TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: APRIL 26, 1903.
r
Christians
OME. April 14. -On the Island of
IB I a the Tlbr, tmong the follower
JOk I ' of St John of Ood, there Is a
brother, Fra Arsenlco, who la
a famous dentist and wha
charges no f for his work.
His only diploma la a lame sack full of the
teeth that ha has pulled.
An American lady wintering In Home
asked a man who knows all about Home,
ancient and modern, to give her some In
formation about tha "dentist monk aoroa
wheres In Roma who pulls teeth free,"
as her servant had a toothache and she,
tha lady, was not prepared to pay a den
tiara, bill, while It was a bother to hare
the maid about with a swollen face. Tha
man directed her to tha Island once sacrd
to the worship of Aecupapius and now tha
home of Christian priests who minister to
tha sick, gav her the name of Fra Ar
senlco and teld her tha story of the Island
a story of temples and their sick worship
pers, of wornout slaves exposed and left
to die thera of a charitable task begun by
pagans, continued by Christians and carried
on for twenty-two centuries a , curious
story even for Homo.
Many' centuries ago when Rome. was but
a small village ' perched on the rain tine
hill, surrounded by woods and marshes
and Inhabited by a community of shep
herds who grazed their flocks on the up
land of the Vclla and the Opplan, there
waa down In the valley where flowed the
river Tiber a. spot among the reeds that
grew on Us banks where the waters of tha
stream rushed and gurgled as they broka
against a low, wild Inland. It was merely
a strip of land In the middle of the river,
accross which the Etruscans gazed with
surprise at the square fortifications of the
new people who had founded a city high
up on tha opposite bank. It was almost
covered over and hidden by the watrs
that surrounded It, unexplored and the.--fore
unknown.
This Island In the course of time ac
quired a legendary origin. It was said that
when the Romans expelled the Tarquln and
"olzed their goods the golden corn waa
cut from tha fields of Mars and thrown
Into the river. The current carried It to
Ward tha Insula caeca, the blind Island
dr sandbank. Here It stopped, and tha
and and mud of the river were mixed
With It until It rose above the stream and
became an Island, and tha Insula Tlberlna,
or Island of the Tiber, was thus formed.
Llvy and Plutarch and other ancient writ
ers recount the legend, but modern critics
have explained It away and they only con
tiect the name of Tarquln with the island
of the Tiber, inasmuch as under him
Roman and Etruscan worships became un
ited and from tha capltol they gradually
spread down tha river.
Ancus Marclus. fourth king of Rome, Is
ald to have built a bridge of wooden piles
subllcao, hence Pons Subllclus between
tha Jantculum, which he fortified to check
the Incursions of the Etruscans and tha
Island. This wss the first bridge across
tho' Tiber and It was the bridge Horatlus
Codes held against the hosts of Porsonna.
No iron was used in Its original construc
tion nor In subsequent repairs. Its memory
lasted .through the middle ages. In 1484
Pope Slxtus used the remains of its foun
dations of travertine to make cannon balls,
and In 1877 the last traces of it wera blown
up to clear the bad of tha river.
Tho bridge gave but small fama to tha
Island, which remained uninhabited for
several centuries. In fact until tha year SOI
B. C. Then pestilence raged In Rome and
spread over all tha city, with Its narrow
streets and high houses overcrowded with
slaves, and for three long years tha In
habitants died dally by hundreds.
Bo the1 senate sent to Epldaurus to re
quest that Aesculapius, tha tutelary god
of that place, might coma to avert tha evil.
Tha ambassadors returned with a sacred
snake, the emblem of the god, which had
found Its own way Into their ship and
ensconced Itself In the cabin. ' When they
arrived In the Tiber, the snaka gilded from
the-ship and swimming to tha Island disap
peared there, and In consequence a temple
was built on the island to the Greek god
of Midlclne, whose worship was thus In
troduced into Rome.
Tha temple waa called Asklept. and mora
than a sanctuary or a place of worship
was a hospital where poor people who
could not afford to pay the doctor to cure
their maladies, flocked and prayed and
hoped that their health would ba restored.
Belief In tha supernatural powers of U.4
divinity end therefore In miracles then was
at strong a It is still today In many parts
of Italy. '
'The temple had a community of priests
who, besides attending to tha worship of
the god, ministered to tha crowd of poor
patients that came to be cured, and recom
mended remedies, baths and diets gener
ally, 'which very often proved mora suc
cessful than tha Intervention of tha Greek
god. Tha pattenta slept under the porti
coes, and so great was their faith that
they expected tob cured with the first
light of dawnon the' (following morning, t
Tha site of the temple was wall adapted
for a hospital, as It was outside the city
walls and in an Isolated poiUlun. It was
patronised by the very poor, the freedmen
who worked In tha factories, the soldiers
of tha legions and tha sailors from tha
galleys moored onr tha river.
Thera waa a cuBtom In Roma which con
tributed In keeping tha parttooea of tha
Asklepla crowded. Tha owners of slares
afflicted by incurable 'maladies and there
fore worthless used to have them carried
to tha Island and left there.
Originally tha owner of a slave had tha
right to kill Mm when ha had no further
use for him, and before tha temple of
Aesculapius was built on tha Island and
bis worship Instituted In Rome, when a
slave beoama ill beyond hope of recovery
ha was killed by his .master. Tha prieets
of th Greek god acquired celebrity for cur
ing tha poor, and tha god sometimes per
formed miracles, so that diseased slaves
wera no longer killed, but sent to the
Asklep'a, and In such numbers that the
portico at times wara full of them.
Emperor Claudius abolished the custom
and decreed that any slave abandoned or
Prattle of the
On day small Edna's grandmother
Showed her a large old-fashioned cent
"Grandma," she said, after sislng it up.
"If they had such big oenta whan you wi
a girl, the dollar must have been whop
pers." It is not every on who prove the In
(factuln of hksomnla cures at 7 years
of age.
The father of tha lad, who wa about 7
yet' its old, was a phyalcian, and when the ,
cl lid found difficulty in getting to sleep
ready with advice.
"I'll tell you something that will soon
put you to sleep," hi said. "Tou bg1n and
i-ount slowly up to l'XJ. and then another
hundred, and so on, and before you know
It you'll be sleeping. Try It, tonight when
you go to bed."
KverytUlng remained quiet that night
vntll the fattier wut to retire. A a
Take Up
exposed should become a free man, 'and
that any person who killed a diseased
slave waa guilty of the crime of murder.
As a result the number of patients at the
Asklepla diminished. But the sadness of
th place remained, and the grova of sacred
trees that adorned tha Island, tha shrlnea
to other gods which In time were erected
close to the temple, the many votive of
ferings which wera hung (on the wall as
testimony of the healing powers of the
Greek god, and tha 'shape given to tha
island, which was made to resemble a
trireme, with an obelisk to serve the pur
pose of a mast, were not sufficient to
change the aspect of tha place, which was
that of a hospital for poor people, a tef jge
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of poor, diseased humanity.
Several inscriptions in Greek have been
found bearing evidence of cures obtained
through intercessions to the god. Cuius,
tha blind beggar, prostrated himself before
tha altar of the god and placed the five
extended fingers of his right hand on it.
He touched his eyes and recovered his
sight
Lucius, another beggar who was unable
to sleep owing to great pains in his side,
was oured by placing ashes from the sac
rifice ba offered on tha affected side. Tha
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Citizens Who Inhabited Montana Three Million Years Ago
EW YORK, April 26. Prof.
Henry F. Ostorn curator of
vertebrate palaeontology at the
American Museum of Natural
History, haa Just put on exhibi
tion in the new dinosaur ball
two specimens of the trachodon or duck
bill dinosaur, a gigantlo herbivorous crea
ture which roamed western America In
primeval times. One specimen is shown
in a rearing attitude, which was probably
a customary pose of tha trachodon In Ufa,
while the other alongside Is represented aa
feeding.
An idea of the six and appearano of
the trachodon may be had from tha ac
companying picture. In which a group of
school children are seen looking the big
fellow over. In mounting the other speci
men Prof. Osborn has departed from tha
'jsoal methods and haa supplied a view of a
dinosaur at- dinner as it might have been
seen soma millions of years ago.
This is tha first time that such a thing
has . been shown. The trachodon 1 shown
feeding on various tropical fruit and
plants. Casta have been made of various
specimen of fossil figs, leaves, rushes, etc.,
found near tho remain ot the trachodon, .
and these have been scattered aibout the
mounted specimen, thus giving an ac
curate picture, of the creature in tha aot
of feeding.
. The queer shaped monster waa nearly
thirty feet long. The trachodon, which I
shown standing, tower up kangaroo
fashion some seventeen feet in the air, tha
two short tore limbs only a few feet In
length, dangling in marked contrast to the
lonaj and powerful hind limbs.
This might reptile was cne of the ancient
Inhabitants of Montana and flourished
some three or more millions of years ago,
during the upper cretaceous period, near
the close of the age ol reptile. On of
tha remarkable features of the beast was
that in his large head, nearly four feet long
by two feet wide, then, were some 2,000
teeth, the greatest nunber possessed by
any animal In tha worlL
This flental battery wiis used In nibbling
fruit lnd tearing up and munching various
water plants and othnr soft substances
which grew on the lake and river bottoms,
as the dinosaur was ecitlreiy herbivorous.
The simple teeth were closely packed to
gether, were rodlike and single rooted, and
were arranged like a moasio pavement
The enamel was only on one side, on the
inside In the lower jaw and the outside
In the upper Jaw.
As the teeth were worn away another
Youngsters
passed the boy' bed a little vole piped:
"Papa."
"Yes, my boy.
"What comes after UrlllknsT"
But the wakeful youngster's query was
not answered; his fattier had vanished into
his own badroom.
Sandy and Donald McArthur wera nawly
impcrtud from the Scottish bills and phe
rich twang to their speech was a source
of much amusement te the school children,
who almost without exception did not come
from English shaking hoinea t)iemsclvea.
When reading about beds Saudy says,
"Oh, I sleep In a we bit of a bawk at
home." When urged to remove his top
ooat. which filled unoomfortubly the small
seats, he steadily refused. When tho
teacher permuted 1n her efforts he at lnt
cried out in desperation: ' "But I cahu't
take off ma ooat sa pkhnt i bust"
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row appeared an the cutting surface and
took their place. One of the accompany
ing photographs shows the two lower jaw
having 1,000 of these teeth. Each jaw baa
from forty-five to sixty vertical and from
ten to fourteen horizontal rows of teeth.
The mouth, which broadened out in the
shape of a ducklike bill, was covered with
a horny sheath like that of birds or tur
tles. A realistic glimpse of the Ufa ap
pearance of these animals is shown in tha
reproduction of tha painting by Charles R.
Knight
There is a little story connected with tha
finding ot tha big trachodon. It escaped
tha keen, trained eyea of the professional
fossil hunters sent out yearly by various
college and acientlflo institution and waa
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fc-vvcr roeo rw.
discovered by two cowboys riding along
the Bad Lands of Montana,
One or these , noticed a protruding,
weathered bona coming out of tha side of a
cliff and held it to bo a buffalo bone, while
the other took the vte-v that it wa prob
ably a fragment of a worthless fossil ani
mal. In order to prove his theory ha dl
irounted and proceeded to kick off tha tops
of precious ribs exposed above ground.
ITies being brittle, immedlatelv fell
broken pieces, thus conclusively proving to
the dlswjntlng cowboy that they -nrere fos
sils and not the bones of a modern buffalo.
Boon afte.-ward another ranchman, a bit
more wine, heard of the find, realised the
possible value of the burled bones, barbae
Deen around tha camDS of tha foaall
plorers, and traded a six-shooter with th
first cotfbay discoverer for his Interest in
tha boue olalw. The new owner sold hi
right for a a mall sum to Bkraum Brown,
on of tha field explorars of tha Muaaiun of
Natural History's palaontological depart-
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soldier Valerius Aprus recovered from his
wounds by putting honey on them.
But If some were cured many hoped and
prayed, but died. When the day was over
and the gates of tha temple wera closed
for tho night the crowd of patients, many
of them almost starved to death, all
feverish and In pain, filled the porticos and
there walled and cried and shrieked from
pain and called on tha god for help during
the long dark hours of the night, while
tho waters of the river rushed and gurgled
rcund the sides of the stone ship with Its
lohd of suffering humanity.
Tha night passed and dawn, heralded by
the crowing of the cocks kept in tha sacred
grove, appeared. The gates of tha temple
were opened, and those among tha patients
who were cured rushed in to offer sacri
fices and thanks to the god, but many re
mained still In the porticos until they were
removed by tha priests. The god had not
cured them and they had died during the
Eight.
The worship of Aesculapius ended, with
the advent of Christianity. A holy man,
St. Emlgdlus, Is said to have destroyed the
temple of tha Greek god as well as tha
shrines of Jupiter Lycaonlus, of Faunus
and of Bemo-Sancus. In late Imperial
times the Island was used as a prison and
Arvandus, perfect of Gaul, waa Immured
here In 4SS A. D.
Churches and convents wara built on tha
Island. Otho III founded tha basilica of
Saint Adalbert on tha site of a still earlier
church, and Golaalua II reohrUtanad this
ment, who uncovered the petrified remains
of one of the most complete fossil speci
mens of modern times.
Tha quarry in which the skeleton had
been burled some 8,000,000 years Is situated
130 miles northwest of Miles City, on
Crooked creek, centra tCon tana, perhaps
tha, most Inaccessible spot In America.
, Hare, by geological uplifts In the distant
past, the earth has been thrown Into a
erle of great rock waves or folds. In the
downfolds of these haa been found to exist
a wonderful layer of entombed dinosaur
of enormous else.
Tha country for many miles around was
in remote times the bed of a great lake or
inland sea and tha bodies of these aquatio
trachodons when they died became Im
bedded In the mlra of the lake and sea bot
toms. When In the course of ayes tha
water disappeared and the mud hardenel
into rock their skeletons were preserved in
a petrified Hale.
In this primeval sea and around its
chores lived during tha cretaceous ag nu
ll erous hordes of the great scale-c rated
trivchodons who walked erect on their
maislve hind limbs and waded about In
tha swamps and marshes searching for
food. Aiong with the tracheal ins there
lived a th sunt tlm twa (tero type of
church In 1218, and gave It the name of
St. Rartholommeo, which It still bears.
The body of tha saint was brought from
Boneventuw and plared here.
Opposite this church la the Hospital of
Bt John of Ood, also called Renefratelll,
under tha care of a confraternity of
brethern who nurse the sick and continue
traditions of the priests of Aesculapius.
Tho Island Is thus still dedicated to tha
spirit of healing.
In 1(V4 the whole Island waa converted
Into a hospital for those stiloken with the
plague. A small garden, probably all that
remains of the sacred grove of pagan
times, la now used as a morgue.
Fragments of tha anciont temples are
atlll to be seen, although tha island haa
been greatly modernised and altered. 8lx
years ago when the new embankment of
the river was being built the faylssae or
pits of the main temple were found filled
with discarded: ex-votos, arms, hands, feet,
breasts, modeled In terra cotta.
Thera are still the two bridges that con
nected the Island with the banks of tha
Tiber. One, the ancient Tons Fabrlclus,
b' of stone In the place of the old wooden
one In 62 B. C. by U Fabrlclus, has two
arches and a small-flood arch In the central
pier. It la now called Ponte Quattro Cap!
(Bridge of tha Four HeadsK from two
henna of Jaua which still adorn Its para
pet, and It la still Intact, having withstood
the vicissitudes of nearly 1,000 years.
The other, now called tha Ponte St. Bar
tholommeo, originally built by IaicIus Cs
tlus In B. C. 46. and restored by tha Em
perors Vale'ntlnlan, Valens and Gratlan,
was pulled down by the municipal authori
ties In lSSg and rebuilt with the exception
of the central arch, which la still the an
cient one.
Tn the center of the pistil, In front of tha
Church of St Bartholommeo, where once
stood the obelisk that formed the mast
of the Island ship, there Is now a pillar
with four niches adorned with the statues
of Bt. Bartholomew, St Paulimia of Nola,
St Francla and St. John of God, four
humble men who spent their lives In works
of charity, ministering to tha sick. They
have taken the place of the Greek god
Aesculapius, just as the Franciscan monks
and the followers of St. John of God have
taken tha place and are slUl doing the work
of the pagan priests.
The Italian government haa seised tha
monasteries, which are now divided Into
tenement houses, but a narrow atrip of
land has been left to the monks, and here
they have a small hospital of seventy beds
where they devote themselves entirely to
the care of the sick poor, soma twelve,
hundred of whom pass through tha hospi
tal every year, besides the many cases re
lieved In the reception rooms.
Such Is the Island of the Tiber today.
Sick slaves are no longer exposed and left
to die here, but every lady living In Rome
will send her servant girl to the hospital
In case of need.
Prima Facia Kvldenoe.
"Come, Willie," said his mother, "don't
be so selfish. Let your little brother play
with your marbles a while."
"But" protested Willie, "he means to
keep them always."
"Oh, I guess not." '
"I guess yes I 'Cause he' swallowed two
them already."
carnivorous dinosaurs, namely, th tyran
Bosauru, and Ue three-horned monster,
th trl cera tops. Theae were th deadly
enemies of tha trachodons and constantly
attacked and preyed upon them.
Tha remain of the dlpoaaurs of herbl-
vcrous types are more frequently found
i than those of the flesh-eating dinosaurs,
'and their skeletons are likewise preserved ,
more complete, all the parts being usually
united together. Remains of large carnlvor-
ous dinosaurs are never found Intact, but
scattered in different localities. '"
Mining a big dinosaur's remain without
damaging the brittle bones is a slow and
delicate operation, requiring special care
and skill. Tha uncovering of tha tracho
don' skeleton was successfully accom
plished by Mr. . Brown and one assistant
after some three weeks of patient work.
Including blasting, digging and tunnelling
In th side of the cliff.
To Insure safety during shipment and to
aid in th setting of tha much fractured
bone they wer handled after the fashion
of a surgeon's treatment of a broken leg.
Th bone wer treated with shellac and
Incased in layer of plotter and strength
ened by strlpa of wood tightly bound
around with wet rawhide. The various
section of th beast were then boxed up
and carried by wagon to the railroad. Th
trip ona way took fourteen days and waa.' '
as long and dreary a bit ot hauling as ona
would want La I: nr1r-t V m .
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Whan tha trachodon was receive! at the
laboratory of th museum there' wa an
other task requiring patience, tima and
kill. Th massive and fragile bones had
to ba cleaned and adjusted, steel frame
work bad to be prepared to support tha '
skeleton and the final mounting of the
gigantic reptile's skeleton In a Ufel'.ka
attitude required anatomical study g' well
as mechanical construction. , Chief Prep
'arator Adam Herman aj.d his assistant
Charles Lang, worked under Prof. Osborn'
direction, while Otto and Charles Falken. ,
back made the delicate casts showing tha
fruit foliage, etc., used on the base and
modeled in th few missing part n the
skeleton.
A will ba seen, the trachodon wa shaped
aomewbat like a kangaroo, with short fore
legs, long hind limbs and an extremely
long talL Tha fore legs were about one
sixth the slxe of the hind ones. It Is
thought from the size and shape of the
foot bones that the front legs could not
fiave borne much weight and were probably
Ui'ed only In supporting the front part of
tht body when the animal was feeding and
in aiding It to recover an upright position.
Theri are four toes on the front foot and
the h nd legs have three developed toe
ending tn broad hoofs.
One c" the principal features in tha
makeup of this monster vegetarian waa th
long tail. This was adapted to propel th
creature's body at a rapid rate in vater
and llrkwise served to balance It when as
suming an uptight position on land. Tha
trachodons are thought to have been rapid
and expert swimmers. Having no armor
or means of defense, their tails afforded
them a means of escape from th attacks
of the land dinosaurs by swiftly propelling
them Into tun w.Ur fr out of the reach
of their enemies.
In fact, on the left hind foot of thl
skeleton there are three sharp gashes,
which are the marks of tho teeth of soma
hunsry flesh eater.
Tha d'rappi arance from the face of the
ear'n of the lrac,..d,naiiJ Hie cjntcmpo
rary carnivorous dlnoraurs about tha end
of the cretaceous sge was almost simul
taneous the world over. Pah-ontologtsts, i j
notably Prof. Osborn, have several expla- '
nations to prevent in regard to this, one
bing that th beasts wera unabl to opa
with changed geological conditio, which
cut off lhlr foo4 uvi
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