Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-06-03
MISCELLANEOUS.
A LITTLE SECRET.

IT is with unmitigated qualification,
said my friend, Richard Longchild, be
tween the puffs of his cigar, "that have
obtained FROM the excavatory (puffl per
quisitions of the persevering (puf) Jones
overwhelming corroboration of the here
tofore theoretical deterioration the (puff
species, man Nothing can be more salts
factory. 1t is now (puff) known that we
are descending, sir, at the rate of two
inches and an eighth per century"
don't see the fun of that, though, "
ut shows, at least, what we. were," re-
joined Mr, Longchild, rather bitterly.
tine, ndefatiga6le arch@ologist, in dem.
'" musL be off in ten minutes. Dick. u
l remarked.
DICK took the hint, and, dropping from
MS Polysylabic stills, came lightly to the
ground. ...t
Yes. Jones has put his thumb upon
CHAP, who might in his lifetime, if in
condition, have whopped any amount of
authenticated bones we know of. In the
manufactured, but carefully avoided,
island OF Sardinia, there was a spot known
Dy the natives as the Giants Sepulchre.
~ proved to be thirty seven feet in length,
by six in BREADTH
% The skeleton ?"
mo; the grave. And ditto in depth"
Ihlrty seven feetp
no, six. With enormous stones re-
cllnlng on their massive bosoms," con-
unUed M. Longchid, a little obscurely.
Vt was upon raising one of these that
THE Important discovery was made that
there was nothing beneath. Nav, I am
wrong Embedded in the soil, an object
was perceptible, strongly resembling, both
IN form and volume, the drumstick of the
Cochin China fowl. You smile. Wait.
Sight and inconsequential as this success
may appear, 1T encouraged the party to
further explorations These resulted, to
cut my story short, in the actual discovery
of the remains of a colossal human being,
who could not have been less than twenty.
hye feet six inches in stature! Jones
amazehlent may be conceivedl"
1t cannot exceed miner said l.
But it was probably nothing" con-
einued Dick" compared with that of Ser.
torius, if we may believe Plutarch. How
great remarks that usually cold and eau
tlous writer betrayed for moment into
enthuslasm), how great was his surprise
when, opening the sepulchre of the Phe
nician Anteus, he beheld body of sixty
cubits long 2"
II should think SOP
Now resumed my friend, brightly,
what IS this pigmy compared with more
recent acquisitions? What would Serto-
rius have said to the giant of Trapani-
sixteenth century-described by Boccaccio;
who attained the height of two hundred
cubits, and one of whose teeth, yet sound
and serviceable, and weighing SIX pounds
four ounces avoirdupois, is still preserved
In the museum at Berlin?"
Labelled, ignorantly, mastodon.
have seen it," said l.
While" concluded Longchild, frown-
ing, Yremains even more stupendous have
revealed themselves to the scientific inves-
tigator, l cannot accept three hundred
feet British measure, as the ordinary
stature of man at any definite epoch.
But, twenty five is very different affair.
1t is, in point of fact, hardly more than
double the height of well-developed indi-
vlduals OF our own time, occasionally to
be seen"
For a shilling" put in.
pndeteriorated specimens" pursued
Mr., zLongchild, firmly, "of a race that
peOpled the earth in its august adolescence.
To what may we attribute their present
rarity? Simply to this That, nature, de.
lighting in contrasts, somewhere called
iuto existence new and puny race, in
tended probably as objects of curiosity
and mirth to their mightier brethren.
That, nevertheless, one of the latter, with
a morbid love of the opposite, and dis
regard of the general interests of human
ity which cannot be too severely repre-
hended, took to wife some wretched little
titeen-ioot thing, and inaugurated that
obedience, of which," concluded Dick,
striking his palm upon the table with
force that made the glasses ring, "See are
reaping the bitter and humiliating
fruits!"
"But" l observed, ito return to these
highly valuable Sandman remains. Is
there no reason to apprehend that they
maq be claimed by the country to which
they undoubtedly belong? There are
antiquarians in that island-Spano, and
others-no less enthusiastic than our own
indomitable Jones"
'Spano," replied Mr.. Longchild, "hand-
somely declined to advance any claim on
behalf of his government. 1t is. true he
did not seem entirely satisfied that Jones's
conjecture was correct"
"The skeleton was incompleteS"
"B0 the uninitiated, yes" said Dick.
The non scientific observer demands that
everything should be revealed to his actual
senses, Literally, then, these invaluable
relics consisted of a most gratifying though
inconsiderable portion of the thigh-bone,
fibula that left nothing to be desired,
and, to crown all, couple of grinders.
These, my friend, were ALL But here
Science steps in 10 our aid. Through her
marvellous lens, we see these seemingly
discovered bones draw together, and,
united with their missing fellows, grow
into the mighty creature of which they
had once formed part. We gaze with
awe and rapture on those ship-like ribs,
those tree-like legs, that dome-like headl
We'lOok upon eachother and redden with
shame, as the fancy occurs to us, that, had
one of as 10 act as dentist to this gigantic
thing, he would have TO bear the tooth
away upon his shoulder
Dick was silent for moment, then re-
sumed Imore calmly
'thli this, Harry, confirms me in the
belief that we all spring from one giant
stock IL comparison with the remains
of our, massive sires be painful to our
vanity, let us at least exult in the knowl-
edge, thus confirmed, of what we once
werAs myself" continued Dick, draw.
ing himself up with dignity, "as my
name, Longchild, would seem to imply,
am. a scion of a race remarkable for
length of limb. If baby could be de.
scribed as colossal, deserved that appel
latiQn.'ir.eriT . .r.r- 1a s.r
"Rhel painful reflection, after all, is
what we shall ultimately descend to" in
terruptedL .1ouiu 1er rr .rI' III
HWhat indeed My dear fellow, if we
have already dWindled from three hun
dred feet TO six, can you blame me for
dwelling ON the glorious records of the
pasS rather than on coming period
when the average height of man will be
-p@hl eighteen inches, with tendency
tO further dminutionS And / confess /
de rive but little comfort from the refiec.