New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-01
Tile PETR[EIED CLINT

he great stone IellOW lOUnu db N"iNih NVu
tinues to stimulate the minds of the sayants.
Some will have it that he once walked and
breathed in all his huge proportions; ana IL
we do not keep too strict a rein upon the
imagination. we may conjecture anything
that he was the Identical GOliah; that he was
one of the large and cruel villains destroyed
by nmbe little jack that he figured in the
Trojan wars; that he was distinguished in the
old fights with the immortal gods; that III we
had but eyes to find it, his whole biography
in his pre-petrifed state is to be found IN some
nursery volume of fairy tales-hls lie III his
enchanted castle, his keen scent for the blood
of Engshmen, his mysterious "fe-fo-h-tum'
dialect. his enormous dOiDgs and his colossal
darings in general Unfortunately, the men OF
science who will allow us q good, comfortable
belief in nothing marvellous, and who, for all
their microscopic eyes, see nothing uncommon
in the most uncommon things, have been
scrutinizing tho Giant of Cardiff with remOrse-
less precision, and have come to the conclusion
that as a giant he never roaTed, fought,
stalked, killed, and devOured, being no more
than O counterfeit presentment or SlmaIdefum
of giant and cOnfoundedly modern char
acter even at that The petrifaction theory,
under this cool manipulation, has pretty COM
pletely exhaled. Mr.. Palmer, the sculptor, has
taken a professional view of the monster, and
Mr.. Palmer does not think that the stone was
ever warm and living flesh. He knows what
the tools of his craft will do, and the marks
which their use leaves behind them, and these
marks he finds "as plain as can be, and
"some of them, where the legs JOIN, ex-
"ceedingly fresh.n AS for the little pin-holes,
out of which the bristles of the giant have
been supposed to have spr0uted, Mr.. Palmer
refers them "to the action of some chemical
Gin the EARTH" In some parts of the statue
are signs of the employment of tools IN COM
mon use at this time among sculptors. A
"veritable statue says this eminent statuary,
"but clearly no petrified giant"
The news of the discovery of this lapdeous
| enigma, this Columbian male sphinx, of course
reached in time the Smithsonian Institute, and
| occasioned mild and regulated curiosity In
| that dlgnifed seat of science. Prof. Baird was
moved to write for information to DR.. BOynton
of Syracuse, stating that he had been exceed
| ingly bothered by conflicting statements"
"Of course says the Professor "the petrifac-
" ton theory is too absurd to talk about" A
careless remark which demoishes all our fine
romances and raises the deuce with our his
torical reveries and pre-Adamite speculations
DrlBoynton makes hot haste to reply with cruel
| distinctness: 1.-THE absurdity of the existence
of petrifed human flesh, or giants of stone
"that once lived" Is such that DR.. b. would not
speak of it, were not the community agitated
to the core" But he does speak of it, and
he knocks the Titan into pebbles The big
creature is merely "a reclining statue, carved
F." from gypsum" Not an ancient statue either.
If it had been a petrifactiOn, gypsum giant,
it would have been washed away long ago.
At first, DR.. Boynton was disposed to be rev.
erent and liberal, aud to admit that the image
was at least about 300 years old-now he
thinks that it may have been buried about
ali what a coming down about three years.
The young humbug, it is true has an old ap-
pearance, but this has been caused "by the
dissOlving action of water" which the Doctor
thinks might have been accomplished in a
"few MONTHS The scientific probability is that
the giant has been under the sod about 81
days. 1t is evident that DR.. BOyntOn's expert
ments have led the petrifactionists into most
embarrassing proximity to the year OF our
Lord 1869.
we shall endeavOr to await with exemplary
patience the full development of this hard,
old mystery, or perhaps we should speak more
properly if we called it soft and new one.
We wish it to be distinctly understood that
we have no ill-feeling against the giant him
self, whatever may be his age, and whether
! he has passed from life to limestone or not.
But if tho image was buried but lately, the
man who buried it may be living and we call
upon him to come forward and make full
and circumstantial confession before our
psychologists get to actual fisticutfs-unless,
| indeed the whole affair is a speculation, for
tho success of which q continued silence Is
| necessary.