New-York tribune., 1901-09-08
BONES OF 4 STEGOSAUR.
ANOTHER DISCOVERY IN THE BONE BEDS
NEAR CANYON CITY.
From The Denver Republican.

NtAtN O<AN1O-N Ill
From The Denver Republican.
Professor J. B. Hatcher in camp near Canyon
City. has discovered the remains OF another
fossil animal in the famous bone beds Of that
section. Canyon City has been noted among
geOlogists account of the discovery OF the
remains of prehistoric animals. Professor
Hatcher's latest find is Il steSOsaur. an animal
ure that existed. At the same time It's
body was ol enormous size The Hatcher party
is working under the auspices Of the Carnegie
Museum Of Pittshurg. and the fossils that have
been found are shipped To that place
There have been changes in the styl" and
character Of the bone hunting expeditions as
We'll as cf other methods of scientific work In
years past the paeontologists We're not unWill-
ing 10 theoriZe on their discoveries The dnat-
omists We're ready tn reconstruct from one
fragm mant Of bore the "a hole skeleton uf an ami
NAL Now they restore bones. hut every portion
that is built up rs SO carefully marked that
there can b- np MISUNDERSTANDING as 10 Wnicn
part is genuine. None of the anatnmiStS and
none Of the paleontoloEists Will venture opinions
or theories in recent years until certain ,oniI-
tions have been complied with. When rNp-dl-
tions find evidence Of fossils tho greatest care IS
taken 70 have the fossils uncovered irst for
photographs. and thu photograPhins Is con-
tinued at all stages of the dls.ntermenL
Some years ago when Professor George Cannon
discovered the first remains ot tho famous
horned dinosaurs near Denver. Professor Marsh
and others who were supposed 10 be authorities
on the subject laughed at his claims Professor
Marsh said that any person who said that such
dinosaur skull ever existed must De- the victim
of 4 nightmare or suffering from the digestion
Of a bone hunting camp At ne same time tho
big scientists claimed that the skull Professor
Cannon found was that 81 a species Of buffalo
As the fossil embedded in sandstone and 10
a formation which denoted another period nf
the worlds history when there was no such AN
animal the buffalo. Professor Cannon battl-d
with the giants and later they all acknowIedsed
their error. Since that episode paeontoloE!sts
have given over being sure Of anything
The stegosaur WAS the most remarkable Of
the sauropods- 1t proved TO be the feature of
the herhIYOrOEs forms of prehistoric animals
The type specimen or the first remains OF the
stegosaur was found in the Denver section
Others have been found in Wyoming Imagine
an animal covered with an armur that would
put a rhinoceroS t. shame. that was more than
twenty feet in length from top Of snout 10 the
TIP OF its tail with a slender elongated head
averaging about four inches IN width aud only
sixteen inches long. Such was the strgosaur
II had q smaller brain than any other animal
that ever lived on earth. The principal part of
its brain Vas in its sacrum- This p0sterior
chamber IN whiCn the principal part Of the ami
NAL brain "aS contained, was formed by the
enlargement Of the spinal canal and was a bone
c;,IIty resembling in great respect the skull
This rear brain cavity WAS Just twenty times
larger than that in front.
The StCgOSaur was not a fighting. creature II
had a small Cerebclium but with optic nerves
ana ofaCtorV organs enlarged beyond the aver
age for its size Such n creature had its prorec-
ton in this unusual sense of sight and smell. Its
teeth were small and OF u character which
showed that it lived entirely on vegetation The
from the attacks Of animals. The small head
was covered in front with long bony beak:
the throat with thick skin. in which We're EN-
beddeI a large number of horny protuberances
\ series Of vertical plates extended above the
neck. along its back and for two thirds of the
length of it's tail These plates ranged from s,.v-
entY-siX to fOrty-fiVe inches in width Tn
paieonJOlOgists fail to guess their use In fact
they admit that they would never have believed
them possible on animal had they not been
found on the fossil remains and in place They
figure tnat the largest of the plates We're the
animals weapons of attack. TO make them cf-
feotive the brute must have fought bao kward as
they were all situated the posterior part of
the body.
The stegosaur had small feet and its tail was
of such strength and magnitude that it could
stand on il like the kangaroo. The size of th.
leg bones shows that its means OF lOcomotion
were slow. The weight of the sDines and the
plates and the other arrnor must have been
enormous, the bulk of the animal being figured
at many tons These creatures inhabited the
section which is now Denver when the climate
Was of tropical nature and the country
of sluggish lakes.
This new discovery is of interest just
ing TO the fact that many OF the best geOlOgists
Of the country met in convention in Denver re-
Gently One OF the places To which expedi-
tion planned during the session the
bone bed country around Canyon City and also
that of Grand Junction. where a party of the
bone hunters from the Field Columbian Museum
= nH "a