El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-18

IN tonal museum is Illleu Win
- more romance than that part
which deals with the animals and plants
of the prehistoric world. The researches
Of the geologist have penetrated per
haps 100, 900, 900 years farther back into
| the past than the date when man first
made his appearance upon the earth
During that time, over 10000 feet Of
rock has been formed, and as the geol-
ogist studies the various layers which
crop out in the mountains and valleys
OF the world, he is able to read the rec
ord of millions of years and 10 ger
many glimpses Of conditions winch
prevailed untold ages before man Oe-
gan to chronicle his Impressions OF
things upon the earth.
As animals are frequently drowned
in high waters today and their bodies
borne on swift currents and deposited
on bars of sand, only to be covered
/ BY mud and silt, so in the millions OF
years gone by, ike catastFopnles over
took the monsters Of those times, and
the sandbars were afterwards trans
formed into sandstone or other rock
deposits. This then became the Iomos
which nature and man have since
opened up, and IN which are plainly
written the stories of the creatures
which lived and died in a time almost
too remote for human conception Ihese
discoveries have led 10 the estaDllsh-
tOlOgy, a science which bOrrOWs from
half dozen related sciences-geol
zoology and anatomy
Fossil Beds Yield Fine Specimens.
The National museum has one of the
finest collections Of paleontologlcal
specimens in the world The specimens
range from microscopic plants ana M
sects 10 giant dinosaurs dlplcQucus1s
and zeuglOdons. These specimens nave
tcOme from all parts Of the world, DuL
North America perhaps has contributed
the richest treasures. They have come
from all parts Of the continent, DuU the
most fruitful sources have oeen lne
fossil beds of Colorado Texas, Wyo-
ming Alabama, the Dakotas, Kansas
and Florida.
The museum has a corps OF skilled
paIeontolOgists at work all the time
studying these fossil remains ana sIrlf-
ing to restore them, so as to give TO the
world a living picture OF the amman
and vegetable life which existed IN
geoiogieal ages gone by: one may &c. sSt
a fair idea Of the activities IN this IieLq
by a statement OF the museum Work
In vertebrate paleOntolOgy during a re-
cent year over ESQ separate bones OF
a giant creature known as TIE stego-
saurus were worked out This was
giant lizard with huge vertical plates
on its back Its length was about %
feet and its hind legs were much longer
than the height OF the average man.
The First Mounted zeuglOdOn.
A EkeleLOu OF a EcAaLDHaA4- "a, fH--e
prepared for mounting. This animal
was a huge dinOsaur whose remains
were found in Colorado, and whose skull
alone was more than two feet long The
The mounting OF skeleton OF a zeuglo-
don was practically completed This IS
the first specimen of its kind 10 be
mounted in any museum Of the world
The 2euglodon was a great whale which
Inhabited the seas once covering the
state OF Alabama. 1t is the Oldest whale
known TO DaleontOlOgists- Its remains
have also been found in Mississippi,
Georgia and Egypt. Parts Of the skel-
etons Of more than 40 individuals have
been met with. So numerous are the
vertebrae in Alabama that il is said
they are used for making fences and
that the farmers even burn the bones TO
A Reptile 50 Feet Long.
Another animal whose fossil remains
are in the National museum was the at
lantOsaurus. A fair idea of its i'm
mense size may be gained from the
statement that its thigh bone alone was
more than six feet long. Still another
giant from the Rocky mountain section
was the diplOdOcus. This was a huge
reptile whose length was upward OF so !
feet 1t had heavy hind legs and small /
Done has been pronounced one Of the [
maFYels OF animal architecture 1t /
was built on the principle Of the Amer /
lean truss bridge, and in such a way as
to obtain the maximum of strength 4
with the minimum of weight The fore
legs of the diplOdocus unlike those I
OF most reptiles, were larsb and well /
developed
One OF the most interesting of an the /
animals which lived in prehistoric days I
Is known as the triceratcps. 1t was a I
speclas OF dinosaur which probably had {
norns like those Of oxen. 1t had a I
length of about 90 feet, and while its /
skeleton resembles that OF a rhinoce- /
ftous' II was IN reality a species Of rep !
the The back of its skull rose into a /
KIND OF crest which was protected by a I
special fringe Of bOny plates. The late
professor Marsh once declared that as .
the head increased in size TO bear its I
armour OF bony plates, the whole skel- I
elon was specially modified to support I
It. He concluded that as these changes {
took place In the course Of the eYolu- Z
tlon OF this wonderful dinosaur, the /
nead at last became too large and heavy
1or the BODY TO bear, and so must have
lea 70 its destruction. He felt that the
triceratops literally died OF the big head 4
ana declared that II he were to write its \
SSP!l55apa It would be; II and my race
Huge BODY But Tiny Brain. D
An extinct monster that once roamed /
the western country Is said 10 have pos i
sessed the smallest brain Of any mann i
mai either living or extinct. Perhaps /
II may seem hardly credible, but so /
small was its brain that Il could have
been pulled through the apertures Of all /
the neck feEleDrae. The fossils of this
animal were collected by professor
Marsh, man Of wealth who devoted /
practically his entire time and fortune
10 the work of studying the fossil de-
posits Of North America. His gifts to
me National museum and Yale unfver-
slty are among the most noteworthy IN I
the entire history Of paleOntology.
While most fossil remains occur in /
stone, and consequently only the bony /
parts have remained there have been 1
Instances where the paleontologist has
round meat and skins of extinct ami
mails embedded I'm slaty deposits, and /
sven In ice. Recently secretary Wal I
colt, Of the Smithsonian institution [
while investigating an area in the mid
de cam brain rocks of the Rocky noun
-ains found mud denosit now hard L
ening into slate, in which had been
preserved the most delicate portions OF
orimit tive animals. This discovery I
promises to be among the most inter
sstlng known to paleOntolOgy. Some 10
years ago the frozen remains OF a ST.
oerian mammoth even down 10 the Wis
cera, were found In SibeFia several
hundred miles inland from Behrina
strait a century before a huge me ~
moth had been discovered entirely fro
zen in Q solid block Of ice.
lhe National museum has over 1,00O.-