46 The Edmonton Beds 



posure without this precaution. The dorsal 

 spines were traced in the same way and the ribs 

 in front. Then we cut down several feet outside 

 the skeleton so we could get under it. The skull 

 was covered with burlap soaked in plaster and 

 removed. The front limbs came next; and here 

 we learned a lesson that was of inestimable value 

 to us in taking up the vast bulk of the trunk re- 

 gion. When we turned the front limbs over a 

 lot of shattered rock fell out and threatened to 

 bring the bones with it and thus ruin the bones. 

 No human being would have been able to mend 

 these bones if they were once jumbled together, 

 so we thanked God, and resolved not to attempt 

 the big sections without covering the entire 

 trunk beneath as well as above with plaster and 

 burlap to hold the rock in place, and, of course, 

 the broken bones. A surgical operation, in fact, 

 in which the broken joints are kept in place un- 

 til they reach the skilled preparator in the Mu 

 seum laboratory. We dug a very narrow trench 

 under the skeleton, after the upper surface had 

 been heavily covered with plaster and burlap, 

 and willow poles to hold it firmly together, divid- 

 ing the trunk into two sections. Each weighed 

 about 3,000 pounds. After our trench had been 

 dug we found that the plastered strips would not 

 stick and pulled part of the rotten rock off with 

 them, and threatened to allow the bones to fall 

 out too. Our only plan under the circumstances 

 was to stick the ends of our burlap strips securely 



