The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-12-04
TIE ILLINOIS MAMMOTH.
The Animal Twenty-Five Feet Long, Fifteen
Feet High anh Six Feet Broad-tun De-
scription of the Remains-Great Popular
Excilaulenf.

Tr1Uu,,e Was q genuine and legitimate sensation.
There was something unnatural aoout IT, Aone %
the ordinary occurrences vi every day lIe couu
compare with II III interest ana Importance, ana ~
excited the curiosity OF the county and OF the ad-
joining counties for many miles around ihefe
was something grand about those massive bones.
mystery snrouded them. Iaey sent the inind wan
dering BACK beyond antiquity and beyond tlAe evets
recorded In proiane sacred history, to reel ana
stagger IN the darkness which enveiops tnat IN
Mr.. Horace Jayne, on whose farm the bones have
rested since-the Almighty Knows how iopg-ls the
proprietor OF nitylour acres OF land aDout twone5
Irou Wheaton. lie Is industrious ana respectabie
ana for years worked away, raising corn anu cdp-
ecious that within q stones throw OF his creillng
lay the bones OF this momnotn creature lie never
had any IDEA that so distinguished neighocr was III
the vicinity and II was Only last Sunday morning
thai he made the acquaintance. Ills WEI. having
given out lie was forced to seek water for hs cattle
eisewneie. Naturally, he sought IL IN the lowest part
OF ms iarm, which was small valley Of marsny
ground IN the rear Of his mouse and barn. Ills
Intention to dig hole about live ieet square
and ave feet deep, IN which tie water would
accumulate, and out OF which the cattle couiu
drluk. lie dug untll he reached q depth ot nve
feet. wnen Ills shovel struck against some
strange substance. His CURIOSITY became excited,
and he du- around until he extracted from lhe sou
massive bone, which turned out 10 be the shouaer-
blade OF some wonderful animal. lie thousnt no
more or water for mis- cattle, beng intensely inter-
esced his discovery lie kept on digging until ne
eXuineb another bone corresponding IN size 70 the
| frsr. and winch proved TO be thign bone That
was enough Tor one day, SO ne suspended MS WoIh
and rested from his aDors.
The discovery was brulted abroad, and the neigh
| bones. Monday, Tuesday ana Wednesday were con-
suIned in Specializing on the nature Oh tue REMAINS
anu It was not until THURSDAY mar a. M Sayne
/ ment 10 allow hum to proceed Win the work
Consultations were held with everybody and finally
he decided to aelve and dig until the mysterious de-
post was all drought to llgnt The negnoors offered
their services, Tor they, too became deeply con-
/ cerned In the matter, and even mad Mr.. Jayne not
been Wiling To go any further, they would nave done
| 80. Accordingly, on Thursday morning, half
| dozen Wiling hands went to work with spade ana
shovel and soon their labor was rewarded with still
/ further discoveries. Another bone was found 1t
was continuation OF the leg, being the bone OF tho
l lower jont between the knee AID ankle what III
| man would be the snin bone. When tins piece was
taken up 1t found TO consist OF TWO bones which
were stuck together by the moist glutnouS clay.
The smaller one lay nearly on top Of The larger ano
fitted IN Its place exactly.
were picked up, besides some twelve pieces OF the
| vertebra. On Friday evening another bone was
py one o. the nG1 S cas se9 on w aaa
out bright and early. anticipating some Important
| discovery. They supposed 1t was the mead o. the
animal and curious TO see what sort e, a mead
/ matched such large bones. Great ca.c had been
taken in digging around this, as veil as round The
other bones, SO as not to DAMAGE tnem ana If pos
sioe lake them out entire. At two O'Clock In the
afternoon the largest and nnesI bone OF ali
humed. 1t was what is technically called the
| atilOatindtd, the nameless bone, because
! nothing like 1t exists in na,ure This was in
| u line state OF preservation. and was OF
| pr0poronate dimensions TO the other bones. Close
or the end OF the verteDrG. Near to both OF These
!
| or tree SO large vas 1t. This the thigh bone
OF the giant brute. Night came on and put stop to
tile work, which VIII probably be resumed this morD-
ing and be continued until all the remains are dug
out from the grave where they have probably lam
| for ages.
A more minute description Of the bones Is neces-
sary convey anything ike correct IDEA oil their
| size or OF the magnitude OF the being that once
owned them. In this matter the scientific opinion OF
DR.. A. II. HIATT. who examined the remains. Is valu-
able, and Is therefore embodied IN the following
the thigh bone OF the fore leg measures three feet
one ncn in lcngtn from JOINT to joint, ana around
the middle the circumference is three feet and one
| half inch. 1t is ham shaped, broad and Hat at one
end where II measures two Ieet two inches across.
| There are cavities or grooves where the
The bone OF the lower JOINT, or to use familiar
term, Tie SHIN bone Is two leet eight iilcnes long
/ The length OF the TWO together is five feet ten
| inches. TO this must be added eighteen inches, at
least. for the ankle JOINT and hooi, which would
make the length OF the leg from the shoulder BLADE
to the hooi. seven feet . inee or near, as nigh
as Chang, the giant. The shoulder blaze is three
ieet long, ana th1e9n the middle OF 1t ridge,
or partltlon. averaging inches from the sides
nat piece OF bone winch ran out rom the JOINT but
| which was broken OF by carelessness or by acci-
! dent, measures thirteen inches IN length ana
1 about eight inches in width. The length from the
outer edge or this rome to the shoulder joint Is two
feet four ncnes Adding thres feet tue length OF the
shoulder blade, to seven feet four inches the pre-
viously computed length OF the leg, gives ten feet
Iouf inches, the height OF the animal to the top Of
the shoulder blade. The total heght cannot as yet
be stated authoaatvely, and is merely conjecture.
In calculating TINS, or rather guessing at for 1t is
have to be taken account. If the animal were
OF the burrowlng species, which, considering Its
should be- ' addea but Il were more noble I" pr Ees
standing more erect, like the horse for n lance,
four i've feet should be added This latter suppo.
sltion Is more likely to be true. Taxing it Tor
granted, as, under present circumstances much has
to be taken for granted and the height OF the top Of
the animais head from the ground would be- at the
lowest estimate, fourteen leet four inches.
Now arises the question whether the Other bones
are IN proportion. AS we stated before, four ribs
These four were not OF full size, the ends having
away. Tney were curved considerably. Tne lengths
or the chords Of the arcs winch they formed
respectively as follows:-No three feet two incnes
No. 4, four 1ert four inches. Allowance must be
made for what is gone aud also for the length OF
cartliagnous cord which forms continuation OF all
ribs. Comment on these ribs Is unnecessary. They
speak for themselves. Perhaps It was ont OF some
such sized rib that Eve was manufactured.
The vertebra joints We're OF different Sizes as they
are IN all vertebrate animals. that is, those having
back bone. The largest one Is sixteen inches long
ana eleven and half inches wide In its centre Is
an ovashaped hole measuring nve inches by two
and half inches. The hole Is largest on the width
OF the joints, and smallest In the length THIS joint
supposed to have been near the neck OF the beast
Besides this large one there arc eleven smaller
tebr@ joints, each having a hole throuanlt. These
holes formed q continuous channel for the spinal
marrow. The splnous process, or the projections by
which the joints were connected, are complete on
nearly al Of the joints found The sacrum,
or the end OF the .yertebr9, near the tan, was
found In good condition 1t is about two feet
long, about three feet In circumference at
the thickest end tapering to about two feet In the
vicinity OF the tail. Probably II longer ut one
time, as the tail end looks as II slightly away.
one OF the vertebrG OF the tall was found. 1t ia
smaller than those OF the back and neck These
joints to 1T each other, and the smallest OF the
back joints fits the back end OF the and the
caudal joint the other end. or course, allowance
has TO be made for the wearing away caused by their
long burial In the ground.
The most important bone is the innomiuata It IL
difficult TO describe this wonderful bone IN an INTEL
lIgble way. None but those familiar with ANATOMY
can appreciate description OF It and understand
It's formation without seeing 1t. he hip bones, two |
feet ten inches long by thirteen inches wide, spread
out each sldo like pair OF nuge |
wings. These technically called ileum. The |
central piece TO which these ara attached Il two |
foet ten Inches long ana TWO feet broad. The lengts
from tho extremity OF one Hil to tho extremity OF