The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-06-30
The ENQUIRER.
= ft9t1 ~ .E,D. Jc.N;A, 81, 1859.
FoR TIE ES%UIRER.
COMMUNICATIONS
Jc'A;& 81, 1859.
BY Mn. b. or ORANGE

AS geological enquiries are embraced with
III the notice OF your paper, / hope the pre-
sent essay will not be deemed unacceDta-
Die The subject of zoology which have
chosen for my dissertation, is that great an
mai whose bones Have been found in North
America and i'll other parts of our Globe.
and which by naturalsts has been denom-
mated the Mammoth. This immense in
cognitum whom we know butbv the remains
which have deDed the ravages of time,
whom we have hesld ofbut in the exaggerat-
ed tradition OF the unlettered savage, has inn
posed OH The CONCENTRATIONS of the pfiiioso-
phef wonder and astonshmcnt which the
suggestions of his ingenuity have never been
abe to dispe!. But his cspahded mind new
er inactive, always unsuppliant to fetters,
has ranged its exclusive flight into the UNI.
bounded regions of conjecture aud If no set
ting point has been found, ifno Ararat upoo
which its tried wing might alight has been
deserted, yet some light has been discerned
m the horison, some facts have arisen which
much elucidste the investigation The hy.
po;heses which have had their birth fFon,
those facts are as Numerous rs the grounds
for their origiratioi.
While soinc have advanced that he was
ampliibious. others havs maintained that he
was exclusively an inhabitant of the land
Far greater has been the discortlgnce On the
subject OF his food, and the several opinions
OF his being piscivorous. carnivolons and
herbivorous, have not failed CT being upheld
with the most pertinacious zeal. To add To
TINS cloud OF darkness, the cause of his cxtInc-
ton next presents itself for developments.
when the human mind bewiide d in the mex
piicabie speculation, succumbs to its weak
ncs' and relinquishing the reasoning which
philosophy has prescribed for ever account
Ing Ter effects, by the simplest and fewest
causes, either turns aside to express the 81
lent establishment of ignorance or has re-
course to supernatural agency which might
nave annlhllated this most suspicious link in
the chain OK animated nature. We shall
6e-more bold, but perhaps less prudent than
these-shall break down the barrier of ac-
quiescence under ignorance, which ever puts
stop to the progress of human enquiry,
and if in the wide sea Of conjecture we meet
with no friendly beacon which may direct us
to truth, we shall endeavor to avoid some OF
those groSser errors in which the discussions
mas oiicn eyentuated.
IN entering upon the enouirv the first
mistake We have to encounter in that multi
tnde OF errors which has obscnred the eis-
citation OF this enormous and extinct ami
mai, respects his identity with the known
elephant-F in reiutaticn of tiiis apiuiop we
nave only to remark, tbat the rigour Of the
Climate i'll which his remains are found IL
too uniricndly to sustain life onIy cherished
and invigorated by p tropical sun But
what has removed this question beyond the
reach ct dispute, has been the discovery of
nearly entire skeleton of the Mammotl,.
ConJectu.cs now no longer have weight a
gaiDst the irresistible force OF demonstration
and the mist which has been gathered BIZ
ignorance. must disspatc before the. efTni-
Sence which comparative anatomy has shed
upon the subject One of the principal re;,-
sous which appears To have led to the ad.p-
tien OF this fallacy, was the novelty and
difficulty of conceivipg, that any animal
should have existed and have afterwards
become extinct. Philosophers having form.
eel an Imaginary chain out of the whole ami
maj race, as fancifuily predicted its destrocy
. nc difference Of opinion between M
Hnnter and Mr. ID. Anbeutop, may be accouu,.
so I0r by suppcsing that specimens % elepI,ant;ne
eeu ana bones were shcwni1 the one uh,je
nose OF the Mammoth were exhibited 10 tire %.
hef, AS grinders. If not other bones, s,ml,tr,o y
re hsIat,c and African Elephants have herv
cg ID al this couH.ry.