OLD LIZARD

Old Lizard?

Press despatches from Cordova, Alaska, last week contained news which puzzled many a U. S. zoologist and paleontologist. Three weeks ago, it seemed, some one had found a wonderful prehistoric lizard in an ice cake on Glacier Island. The animal was 42 ft. long, was covered with fur in perfect condition. Scientists, knowing that no lizard has fur, thought at first that the creature might be another ogopogo, the mysterious beast sometimes seen on the Pacific coast by imaginative people (TIME, Aug. 4). Dr. Barnum Brown, lizard expert of the American Museum (Manhattan) took the news more seriously, sent a telegram to Dr. Charles E. Bunnell, president of Alaska Agricultural College & School of Mines, asking him to investigate. Two days after the first reports, W. J. McDonald, supervisor of the Chugach National Forest, confirmed the discovery. He found the animal to be only 24 ft. long, resembling a huge lizard with a long tail and tapering head. He said it had a snout like a pelican's beak, a head like an elephant. He found no fur. Six feet of flesh were preserved. Foxes and Eskimo dogs had eaten the rest. Since scientists were still puzzled, part of the huge carcass was taken to Cordova. So soon as weather conditions permit, Dr. Bunnell and helpers will go to Cordova, look the monster over carefully.

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