. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. was washed downslream aiul ilepositfJ In-re but, allcrnalins with iheso. were \onf, pcriixis when fine sill and nuid accunuilated This was in ihe middle of whai we now call the age of reptiles, or the Jurassic Period, and the sandstones then formed make up what we now call the Morrison beds. Durinjj floods, the corpses of the animals that inhabited both this delta and the surrounding lands were from time to Imie carried along by the waters, and were deposited on sand bars, just as the bodies of domestic animals are tod


. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. was washed downslream aiul ilepositfJ In-re but, allcrnalins with iheso. were \onf, pcriixis when fine sill and nuid accunuilated This was in ihe middle of whai we now call the age of reptiles, or the Jurassic Period, and the sandstones then formed make up what we now call the Morrison beds. Durinjj floods, the corpses of the animals that inhabited both this delta and the surrounding lands were from time to Imie carried along by the waters, and were deposited on sand bars, just as the bodies of domestic animals are today by the Green River. Then, as the flesh was eaten by scavengers, the bones sank into the sand and were entombed. Fortunately for us. many of those so buried in this place were fossilized. Several great changes later took place, the whole area having, among other things, been covered by a large sea or part of the ocean for a long period. But eventually Ihe land rose again, and erosion went to work on the now upended and exposed sections of the deposits formed in the ancient delta. Again very fortu- nately, a scientist happened to spot some of these fossilized bones during a field trip in the year and recorded the fact. Fifteen years later one Dr. Earl Douglass made an extended search whidT finally brought him to the place of which we speak. Any citizen may now stand here and gaze upon the skeletons of dinosaurs, both monstrous and minute, still embedded in the sandstones of the ancient delta where they once lived and died. Here the past stares you in the eye with a kind of knowing twinkle, as if to say. "So you didn't really believe what you saw in the museum, did you?"': and this can be most disturbing. You begin to think of elephants and rhinoceroses and other unlikely- looking creatures; and then, perhaps shrugging, you turn to contemplation of the mighty dinosaur commonly called Bronlo- saunis. and you realize that it is only a bit less likely. Then other s


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booksubjectphysicalg