From an Easy ChairLankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
History
From an Easy Chair
Lankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
Natural history; Science
As to mammoths and elephants--the former is a misspelling of the word
“mammont,” the name given by the natives of Northern Siberia to the
extinct elephant, hairy, but otherwise closely similar to the Indian
elephant, which within the period of prehistoric man (50,000 to 150,000
years) was abundant over the whole of the northern part of the Northern
Hemisphere. Mammoths’ tusks (ivory) are still largely imported from
Siberia. The biggest African elephant may, perhaps, stand 13ft. at the
shoulder. No mammoth or other extinct elephant seems to have exceeded
this. The stuffed African elephant in Cromwell road measures 11ft. 2in.
at the shoulder. Mr. Carnegie’s great extinct reptile Diplodocus is
only 12ft. 9in. from the ground at the highest part of its back. The
biggest tusk of a recent elephant ever seen was bought by me for the
Natural History Museum seven years ago. It weighs 228lb., and measures
10ft. 2in. along the curve. It was recognised three years ago by Mr.
Jephson (one of Stanley’s companions) as one of a pair which he had
weighed in Central Africa. It was in the possession of Emin Pasha when
that unfortunate gentleman was “rescued” by Stanley and Jephson. After
the subsequent assassination of Emin, his ivory treasure found its way
to Zanzibar, and this tusk being part of it, was sold and brought to
London.
A real new monster of great size is the carnivorous reptile described
by Professor Osborne, of New York, as Tyrannosaurus. There is no
mistake or exaggeration about this report. The specimen is in the New
York Museum, and has been described in detail and drawn to scale by
Professor Osborne. The skeleton stands up like that of a huge bird or a
kangaroo on the two hind legs--as does that of the vegetarian reptile
Iguanodon. The Iguanodon and the Tyrannosaurus are of about the same
height, namely 17ft. But the new monster has enormous tiger-like teeth,
twelve on each side of the jaw, above and below, and the jaws are three
feet long, whilst the whole head is broad and short. Iguanodon, on the
other hand, has been long known from English and Belgian rocks, and
can be seen in Cromwell Road. It has a beak like a tortoise, and the
small teeth of a vegetable-feeder. Both animals had very short front
limbs or arms, but in Tyrannosaurus these are really ridiculously out
of proportion, according to more familiar standards, for the whole arm
is not bigger than one of the toes of the hind foot. This new giant
carnivorous reptile is found in rocks of the same age as our greensand
and chalk in Wyoming, U.S.A. It preyed upon huge vegetable-eating
reptiles, the remains of which are found in the same strata, and have
been reconstructed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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