THE MOUNTED SKELETON OF BRONTOSAURUS. 



By W. D. Matthew. 



IGHT years ago the American Museum began a 

 search f(^r fossil reptiles in the Rocky Mountain 

 States. The prime object of the search was to 

 obtain skeletons of the Dinosaurs, those gigantic 

 extinct animals whose fragmentary remains, dis- 

 covered in that region and studied and described especially by 

 the late Professor Marsh, have excited the greatest interest 

 among men of science. In order to place these marvels of an 

 antique world before the public in tangible form, a Dinosaur 

 Hall was planned, in which should be exhibited mounted skele- 

 tons of the principal kinds of Dinosaurs. To obtain these, a 

 series of expeditions into the regions of the arid West, where 

 such fossils are to be found, was inaugurated and carried on 

 under direction of Professor Osborn, and the collections of the 

 late Professor Cope, containing three splendid skeletons of Dino- 

 saurs, were purchased through the liberality of President Jesup. 

 This programme involved an amount of work hardly to be 

 appreciated by outsiders, and it is as yet far from being com- 

 plete. Nevertheless, the mounting of the largest skeleton, the 

 Amphibious Dinosaur Brontosaurus, has been finished, the skele- 

 ton of a remarkable dwarf Dinosaur, the " Bird -Catcher," has 

 been mc^unted and placed on exhibition, the preparation and 

 mounting of entire skeletons of three other large and very ex- 

 traordinary types (the Carnivorous, Duck-billed and Armored 

 Dinosaurs) are well under way, and diligent search is being made 

 for complete and mountable skeletons of other important kinds. 

 Many other more fragmentary specimens have been found, some 

 of which are exhibited in the wall-cases around the hall. 



