Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-08-15
R.sRLEEST SBTTLRRS OF LINER
ET.E.

Mr.. L. d. Mansfield, the "Veteran OBJ
server" whose opinions upon most mat
tiers of which he treats are well worth con-
sidering, has given his theory of the
mound builders of the West, whom he
pron ounces 10 have been descendants of
the NJ ongol family, whose ancestors drift
ed over from Asia. He has no doubt about
it w hatevor--in fact, he says the only pos
sible question for doubt is, whether the
Mongols did not originally go from Amer
lea to Asia. He rejects that notion,
however, and maintains that if the mound
builders left the West nearly thousand
years ago, another thousand would be suf-
fic lent TO cover all their previous stay on
our soil, so that, as he says, 1--WE see" that
when Egypt was old and the republics of
Greece and Rome had passed their prime,
America was one vast unoccupied wilder
ness. 1--WE .ee," in reality, Mr.. Mansfield's
theory, and that is about all that we do see
in regard 10 the earliest human settlers of
America.
The stony leaves Of the geologic record
of America, however, tell another and a
most explicit and conclusive story. Prof
| Marsh of Yale College has been turning
them over of late, as most OF our readers
know, who have seen from time to time
reports of his exploring expeditions at the
West. He has proved that whether man
was here or not in the earlier ages, other
animals were present in the greatest album
dance. Let us take the horse, for instance,
which the old fashioned books of natural
bis tory used 10 say was "the gift of the old
world TO the new" But not only was
there an original American horse; there
were numerous and unique families of
them. There were horses not much larger
than fox up to horses larger than any
now living. There were horses-the earli-
est-of 70 ur toes, all touching the ground /;
OF three and of two toes-sometimes par
TALLY shrunk and raised, like the dew
claws of an ox-and of tho one toe, which
gradually assumed the present shape of
the hoof. In short, Professor Marsh has
already discovered the fossil remains of
twenty one different species belonging to
the horse family. America, then, was from
the first abundanily supplied with horses,
whether anybody was here 10 ride them or
| not.
Nor was there any want of other animals.
Startling is IL 10 learn that, among these
fossils, are clear representatives of our
mosquito, flea and bed-bug! There are,
also, three kinds Of bats, and animals rela-
ted to the opossum, the fox and the clvet-
cat. Fossil monkeys, too, have been dis
covered, of which there were previously
no traces on this continent. They were of a
10 W type, but the monkey, so to speak.
| stuck ont all over them.
Among the rest of these early settlers
were turtles of huge size; crocodiles of
five species; twenty kinds of land and wa
| Ter lizards; serpents of various species and
sizes; "a gigantic pachyderm, nearly as
large as an elephant" Illuminating hog"
a gigant ic rhinoceros, two extinct camels,
and several carniverous auimdls, one of
which was considerably larger than lion.
Perhaps II is hardly 10 be expected that
the remains of man should be discovered
in such company as this, for unless he had
consi derable skill in constructing and us
ing weapons, his " struggle for existence"
would have been hopeless one. At all
events, it is clear that If America was
wilderness in the days when the pyramids
were going up, it must have been II howl
ing and lively one. Boston journal.