MASTODOXS AM) MAMMOTHS SI) 



('\hil)iti()n the matrix in which the hones arc iiiihcddcd is carct'ull\- chij)- 

 j)C(l a\\a>' and the missing; i)arts restored in cement and phistei-. 'i'lie 

 l)ones ai-c then asseml)l<Ml as in hfe. In the speciniens on exhibition the 

 restored pai'ts (hlTcr in color tVoni the oi-iiiinal i)arts of the skeleton and 

 can rcadil\' he distin«i;uished. 



As a whole, the Museum collections of fossil \-ertel)rates are l)elie\-ed 

 to he the finest in the world, if we take into considei'at ion not merely 

 iiunil)(M-s, hut also variety, (juality and ])erfe('te(l methods of ])re])arati()n 

 and exhibition. Th(* colhM'tions illustrating the evolution of the horse 

 are probably e(iual to those of all other institutions combined. The 

 collections of Permian reptiles, of Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs, of 

 turtles, of North American Tertiary mammals, and of extinct mammals 

 of South America, are likewise of the first rank. There are more than 

 seventy complete skeletons on exhibition, several hundred skulls and 

 nearly two thousand jaws or other parts of various species. About ten 

 times this number are in storage, reserved for study and research, or not 

 yet prepared for exhibition. 



WEST CORRIDOR 



Fossil Fishlike Lizards 



Directly in front of the elevator is a wall case in which the most 

 recently acquired specimens are placed. The cases attached to the wall 

 near the stairway contain specimens of huge marine fishlike lizards, which 

 show the tremendous pressure to which fossils are often subjected and 

 the fragmentary condition in which they are found. 



SOUTH PAVILION 



Mastodons and Mammoths 



The visitor should first enter the South Pavilion in which are shown 

 the skeletons of mammoths and mastodons, the prehistoric relatives of 

 the modern elephants, and of the curious and extraordinary extinct 

 animals which inhabited South America in prehistoric times, 30,000 to 

 100,000 years ago. On the left is a series of modern skeletons illustrating 

 the evolution of the horse under the hand of man. Here are such ex- 

 tremes as the Shetland pony, only two feet ten inches high, and the 

 rough-boned draught horse, w^hich stands six feet one inch in height. 

 Contrast these with the slender-limbed "Sysonby" the famous race 

 horse, and the Arabian stallion ''Nimr." Man by his intelligence has 



e, , . modified the form of the horse to meet his needs and has 



Skeletons 



of Modern accomplished in a small degree but rapidly, what nature 

 Horses Yisls done in an extensive way during long ages — as will be 



seen from the fossil horses in the next hall. The similaritv in structure 



