The Edmonton Beds 37 



grey sandstone that is Muted by weathering. The 

 rain water becomes so thick with clay that it 

 never settles but gradually evaporates into mud. 

 I was interested in the study of two problems: 

 First, the environments of the duck-billed, horn- 

 ed and plated, and carniverous dinosaurs. Sec- 

 ond, the story of how this river has cut out of the 

 heart of the prairies, this great canyon 400 feet 

 deep and over a mile wide. I find in answer to 

 the first question that the deposits were uniform 

 through a great length of time, showing that the 

 climatic conditions and the altitude were the 

 same during the time the four hundred feet of 

 strata were laid down. Further, in order to re- 

 tain the same conditions the land subsided at the 

 rate of deposition. The fine material of which 

 they are composed, showed it to be ocean mud, 

 and the mud, accumulated in lake or bayous, 

 like the everglades of Florida. Swamps and bayo- 

 us were the natural habitat of the duck-billed 

 dinosaurs, while on the rising land were groves 

 of redwood, sycamore, figs and other trees, with 

 low heavily grassed plains covered with high 

 grass horse tail, rushes, etc., through which 

 wandered the horned plated and carniverous 

 dinosaurs. How often in my day dreams some 

 stately dinosaur has passed before my mental 

 vision ! The forests, the rivers, the lakes and 

 oceans of those ancient days have appeared 

 in imagination as though they actually exist- 

 ed. So I ask the reader to put on my glasses: 



