218 Lull — Development of Vertebrate Paleontology. 



Antarctic continent, gave promise of further high attain- 

 ment, when his hand was arrested by death. 



Summary. 



It is not surprising that American vertebrate paleontol- 

 ogy has arisen to so high a plane, when one considers the 

 material at its disposal. Having a vast and virgin field 

 for exploration, a sufficient number of collectors, some of 

 whom have devoted much of their lives to the work, and 

 a refinement of technique that permitted the preservation 

 of the fragmental and ill conserved as well as the finer 

 specimens, the results could hardly have been otherwise. 

 Thus it has been possible to secure material almost 

 unique throughout the world for extent, for complete- 

 ness, and for variety. To this must be added a certain 

 American daring in the matter of the restoration of miss- 

 ing portions, both of the individual bones and of the 

 skeleton as a whole, such as European conservatism will 

 not as a rule permit. This work has for the most part 

 been done after the most painstaking comparison and 

 research and is highly justified in the accuracy of the 

 results, which render the fabric of the skeleton much 

 more intelligible, both to the scientist and to the layman. 

 Material once secured and prepared is then mounted, 

 and here again American ingenuity has accomplished 

 some remarkable results. Some of the specimens thus 

 mounted are so small and delicate as to require holding 

 devices comparable to those for the display of jewels; 

 yet others — huge dinosaurs the bones of which are enor- 

 mously heavy, but so brittle that they will not bear even 

 the weight of a process unsupported — require a care- 

 fully designed and skilfully worked out series of supports 

 of steel or iron which must be perfectly secure and at the 

 same time as inconspicuous as possible. And of late the 

 lifelike pose of the individual skeleton has been aug- 

 mented by the preparation of groups of several animals 

 which collectively exhibit sex, size, or other individual 

 variations and the full mechanics of the skeleton under 

 the varying poses assumed by the creature during life. 



The work of further restoration has been rendered pos- 

 sible through comparative anatomical study, enabling us 

 to essay restorations in entirety by means of models and 

 drawings, clothing the bones with sinews and with flesh 

 and the flesh with skin and hair, if such the creature 



