Fig. 31.—Bony spines belonging to the skin of Triceratops. (After Marsh.)
After all these various efforts to improve themselves and to perfect their organisation so as to bring it into harmony with their surroundings, or “environment,” as the biologists say, it seems rather hard that the Dinosaurs should have been extinguished, and their place in Nature taken by a higher type; but all things have their day, even Dinosaurs.
With regard to the difficulties, hardships, and dangers attending the discovery and transport of the remains, Professor Marsh’s concluding remarks may be quoted here, since they give us a glimpse into the nature of his explorations in the far West that have now become so famous. He says, "In conclusion, let me say a word as to how the discoveries here recorded have been accomplished. The main credit for the work justly belongs to my able assistant, Mr. J. B. Hatcher, who has done so much to bring to light the ancient life of the Rocky Mountain regions. I can only claim to have shared a few of the dangers and hardships with him, but without his skill little would have been accomplished. If you will bear in mind that two of the skulls weighed nearly two tons each, when partially freed from their matrix and ready for shipment, in a deep desert cañon, fifty miles from a railway, you will appreciate one of the mechanical difficulties overcome. When I add that some of the most interesting discoveries were made in the hunting-grounds of the hostile Sioux Indians, who regard such explorations with superstitious dread, you will understand another phase of the problem. I might speak of even greater difficulties and dangers, but the results attained repay all past efforts, and I hope at no distant day to have something more of interest to lay before you."[29]
[29] American Journal of Science, vol. xli. p. 176.
FLYING DRAGONS.
“Geology does better in reclothing dry bones and revealing lost creations than in tracing veins of lead or beds of iron.”—Ruskin.
The great Ocean of Air was not uninhabited during the long ages of the Mesozoic era, when fishes swarmed in the seas, and reptiles, such as we have attempted to describe in the last five chapters, trod the earth, or swam across lakes and rivers. With such an exuberance of life in various forms, it would indeed have been strange if the atmosphere had only been tenanted by humble little insects like dragon-flies, locusts, or butterflies and moths, all of which we know were living then.