130 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



four sons for weeks have explored the 

 Lance Creek, Greasewood and Schnei- 

 der Creek regions without success. 

 Every night the father asked the sons, 

 What luck? and received the same an- 

 swer, Nothing. But one day late in 

 August my oldest son, George, who 

 has been my chief assistant in the fos- 

 sil fields of the west for twelve years 

 went down a ravine he had worked in 

 without success, accompanied by his 

 voung brother Levi and he stumbled 

 upon the burial ground of the very 

 Dinosaur we saw in imagination, when 

 this old world was young. Time 

 would fail me to tell of the anxiety, 

 care, labor and expense before that 

 noblest of all the specimens of duck- 

 billed dinosaurs that has been found, 

 reached in safety the great American 

 Museum of Natural History, 77th 

 Street and Central Park, New York. 

 Prof. Osborn gave me the help of his 

 able preparators, and their skill 

 uncovered the impressions of the 

 dermal covering in the soft and 

 easilv disintegrated grey sandstone. 

 It was purchased, and at last 

 described, in part at least, before 

 the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science at their Balti- 

 more meeting last December during 

 the holidays. President Osborn of the 

 American Museum told the scientific 

 world gathered there of this wonder- 

 ful animal. The museum has two 

 splendidly prepared and mounted 

 specimens. This specimen weighed 

 4,400 pounds and it took four horses 

 to haul it in to Lusk, 65 miles away. 



Note- :The cuts on the preceding page are lent by 

 Henry Holt & Company, New York City, and are from "The 

 Life of a Fossil Hunter" (Sternberg). 



It is the dare-devil and those who 

 handle dangerous reptiles only for the 

 sake of doing a daring act that receive 

 fatal injuries. Usually it is not the 



Handling the Banded Rattlesnake. 



BY C. A. CLARK, LYNX, MASSACHUSETTS. 



It is dangerous even to make an at- 

 tempt to handle a live rattlesnake or 

 any other poisonous reptile, unless one 

 is experienced and has some correct 

 knowledge of its habits. It is more 

 dangerous to handle these deadly rep- 

 tiles with gloves than with the bare 

 hands, as gloves deaden the feeling, 

 and one cannot tell whether or not he 

 is holding the snake just right. The 

 scientific naturalist always handles 

 them without gloves. 



C. A. CLARK HAXDLIXG A LARGE 



BANDED RATTLESNAKE (CROTALUS 



HORRIDUS) 



Photograph by L. A. Wentworth, Lynn, 

 Massachusetts. 



scientific man. We are all liable to 

 make mistakes, but as a rule the cool- 

 headed naturalist generally gets 

 through this world without any seri- 

 ous accidents from these deadly rep- 

 tiles. Handling live rattlesnakes is 

 not a pleasure, and people are scarce 

 who will make any attempt even to 

 get near them in their natural haunts. 

 It is a wise person who runs from a 

 rattlesnake, and when I come in con- 



