H4 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



hundred and fifty teeth from the roof and floor of 

 the mouth. The larger teeth were over an inch long 

 and covered with a shining, dark-colored enamel. 

 They were as sharp and polished as in life, and lay 

 in or near their natural positions. 



This is the first time and, I believe, the only time 

 that so complete a specimen of this ancient shark has 

 been discovered. The column and other solid parts 

 were composed of cartilaginous matter which 

 usually decays so easily that it is rarely petrified. 

 I suppose my specimen was old at the time of its 

 death, and bony matter had been deposited in the 

 cartilage. It is not very likely that such a specimen 

 will ever be duplicated. Dr. Eastman's study of 

 this skeleton enabled him to make synonyms of 

 many species which had been named from teeth 

 alone. 



Among the most valuable of my further dis- 

 coveries in the Kansas chalk beds was that of two 

 nearly complete skeletons of that great sea tortoise, 

 Protest eg a gig as Cope. The type had already been 

 described by Professor Cope from a number of dis- 

 connected bones which he found near Fort Wallace 

 in 1871. 



In 1903 I was so fortunate as to find a practically 

 complete skeleton of Protostega gigas in normal con- 

 dition, that is, with the bones all in or near their 

 original positions. The late Dr. J. B. Hatcher, 



