The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1906-04-27
MUSEUMS RARELY DECEIVED


According % d. W. D. Matthew, -
ststzna Curator 0f ths Ansr1r1z Mn
ssum of Natural Hhssory, there i Ii<zls
forgery q fossils and sueA thingzL For
uns reason tAs prices Fzzd f0r articles
IL thta city are 10t high snough 10
tempt fnrEzrx cr eTsn 70 repay lie
work necessity 70 prUd1es = slrcess-
m lzftzti1a-
Tet s0ze tzifzf5o1s ars put oa the
market The-s was. f1r Instance. ths
fraud q wh1ch Prof Cope was for =
tine the rirriz
Pro1 Cops zzds specially of f1s-
sis and IN one o. his treaties an
nozncsd the discovery Ct the Coen0-
tzzlle1s trszoatigsr1s. = rev variety
q Uzsto1nn- II 1ote II : subsequent
s1ssz01 ne zckn0wledged ne wzs uis-
taken and tAz1 10 sach animal ever
existed
He Ezs Led t1to error b purchasing
What Ezs represented 70 be tooth Of
: hitherto unknown hard Prof Cope
set ouf 10 discover the animal 10
which i had belonged. and classified
i znnng III zsAstodOnz- Il vas n0r
until after his Publication Of the zac-
that he 1sSr0Tersd the fraud that had
been przrtissd On him
Three teeth Of z familiar variety had
been glued together in way that
could a0t Be detected except by micro
scoylc examination Prof Cope worked
out his animal. and Il vas something
eFen larger than common or garden
mzstod0n before he took 70 the nj
cr0scope.
In the same way q noted English
Esturzlis- was several years ago made
q victim Of q similar deception a
curious and unprecedented tooth was
sold to him by man who declared
that he had found It in a part Of
France especially rich in fossils
Ths scientist had made extinct YER
tebrates his special study He was
working hard over this tooth, and was
prepared 10 produce almost any kind
Of exotic and extinct animal when his
suspicious we're awakened as 70 its
authenticity.
Il was then discovered that II coz
sisted Of three teeth taken from the
remains Of prehistoric fish and glued
together The teeth Of the fish were
common enough and singly could have
been recognized Immediately. II was
only the appearance Of the three To-
gether and attributed to mammal
that mystsfied the learned doctor.
The Indian relics that are now dug
up in the southwest are not believed
to Be forged TO any considerable ex-
tent Every piece that is bought fol
Z museum Of any pretensions must b
properly accredited. and il is pedigTes
contains the name Of NJ reputable
scientist there is little chance that i
win be accepted. In case it has such
authenticstion the testimony Of thsi
expert VIII be sought
There have undoubtedly been case:
in which articles dug up ct the HONS
Of former cliff dTellers we're deposit
ed fhe4s in advance. but such frauds
have been dsfected and the money
brought By these objects is not sun
cient to make imposture on any exten-
siYe scale worth while.
Indian dress, arrows. household
goods and similar relics are manufac
tured by the Indians for sale jusr al
they always have been, and they an
not sold as antiques By any but tn
small dealers. The same holds uu'
OF the Alaskan relics that are begin
ming to have an interest for American
collectors.
They are made now IN larger guam
titles than ever, and are always whai
the shcpkeepers represent them to be
They are too crude and too easily in
itated for the temptation TO be resist
ed, but there is no trouble in finding
the genuine relics in sufficient sup
plies for the museums Even they arr
not sold AZ very high prices.
1T is the cheapness Of most OF hi
articles that helps to prevent imita
ton" Dr.. Matthew told ne Sun re
porter, ~and the money paid for then
is not enough TO make the industrl
profitable on any large scale.
rIf anybody should send to the mu
scum here the teeth that deceived Prof
Cope we should not pay more than tel
dollars for them. So you see il Is no
worth while TO make very elabora.