historic horse Of America was travelling
westward by the old Bering sea land
| bridge, the mammoth. which animal had
Its origin in the old world, was journeying
eastward to join it's relative. the mastodon,
IN America, and that the two forms. Ameri-
can horse and Asiatic mammoth met in
Alaska, where today their Iemains are
found, associated in the sarae matrix"
Prof. Gidley of the American Museum OF
Natural History. New York. who is an ex.