Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1838-02-15


respondent the object of which Is 10 know whether we
furnish him with any inor nation as 10 the average
OF man and woman In reply, we must, IN Inc
FIRST place observe that not aware hat there are
any data upon whck ground any satisfactory solution
o. the problem. The average age TO which men attain
nigh. BE approximaed by laborious and unprohtahe
ferreence the registers and bills ofmorlay KEEP.
different places Of worship but no record Is ever
made Of the height Of the deceased there IS no certain
mode of arriving the fact which our correspondent
seeks ascertain and must rest sashed WIN mere
conjecture M
Under these circumstances we may. perhaps be al
lowed to guess the well as another ana to
that between five and SIX feet woaid mol
be far from the mark We may have ms'aSen .ne pre-
else object of our correspondents inquiry, which may
probably be ascertain whether the srage stature Oh
has materially differed in different ages ana IN an
feren countries assuming this 10 be the propien which
he seeks 10 solve, 1t opens much larger heio oi ra
.na conjecture Our opinion is that the average stat
of man has undergone any very chahge
since have any records of the history OF our race
1t has been favorte theory with many writers that
man has dcgenerated and continues 10 Segeiera,e IN
stature strength and longevity but we never could dis
cover any plausible grounds for such conclusion:
If form any estimate of the stature OF mat
very ancient ofmen, the Egyptians from 'ne mum
mics which found in such abundance IN Egypt II
would appear that far from being taller they were
much dimnative than the average OF mod
nations. .,h, n
Caesar Tacis and other Latin writer's describe the
ancient Germans as men of high stature but as these
hors do give the actual admeasurement IN sel
and nches conjecture is that they ony sPohe "a 'nc
Germans compared with the Romans ana VIC can
easily believe that Germans of those days We're as hey
arc taller and more robus, people than the natives
Of Italy. So
As for the tales related by of the ancient wri-
tiers Herodous Plny and others they must be recelv
ed qraRo sails, and small grain either Who
for instance, believes Pnys account Of race OF Peo-
pie whose enormous that they served as
for the whole body who can swallow the re-
port of the enormous serpent which stopped the progress
of the army of Regulus, until was put ors az COMBAT
by the battering rams
Putarch asserts that Sertorus disnterred the skele-
of Antrus which found to / sixty cueits IN
length For our own part of opinion that no
such person Annus ever lived we shall not waste
our time in specuations upon his stature
In more modern times the most exaggerated tales
have been Ielaed of the Patagonans who were SAID TO
be race of giants Bougainvie and others, however,
have brought them down 10 the average OF the taller
men of our own country The majority OF them did not
exceed six feet of which it appears the enormous head
formed no nconsiderable portion They appear 70 pc
| very stupid people, fact which may puzzle those
phrenologiss who associate the oreadth OF the skull
with intellectual capabilities. Bouganville says OF
these Patagonians ace qui m paru ere gigantesque
cest eur enorme carrure, la grosseur de leur
tete ct lepassure de eurs membres. Tome l, p lo2
1t has been asserted by some writers that Maximnus
| Thrax Emperor of Rome, and TO the EN-
perer Severus nine feet in height; that after de-
vouring about forty pounds weight OF flesh meat he
would wash 1t down with SIX gallons OF wine 10 ana ms
digestion. We believe il of this voracous giant
is related that after carrying large ball round the are
ma, he would strike it dead with one blow OF his hist
but whether he afterwards ate II, We are not informed.
All these stories implicitly believe. as we believe
the account Of Dandon, native of lllyrium. who,
according ancient sage lived TO the age oil hve
hundred years.
We have been led into long rambling gossip by
cor espondests query and we shall wind il up with
little supplement from article which appeared IN the
Mercury Of December 1892 and account of the re-
mains of giant. said have been recently dug up in
some part Of the United States and these narratives
shall give without Comment leaving correspond
and our readers draw their conclusions on
the subject
According to the calculations made in Ills by M
Heurion. French academician, Adam was 20 feet
| inches in hegh,-Noah a little more than 100 feet
| Abraham. os-Moses, 3o-Hercues la-Alexander,
and julius Cesar, less than s. Humen a99nes are
said ,hays been. ged rs have belonged to
Cyclops af 900 feet high evidently those Of Polypbe.
mus; and those found in Dauphiny in the reign ofLous
Nil, supposed to be those of Teuobropus King Of the
Cimbri-Cu.er however maintains that all these are
the bones OF elephants, masodontes rhneceroses,
whales "-Hercary, Dec.7 1892
The following account repsblish from the Herald,
In which it appeared about twelve months ago
singular Discorvv-Extract Of letter from the Hon.
Judge wilkins. Of Tecumseh Miss dated June end
| the Secretary Of the Pennsy lvania Lyceum;-
/" had almost forgotten tell you Of the wonderful
discovery lately made in the neghborhood Of this place
and which promises 10 set natural philosophy all agog
Old John Lover, who resides abeut mile from this
place. digging well lately about fifteen feet deep below
the surface Of the earth came across skeleton pro
dgous size, and which have been in the earth for
many ages. DR. Siurgis and DR. Patterson both pro-
neunced it human skeleton. OF gigantic proportions
and necessarily ola genus long since extinct, and
responding with the mastodon mammoth in the brute
order. His thigh bone is feet and three inches in
length, and the skull is frigh,ful cannot describe il
otherwise than by comparing II in size and appearance
10 large wash bow. One orthe teeth, which the doc.
tors call grinder, Is enormous, and is in perfect
state of preservation is large the cork OF por
ter bottle. with prongs. and indented exactly like
human tooth. The workmen have yet completed
the extraction OF all the bones, aud great excement
prevails. Two medical men from New York have Of
ered the Of the farm hundred dollars for the
skeleton which doctors have advised him refuse.
From the comparison OF the bones procured from the
| pit il have composed frame, when filed with
flesh united and clothed with appropriate muscles ofst
least twenty-five feet in height! Just think OF it,
and what world there must have been in creation be-
fore the Flood! How puny and mans elephant to
the powerful beings Of those days.
| The Poor ISDIAY--The government annuities due
to the Indian tribes in June 1897. for their lanis
At this moment unliquidated for Of funds The
agents offer pay half in money. and the other
moiety in goods. which the Indians decline as the
treaties expressly spulate that the payments shall be
in cash.
BuiLDrSos IN lS34.-The following is the list of
buildings erected in 1884,
dwellings,, bod