14 To the River Plate and Back 



accepted in person by the Emperor; and the replica 

 presented to the King of Italy was installed at Bologna 

 in October of the same year. 



While the writer was in Paris in 1908, he made the 

 acquaintance of the Grand Duke Wladimir, the uncle 

 of His Majesty, the Czar of Russia. The Grand Duke 

 spent some time in the company of the narrator exam- 

 ining the replica, which was in process of being set up 

 at the Jardin des Plantes, and in conversation about 

 its discovery. Before taking leave he turned and said: 

 'In view of the fact that Mr. Carnegie in his great 

 generosity has been presenting these remarkable things 

 to various countries in Europe, tell him from me that 

 he must not overlook Russia." In due course of time 

 I mentioned the incident to our Maecenas, and he at 

 once expressed himself as glad to act upon the sugges- 

 tion. In the spring of the year 1910 a replica was 

 installed in the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. 

 Petersburg. On all of these occasions the liveliest interest 

 was shown not only by the learned, but by those in the 

 ordinary walks of life. The Diplodocus has been called 

 "the beast which has made paleontology popular." 



The reader now understands why the long journey to 

 the southernmost of the American republics was 

 undertaken. It was for the purpose of setting up in 

 the museum at La Plata the seventh reproduction of 

 the colossal mesozoic reptile, the bones of which had 

 been quarried from the Jurassic beds of Wyoming in 

 the summer of the year 1899. 



For various reasons the writer shrank from the 

 journey. A multitude of uncompleted tasks stared 

 him in the face; he feared the loss of the time which 

 would necessarily be consumed; he was not in the best 

 of health, and was in very low spirits. He endeavored 



