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Show MUSEUMS RARELY DECEIVED Imitation Fossils Are Quickly Detected De-tected by Experts sf the Institutions. In-stitutions. Accsrdlng to Dr. W. D. Matthew, as-sistanr as-sistanr Curator of tho American Museum Mu-seum of Natural History, there is llttlo forgery of fossils and such things. For one reason tho prices paid for articles In this city nro not high enough to tempt forgers or oven to repay tne work necessary to produce n successful success-ful Imitation. Yet some Imitations arc put on the market. There was, for Instance, the fraud of which Prof. Copo was for a tlmo tho victim. Prof. Uopo mado a specialty of fossils fos-sils and In ono of his treaties announced an-nounced tho discovery of tho Coono-tnslleus Coono-tnslleus trcmontlgorus, n new variety of mastodon. In n noto In n subsequent edition he acknowledged ho was mistaken mis-taken nnd thnt no such nnlmal over oxlsted. Ho wns led into error by purchasing what was represented to bo a tooth of n hitherto unknown herd. Prof. Copo set out to discover tho nnlmal to which it had belonged, nnd classified it among tho mastodons. It wns not until after his publication of tho fact that ho discovered tho fraud that had been practised on him. Thrco teeth of a familiar variety had been glued together in n way that could not bo detected except by microscopic micro-scopic examination. Prof. Copo worked out his nnlmal, nnd It wns something even larger than a common or garden mastodon beforo ho took to tho microscope. mi-croscope. In tho eamo way a noted English naturalist was several years ago mado a victim of n similar deception. A curious nnd unprecedented tooth was sold to him by u man who declared that he had found it in a part of Franco especially rich In fossils. Tho scientist hnd mado extinct vertebrates ver-tebrates his special study. Ho was working hard over this tooth, nnd was prepared to produce almost nny kind of exotic nnd oxtlnct animal when his suspicions wero nwnkened as to its authenticity. It wns then discovered thnt It consisted con-sisted of threo teeth taken from tho remains of prehistoric fish and glued together. Tho teeth of tho fish wero common enough and singly could have been recognized immediately. It was only tho appearance of tho threo together to-gether nnd attributed to n mammal that mystified the learned doctor. Tho Indian relics that are now dug up in the southwest are not believed to be forged to any considerable extent. ex-tent. Every piece that Is bought for a museum of any pretensions must be properly accredited, nnd If its pedigree contains tho name of no reputable scientist thero Is llttlo chanco that it will be accepted. In caso It has such authentication tho testimony of this expert will be sought. Thero have undoubtedly been cases In which articles dug up at tho homo of formor cliff dwellers wero deposited deposit-ed thero In advance, but such frauds havo been detected and tho money brought by theso objects Is not suffi cient to mnko Imposturo on nny extensive exten-sive scnlo worth while. indlnn dress, arrows, household goods and similar relics aro manufactured manufac-tured by tho Indians for sale Just as they always havo been, nnd they ore not sold ns antiques by any but tho small dcale.'s. Tho same holds true of tho Alaskan relics that aro beginning begin-ning to havo fin interest for American collectors. They nro mado now In larger quantities quan-tities than over, and aro always what tho shopkeepers represent thorn to bo. Thoy nro too crude nnd too easily Imitated Im-itated for tho temptation to bo resisted, resist-ed, but thero is no troublo in finding tho genulno relics In sufficient supplies sup-plies for tho museums. Even thoy nre not sold nt very high prices. "It Is the cheapness of most of the nrtlcles that helps to prevent Imitation," Imita-tion," Dr. Matthew told tho Sun reporter, re-porter, "and tho monoy paid for thorn Is not enough to mako tho industry profitable on any largo scalo. "If anybody should send to tho museum mu-seum hero tho teeth that decolved Pror. Copo wo should not pay moro than ton dollars for them. So you sco It Is not worth whllo to mnko a very elnborato fraud for that." |