434 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxix. 



National Museum exhibit at the Pan-American Exposition" in Buffalo. 

 Because of the general interest aroused by this reproduction, Dr. 

 George P. Merrill, head curator of geology of the National Museum, 

 conceived the idea that the original specimen would be not only an 

 attractive but an instructive addition to the paleontological division of 

 the Museum, and it has been largely through his enthusiasm and 

 encouragement that the specimen was at last ready for exhibition. 



The skeleton as mounted is standing on a base of artificial matrix, 

 calculated to represent the color and texture of the Laramie sandstone 

 in which the remains of these animals are found. 



From the tip of the beak to the end of the tail the skeleton as 

 restored is 19 feet 8 inches in length. The skull, which is 6 feet long, 

 equals nearly one-third of this length. At the highest point (the top 

 of the sacrum) it is 8 feet 2 inches above the base. The mounted 

 skeleton presents several features which would otherwise be lost to 

 the observer if seen in the disarticulated condition. The short body 

 cavity, the deep thorax, the massive limbs, and the turtle-like flexure 

 of the anterior extremities are characters only appreciated in the 

 mounted skeleton. The position of the fore limbs in the present 

 mount appears rather remarkable for an animal of such robust pro- 

 portions, but a study of the articulating surfaces of the several parts 

 precludes an upright mammalian type of limb, as was represented by 

 Marsh in the original restoration. Moreover, a straightened form of 

 leg would so elevate the anterior portion of the body as to have made 

 it a physical impossibility for the animal to reach the ground with its 

 head. 



The fore feet are perhaps the most conjectural part of the whole 

 restoration. Mr. Hatcher, after a careful study of all of the fore- 

 foot material known, was unable to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion 

 as to the arrangement of the bones or the number of digits compris- 

 ing the manus. In constructing these parts we have followed Marsh's 

 drawing, assisted somewhat by fore-foot material kindly loaned by 

 Dr. H. F. Osborn, of the American Museum of Natural History, New 

 York City. 



The nasal horn of the skull used in the present skeleton appears 

 to be missing, and on account of the unsatisfactory evidence as to 

 whether the horn is wholly or only partly gone, it was decided not to 

 attempt a restoration at this time. This will account for the absence 

 of one of the important features upon which the name of the animal 

 is based, Trlceratops meaning three-horn face, in allusion to the pres- 

 ence of the two large horns above the eyes and the third smaller horn 

 on the nose. 



«This papier restoration has since been exhibited at the expositions in Charleston, 

 South Carohna, and St. Louis, Missouri, and is now in the Portland Exposition in 

 Oregon. 



