READING RIDDLES OF THE ROCKS 119 



quently weighing a ton. The largest single 

 specimen is a skull of Triceratops, collected 

 by INIr. J. B. Hatcher, which weighed, when 

 boxed, 3,650 pounds. 



Or, as the result of some mishap, or through 

 the work of an inexperienced collector, a valu- 

 able specimen may arrive in the shape of a 

 box full of irregular fragments of stone com- 

 pared with which a dissected map or an old- 

 fashioned Chinese puzzle is simplicity itself, 

 and one may spend hours looking for some 

 piece whose proper location gives the clew to 

 an entire section, and days, even, may be con- 

 sumed before the task is completed. A^^hile 

 this not only tries the patience, but the eyes 

 as well, there is, nevertheless, a fascination 

 about this work of fashioning a bone out of 

 scores, possibly hundreds, of fragments, and 

 watching the irregular bits of stone shaping 

 themselves into a mosaic that forms a portion 

 of some creature, possibly quite new to sci- 

 ence, and destined to bear a name as long as 

 itself. And thus, after many days of toil, the 

 bone that millions of years before sank into 

 the mud of some old lake-bottom or was 



