Many bones of the Mastodon have been found in America since that time,
but remains are rarely met with in Europe, except as fragments--as the
portion of a jaw-bone discovered in the Red Crag near Norwich, which
Professor Owen has named _Mastodon angustidens_. It was even thought,
for a long time, with Cuvier, that the Mastodon belonged exclusively to
the New World; but the discovery of many of the bones mixed with those
of the Mammoth, (_Elephas primigenius_) has dispelled that opinion.
Bones of Mastodon have been found in great numbers in the Val d’Arno. In
1858 a magnificent skeleton was discovered at Turin.
The form of the teeth of the Mastodon shows that it fed, like the
Elephant, on the roots and succulent parts of vegetables; and this is
confirmed by the curious discovery made in America by Barton. It lived,
no doubt, on the banks of rivers and on moist and marshy lands. Besides
the great Mastodon of which we have spoken, there existed a Mastodon
one-third smaller than the Elephant, and which inhabited nearly all
Europe.
There are some curious historical facts in connection with the remains
of the Mastodon which ought not to be passed over in silence. On the
11th of January, 1613, the workmen in a sand-pit situated near the
Castle of Chaumont, in Dauphiny, between the cities of Montricourt and
Saint-Antoine, on the left bank of the Rhône, found some bones, many of
which were broken up by them. These bones belonged to some great fossil
Mammal, but the existence of such animals was at that time wholly
unknown. Informed of the discovery, a country surgeon named Mazuyer
purchased the bones, and gave out that he had himself discovered them in
a tomb, thirty feet long by fifteen broad, built of bricks, upon which
he found the inscription TEUTOBOCCHUS REX. He added that, in the same
tomb, he found half a hundred medals bearing the effigy of Marius. This
Teutobocchus was a barbarian king, who invaded Gaul at the head of the
Cimbri, and who was vanquished near _Aquæ Sextiæ_ (Aix in Provence) by
Marius, who carried him to Rome to grace his triumphal procession. In
the notice which he published in confirmation of this story, Mazuyer
reminded the public that, according to the testimony of Roman authors,
the head of the Teuton king exceeded in dimensions all the trophies
borne upon the lances in the triumph. The skeleton which he exhibited
was five-and-twenty feet in length and ten broad.
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