Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-12-01
PYeMY ELEPHANTS.


An Artists Interesting Talk About MInla.
ture Elephants. Horses and Whales.
"How is that for an elephantP" said
IN artist, taking green cloth from a
clay model of an elephant about twelve
inches in length. Eyes, it is small"
be continued, "but that's just the great
point in its favor. See the bone" he
continued, taking up small object
from table" "the real bone of the ele-
phant l am making model Of 1t was
the famous, recently-discovered pygmy
elephant of Europe. Some months ago
party of French geologists, rambling
through Italy, came upon great num-
oers Of these bones, and soon identified
them as q race Of elephants that were
pocket editions, so to speak, The
largest were not as large as our sheep.
and in the adult form, or old age, much
smaller than any of the baby elephants
that have been exhibited in this coun-
try. Their young in turn were ele-
plants in miniature, being about as
large as small cat, and could easily
have been beld upon the open palm.
Herds of these pygmies were undoubt-
edly captured by early man, and if the
circus was in existence then we can i'm
agine rare entertainment. What
troupe Of elephants could have been
marshaled in. First would appear the
great mammoth, with its long coat Of
hair; then the dinotherium, with its in
curved tusks; the gigantic gaugesa,
from India, with its small head and
enormous tusks extending fourteen feet
in front, and finally, last, but not least,
the pygmies and their young, arousing
the enthusiasm Of the throng Of young
cave-dwellers.
''The pigmies, as far as known, rep
resented two distinct species, known to
science as ElephaS naeIittensis and g.
faLconeri, and their remains are found
over wide geographical area, showing
that they had an extended range. In the
second book Of the 'Eneid' Virgil notes
tradition to the effect that Sicily was
at one time part of the mainland, and
it is now believed by many that long
ago Italy was connected with Africa by
a neck of land, and that Malta and 9TH
er places, now islands, were part of it.
Over this ancient bridge the pygmy ele.
plants are supposed to have made their
way into Europe, where their tracks
can be traced in many localities. In
Malta most of the skeletons have been
found, while others have been discoy-
cred in various parts of Italy. and
among other remains in many parts Of
Europe. These were real pygmies,
while the so.called dwarf elephants Of
to day are merely elephants whose
growth has been retarded in some nat
ural or artificial manner.
"The pygmies, however, were not all
elephants, as at this time pygmy horses
roamed the slopes and valleys of North
America. They were the ancestors of
our present horse, and their remains
have been found in such quantities that
more than twenty different kinds have
been recognized. The smallest of these
pygmy horses was about as large as q
fox, and differed considerably from our
present horse. 1t lived in what has
been termed the eocene time, and is
called the eohippus. Instead of walk
ing on the tip Of single toe or hoof,
as does the horse Of to-day, 1t had four
well-developed toes and a rudimentary
fift In later bed of this same time
is found the orohippus-a pygmy horse,
with four perfect toes in front and
three behind. A great many ages later,
in the beds of the miocene time, bones
of the mesohippus appear. Then the
horse was as large as sheep--equaling
in size the pygmy elephant. Its feet
were still divided, as it had three toes
and the splint of another in each fore
foot, and three toes behind. Following
this came other forms, as the anchithe-
urim; then the nipparion, as large as o
donkey, and finally the pliohippus, with
single toe on each foot, is found-the
direct ancestor of our great horse of to-
day, in the feet Of which. if one careful
ly examines, are to be found rudiment-
ary splint bones that are the represent
atives of the toes that were fully devel-
oped in the ancient forms. In Yale
College very complete set of these
strange horses, from the pygmy form Of
long ago 70 the horse of to-day, can be
seen, the result of the researches in the
far West Of Prof. Marsh.
"a few months ago q pygmy whale
was washed ashore on the New Jersey
coast, and was sent to the National Mu-
scum. In appearance it resembled the
enormous finback, but instead OF being
sixty or eighty feet in length and weigh
ing several tons, 1t measured only nine
feet in length, and was accompanied by
a baby pygmy that was little over a
foot long. The pygmy whales properly
belong to the Pacific Ocean, and are
often seen on the California coast, but
this specimen probably strayed around
the Horn, and with perhaps few com.
psnions was wandering about the At.
lantic, or. as some one suggested, wait
ing for the canal through the Isthmus
for short cut home.
Among the birds there is q pigmy
quail--a delicate little creature, SC
small that the ancient Chinese used to
warm their hands in cold weather by
carrying q bird in each closed palm.
Among the quadrupeds the pygmy deel
is perhaps the most interesting, and
when seen it seems perfect antelope in
miniature. It is the cephaloptey1t:
pym9us, and is confined to South
Americas most delicate and fragile
little creature, being hardly twelve
inches in length. The head is long ant
pointed, the ears short and the horni
like toy ones, and very delicate and
slender, being less than two inches in
height, highly polished and jet black.
"Quite as much Of a pygmy is the
Sultana antelope, found in the hilly re
gions of Abyssinia. Its height at tn,
shoulder is only fourteen inches; the
horns are exceedingly thin and abou
four inches long. The young of thest
midgets Of tho hoofed tribe are beauti
full little creatures, those of the ante
lope being about eight inches long wher
born, and with their soft-colored fur
delicate pipe-stem limbs, large and ex
pressive eyes, they are, perhaps, thu
most attractive of any of the minute an
imals. have" continued the artist
NEARLY all the interesting creatures il
my collection, and when placed togeth
er they present striking and interest
ing appearance, telling story of th,
curious notifications to which the va
| rious forms of life are subject. l m
| poiug To make a model of each one TO