THE OOLOGIST. 



91 



rather than to show extensive series of 

 small specimens. The exhibit is divid- 

 ed into three sections— zoology, geology 

 and anthropology. 



In zoology the museum has been 

 fortunate in obtaining many rare and 

 striking specimens for the exhibit, 

 which is confined to American verte- 

 brate animals. Among mammals 

 should be mentioned the Kodiak bear 

 of Alaska, the largest bear in the world; 

 the singular little gray Glacier bear, 

 which lives among the snow fields back 

 of Mt. St. Elias; the giant moose, the 

 wild black sheep of British Columbia, 

 and Ball's sheep, which is entirely 

 white; the rare West Indian seal, the 

 musk ox, the mountain caribou, and 

 others. All the larger species are 

 mounted on bases with accessories in- 

 dicating their natural surroundings and 

 habits 



The bird exhibit comprises about 300 

 of the most brilliant and striking forms 

 in America, including many West 

 Indian and South American specias, 

 such as the condor, the American 

 ostrich, the macaws and parrots, um- 

 brella bird, bell bird, cock-of-the-rock. 

 The taxidermy of both birds and mam- 

 mals is of a very high order. 



Among reptiles the most striking ex- 

 hibit is a gigantic snapping turtle from 

 Texas, known as the alligator snapper. 

 The creature is about five feet long, and 

 is the largest fresh water turtle ever 

 found in America. This part of the ex- 

 hibit also includes the poisonous and 

 non-poisonous American snakes — rattle- 

 snakes, moccasins, boa constrictor, 

 spreading adder, together with many 

 striking lizards, frogs, toads, and sala- 

 manders, including species from Cuba 

 and Porto Rico. 



American fishes are fullv represented. 

 The museum has had agents at Key 

 West, Florida, and on the Amazon 

 River collecting specimens specially for 

 the Buffalo exhibit. These have been 

 prepared by a new method, by which 

 their natural form and much of their 

 brilliant color is preserved. A novelty 

 in fishes is a large model of luminous 

 deep sea fish, arranged by means of 

 electrical attachments so that it will 

 phosphoresce, as it is known to do, when 

 alive in the depths of the ocean. Many 

 of the fishes from the deepest waters 

 are exceedingly grotesque and wonder- 

 ful in structure, but on account of their 

 small size and their bad condition when 

 dragged from the depths of the sea, 

 they are little known to the public. 



The geological exhibits are diversified 

 and chiefly American. One very in- 

 terestiDg series consists of examples of 

 the various elements which occur un- 

 combined in the rocks, such as gold, 

 silver, copper, lead, mercury, platinum, 

 carbon and iron. Strange as it may 

 seem, one of the rarest of these ele- 

 ments is iron. The exhibit contains 

 native iron from Greenland, and a por- 

 tion of an iron meteorite from New 

 Mexico. Another interesting object is 

 a large platinum nugget worth about 

 $200. Carbon is represented by a dia- 

 mond crystal, a piece of graphite, and 

 specimens of the curios and valuable 

 black diamond, known as carbonade, a 

 piece of which the size of half a pea is 

 worth about $40. 



A series of minerals includes every 

 important variety, and no small num- 

 ber of very striking forms, largely from 

 America. 



Another especially interesting ex- 

 hibit at this time is a series of the rocks 

 of the Hawaiian islands, which, as is 

 well known, are namely lavas The 

 exhibit is accompanied by photographs 

 of the interior of the craters of the vol- 

 canoes. An exhibit of concretionary 

 structures found in mineral and rocks 

 will include some magnificent slabs of 

 the concretionary granite found in New 

 England. Collections of deposits from 

 the geysers and hot springs of Yellow- 

 stone Park are also shown. 



Still another section of the geologi- 

 cal exhibits is devoted to fossil verte- 

 brate animals and fossil wood. Of the 

 fossil huimals, the one which will 

 doubtless attract most attention is the 

 skeleton of the gigantic mammal-like 

 reptile known as Triceratops. This 

 creature was larger than the largest 

 elephant, and had an immense bony 

 shield on the back of the head, as well 

 as a pair of great horns over the eyes. 

 Besides the skeleton, a large painting 

 representing the animal as it must have 

 appeared when alive, and a model is 

 also shown. 



Another extraordinary creature ex- 

 hibited is a bird with teeth, known as 

 Hesperornis. This remarkable bird was 

 more than three feet high. The skele- 

 ton is practically complete Much at- 

 ten' ion will doubtless be attracted by 

 the collection of fossil woods from 

 Arizona, many of which are extremely 

 brilliant in color. 



Hardly less striking is the Zeuglodon, 

 a whale-like carnivorous animal from 

 Alabama, which reaches a length of 50 



