THE MUSEUM. 



167 



and weak, and in the young bird little 

 better than tough skin, would soon 

 •disappear, by the process of decay. 

 Then only the feathers would remain, 

 and as we all know these being com- 

 posed of horny material would not 

 rot, owing to lack of organic matter, 

 and then being soon covered over, 

 would be preserved for many years. 

 A feather, when it is grown, dies and 

 merely sticks into the body of the 

 bird; hence it is made of Incorruptible 

 material, or it would be decaying 

 while on the bird. I have often not- 

 iced skeletons of birds exposed to be 

 crumbling while the feathers were 

 found perfect still, though a little be- 

 draggled by rains. 



As many ether nestlings would un- 

 doubtedly follow this one we have 

 traced, a layer of feathers would soon 

 be formed and after the breeding sea- 

 son the layer of excrements would 

 cover it over, as above described. 



Here, then is an explanation, which 

 I think will satisfy all questions, and 

 if not, I, too, "await replies." 



Glover M. Allen, 

 3 Vernon St., Newton, Mass. 



Among the Rockies. 



Prof. M. J. Elrod. 



Teacher Natural Science. Illinois Wesleyan 

 University . 



H. 



Emerson says to know a mountain 

 you must put it under your feet. 

 Whymper, the great traveler among 

 the Andes, as well as the Alps, smiles 

 at a mountain that can be ascended in 

 a carriage or on horseback. Conway, 



who has recently returned from a year 

 of climbing among the highest of the 

 Himalayas, would run up a mountain 

 like Pike's Peak as an outing for 

 breakfast. Yet to get to the top is a 

 task for one not used to it, and many 

 cannot reach the summit, unless they 

 take the cog road. But no naturalist 

 would for a moment think of going up 

 any other way than on foot. Hun- 

 dreds of people walk up every year. 

 Old and young alike climb to the top. 

 I have read of an old man of 70 and a 

 young boy of 8 who made the ascent. 

 There are no crags and cliffs th&t can- 

 not be rounded, and altogether it is 

 an easy mountain. Indeed there are 

 few of the Rockies that cannot be as- 

 cended as easily. I have climbed to 

 the top twice and if I ever get there 

 again, as I hope I shall, I will climb 

 it again. 



The rock of this mountain is a pe- 

 culiar reddish-brown granite, quite 

 hard, and capable of taking a very 

 fine polish. It is readily cut into con- 

 venient and suitable sizes for building 

 purposes. The visible rock is mostly 

 boulders of all sizes and shapes, piled 

 one upon another promiscuously. 

 Near the base and for a long way up 

 the boulders are large. Toward the 

 top they become smaller, and of more 

 uniform size. One naturally imagines 

 the very top of a mountain to be flat, 

 and easily walked over. On the con- 

 trary, the top of this, as of most 

 mountains, is of very small extent, 

 and is a mass of boulders, obliging 

 one to hop from stone to stone to get 

 around. 



x^t the summit of Pike's Peak is a 

 government station of the Weather 

 Bureau, for taking observations. The 



