The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-11-01
A PREHISTORIC GOAT.
An Anti al that Lives OIL Men and Min.
erals.

It is not every ohe who is able to dis
cover q really meritorious monster The
majority of persons who engage in this
business either dicover gl,:t deal too
much or not half enough. 1t is painful
to see discoveries that might otherwise
be very successful, marred by lack of
self-restraint on the part of the discov-
erers. Take, for example, the recent
monster discovered in the Mississippi.
Had the person who first saw this COM
plicated beast been contented to make it
an enormous lizard, and to exhibit it as
the sole survivor of the megalosaurians,
he would have deserved respectful atten-
ton but he was so unwise as to give
it the beak of bird, the head of bull,
and body composed of half dozen
other animals, thus bringing his mon
ster into incredulous contempt. On the
other hand, the poverty of imagination
shown by the man who has just discov-
cred a second Cardiff giant is equally dis
creditable. Originality, combined with
iudicious self-restraint, is the quality
that makes successful discoverer, and
it is humiliating to be obliged to confess
that these qualities are extremely rare.
Mr.. Henry Woodland, of the Indian
Terrific :, has just discovered fossil
which reflects great credit upon him.
He was digging in marshy place, when
his spade struck large bone. Further
search proved that this bone was gigan-
tic skull, and that it belonged to an ami.
NAL of enormous size. Mr.. Woodard
excavated thirty feet of this novel ami
NAL, and when be ceased digging he had
only reached the locality of ITS stomach,
so that its entire length must be at least
fifty feet. He found that the beasts
teeth were of the kind known among
dentists as carnivorous teeth thus show
ing that the monster when living was
accustomed to eat meat. In the cavity
of the stomach he found to entire skele.
ton of man, together with one hundred
and ten flint arrow points and fifteen
flint knives. A more meritorious animal
has seldom if ever been exhumed.
It is said of NJ. Cuvier the eminent
bone expert, that if any one showed him
an entire animal he could take it apart
and count all the bones without the aid
of slate and pencil. This anecdote
proves at once Cuyier's stupendous learn
ing and the wonderful accuracy of
science. live study the bones and 9th
er things exhumed by Mr.. .Woodard in
the light of scientific principles we shall
be able to form all sorts of conclusions in
regard to the nature of the animal. And
first, we learn from the great size of the
skeleton that. the animal was, "a large one.
1t had teeth, and hence it was nota bird,
and the fact that it had four legs, also
points to the same conclusion. The pat
tern of its teeth shows that it was car
nivorous, while the presence of flint
arrow points in the stomach, show that
il was also mineralivorous. Thus we find
at an early stage Of the investigation,
that Mr.: Woodard's monster was large
meat and dre-eating quadruped.
The contents of the stomach also give
us an insight into its habits. There is
no animal now living which eats miner
ais and meats Unfortunately, and we
may assume that it is highly improbable
that such was the habit Of Mr.. Woodard's
beast. As its stomach contained over
three hundred fints and only one human
being, it is evident that it greatly pre-
ferred fints as steady diet. In all pro-
liability, the beast made its way into the
house of prehistoric man, and was in
the act of devouring his eutire stock of
flint weapons when the man appeared
and tried to save his property. In order
to avoid an argument, the beast doubt
less swallowed the man, and then took a
few mouthfuls of flint knives, just by
way of relish. While it thus appears
that the animal could eat human beings,
it is also plain that its natural diet was
arrow-heads and jack-knives; and the
fact that its favorite food was manufac-
tured by human hands shows that the
beast must have lived in close proximity
to man, if not upon terms of Intimacy
with him. Thus we deduce from the
contents of its stomach the proof that it
was domesticated or semi-domesticated
arimal, living chiefly upon fints.
We are now in a position to decide
that Mr.. Woodard's animal was gigan-
tic goat. The modern goat is the only
domesticated quadruped that can eat
both minerals and meats, and whose ia
vorite food is jack-knives and other hard
and manufactured substances. Doubt
less Mr.. Woodard's fossil goat differed
in other respects besides its size from
the goats of the present period but
that it was true goat the presence of
three hundred and two flint arrow heads
and fifteen flint jack.knives in its stom-
ach clearly attests. 1t is highly proba-
BILE that its great size was, in large
measure, due to free and abundant diet
of flint.