278 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



American, the Carnegie, the Field, and the National 

 Museums have all built up great collections of the 

 animals and plants of the past, and the number of 

 publications on fossil animals has reached an enor- 

 mous total. 



I had the pleasure of attending the meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science that met in the American Museum in New 

 York at the mid-winter session in 1906. Professor 

 Osborn introduced me to his splendid Head Pre- 

 parator, Mr. Hermann, who has mounted the skele- 

 tons of the great Brontosaurus t Allosaurus, and so 

 many other examples of extinct animals. Mr, Her- 

 mann was requested by the Professor to devote all 

 his spare time to showing me anything the exhibi- 

 tion and storerooms contained, prepared or unpre- 

 pared, and to do all in his power to make my visit 

 pleasant. I certainly felt at home in that paradise 

 of ancient animals, many of which I had collected 

 for science on my own explorations. The magnif- 

 icent halls in which they are exhibited are a wonder- 

 ful tribute paid by the wealth and intelligence of the 

 citizen of Greater New York to science. How 

 admirable that Mr. Jesup should use his private 

 fortune as the means to take from the obscur- 

 ity of the private dwelling of the late Professor 

 Cope his great collection, to which I was a con- 

 tributor for eight years ; and he has placed it under 



