The Washington herald., 1908-07-02
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

/ Escholtz Bay on the north to Patagonia
on the south. From the fOur-tOed little
dog-like animal Of the Eocene period 70
the horse, the ass. and the zebra of to-
day. the only animals that walk on one
toe has been a long, long way. Tribe
/ by tribe they fourished and grew extinct
as class. 20 leave 10 their pOsterity the
task OF remodeling themselves TO mee-
the moods Of a changing earth. These
/ American horses are generally believed
/ 20 be the original ancestors Of all the
( extinct members Of the horse family in
I the world. but the fact cannot be def
nitely established until the PHocene de-
posits Of Central Asia have been ex-
/ plored.
When the first explorers came to
American shores and penetrated, with
the zeal Of Spanish conquistador or
Spanish missionary priest. the wilds Of
the New World, all trace Of the horse
Family had gone, and so remote in the
past was its disappearance that the red
men Of the valleys the hills, and plains
had not even a tradition of them and
were seized with terror at the sight Of
the queer beasts that the soldiers be-
strobe Why the horse and his mates
/ had disappeared so completely science
/ has not been able 10 answer. The pro
/ longed winter Of the Ice Age may have
swept them out Of existence. Hunters in
some remote prehistoric time may have
stalked them as they did other game,
and so have brought about only the sur
/ vival OF their own cunning. Between
them on the one hand and the newly
come bison and antelope on the other.
there may have been competition for
| the feeding grounds Of forest and plain,
/ and the horses may have been worsted.
/ or possibly prolonged drought OF disease
took too heavy toll Of their number 10
allow them 70 ever recoup their losses
! As IL is. so many members OF this
world-old family lived and died on this
l continent. leaving their bones in valley.
! lake. and river bed that there are vast
| sections Of the West known 10 paleon-
| tOlocists as equus beds Through these.
| as through the pages Of an illustrated
book. American Scientists have traced the
! evolution Of the horse. finding ten differ
ent genera and twenty-six different
/ species. Even back Of those they have
studied. they some day expect 10 find an
other and older member Of the fam
/ lily. one that Will have five toes on its
1 marsh -trekking little foot. This may some
. day be discovered in the fertile fields Of
the West, for that region is especially
/ rich I'm fossils Of all the ages Of this very
| old continent. The existing fossil speci-
mems Of the prehistoric horse family now
in the museum in New York are from Ne
braska Central Oregon. Central Florida
Southern Texas. from Kansas, Louisiana.
/ and Alaska and one collection from the
I phosphate mines near Charleston. 5. @.
/ The Texas specimens brought back by
the expedition Of 1899 are most like the
! modern horse. and show that generation
20 have been about the size Of a draft
horse
The American Museum Of Natural His
tory had its beginning on April s. 1863
when an act Of the New York legislature
/ created H. The cornerstone for the pres
ent building was laid by President Grant
on June ,. 1874. and three years later It
was opened 20 the public. When all the
various wings OF the building are eventu-
ally completed it will occupy the whole
eighteen acres Of the tract next Central
Park As an educative factor Il IS one
OF the leading institutions OF the world.
conducting. with the cooperation Of the
city board Of education. series Of free
4 lectures and special courses Of study
I " 4.
show total Of 476.1G3 admissions. over
10000 more than that Of any other big
museum In this country. the Smithsonian
Institution and National Museum at
! Washington coming next with 350.5f7.
| The study Of mammals naturally began
I with the inception Of the institution
but il was not until 1891 that the de-
partment of yertebrae paleontology was
established and the most important eN-
/ petitions in the interest Of fossils were
sent out In the hall Of fossil mammals
the institution makes an effort 10 make
! clear 10 all the broad. underlying laws
Of nature. and demonstrates by COM
/ parative anatomy the laws OF evolution.
/ The exploitation OF such science re-
/ quireS much actual digging. These wise
/ men have dug in the beds of ancient
seas for fossils from the FISH age They
/ have tramped tirelessly through unat-
/ tractive Badlands 70 note with keen ewes
I any bit Of bone projecting from rocky
/ ledge or worn bed OF some stream. They
/ have preserved bones Of such a chalky
/ nature that the novice stands with mouth
! agape at such art, such patience. One
! special bit OF work. noteworthy for the
/ time and care bestowed on 1t. was that
/ begun in 1S9S and finished in 1895.
/ An expedition went 10 Wyoming IN IS9S
/ and there found the bones Of a bron-
/ taSaurus. petrihed in a bed Of rock in
/ that region. Ii took all summer 10 dig I'D
| and pack those bones. It took two years
more 10 remove the bones from the
/ matrices and re-enforce the weak and
/ crumbling parts; then more time was
/ spent in asserting the parts; then two
/ years more In articulating them, and
| finally Il was mounted and ready for
| exhibition in 1905. when the hall Of Dino
saure WAS opened and the monster siel-
etons that had been collected since 1897
/ were exhibited. This world-famous
/ bTontasauTus skeleton measures sixty
/ eight feet six inches long and fifteen feet
| two inches high.
| In 1900. the department Of vertebrae
/ paleontology sent an expedition in search
I Of the three-tOed horse. when the famous
\ Bone Cabin Quarry was opened in 1901
I IL sent men on this same mission 10
search the beds OF Colorado. wyoming
and Nebraska; In 1902 II sent five ex-
/ peuItions for dinosaurs and cretaceous
reptiles: in l9O3-4 they worked the Bad
/ lands. where the first fossils had been
/ found in $50, and brought home 200
/ specimens Of various animals: four ex-
/ petitions went 10 South Dakota in 1904.
/ in 1906 il sent three successful expedi-
/ tions. one to Montana for dinosaurs one
/ 10 Wyoming for mammals of the EoCene
/ period. and one 70 South Dakota for
/ other mammals But this summers ex-
| petitions promise 10 be most important
] Of all EXCavating is no longer the hit
/ or-miss performance OF a quarter OF Il
/ century ago. but follows as clearly de-
! fined rules as any exact science could