Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-02-10
PYGMY ELEPHANTS.
sn Artists Interesting Talk About
Miniature Elephants. Horses and
Whales.

all dlllSl. lihlii5 SASNu NiOth iVHt I"
clay model of an elephant about twelve
inches in length. Yes, it is small, "
lie continued, ''but that's just the great
point in its favor See the bone,'' he
continued, taking up a small object
from table-''the real bone of the ele-
phant | am making a 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-
bers of these bones, and soon identified
teen as race of elephants that were
pocket editions, so TO speak The
largest were not so 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 rs Il small cat, and could easily
have been held 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 a rare entertainment. What a
troupe of elephants could have been
marshaled in. First would appear the
great mammoth, with his long coat of
hair: then the dinotherium, with its i'll
curved tuSks; the gigantic gangesa,
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 throngs of young
cave-dwellerS.
1.-The pygmies. rs far rs known, rep
resented two distinct species, known to
science as ElepEds melitteRSiS and Z.
faIconeri, and their remains are found
over Il wide geographical area, showing
that they had an extended range. In
the second book of the 'LEneid' Virgil
notes q tradition 10 effect that Sicily
was ut one time a part of the mainland,
and it is now believed by many that
long ago Italy was connected with Africa
- neck of land, and that Malta and
other places. now Islands, were a part of
it. Over this ancient bridge the pygmy
elephants 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 dis
covered in various parts Of Italy, and
among other remains in many parts of
EUrope. These We're real pygmieS.
while the SO-called dwarf elephants of
to-day are merely elephants whose
growth has been retarded in some nat
uIal or artificial manner.
The pygmins, however, were not all
elephants. rs 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
moTe than twenty different kinds have
been recognized. The smallest of these
pygmy horses was about as large rs 4
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, rs
does the horse of to-day, it had four
well-devOlOped toes and a rudimentary
fifth In later bed of this same time
is found the orohippus-a pygmy horse,
with four perfect toes in front and three
behind. 4 great many ages later, in
the beds of the miOcene time, bones of
the nes0hippus appear. Then the horse
WAS rs large as Sheep-equaling in
size the pvginy 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 anchltheurim;
then the nipparion, as large as donkey,
and finally the pliohippus, with a single
toe ON each foot, is found-the direct !
of our great horse OF. to-day, in
the feet of which, if one carefully ex-
lmines. are to be found rudimentary |
splint bones that are the representatives |
Of the toes that were fully developed in
the ancient forms. In Yale College a /
very complete set of these strange horses
from the pygmy form of long ago to the |
horse of to-day, can be seen. the result |
Of the researches in the far West of |
Prof. Marsh.
~ few months ago Pygmy whale /
was washed ashore on the New jersey 1
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. it measured only nine
feet in length, and was accompanied by
2 baby pygmv that was little over Il
loot 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 1 few COM
paniOns WIS wandering about the At
antic. or, as some one suggested, wait
ne for the canal through the Isthmus
Tor Il short cut home.
Among the birds there is a pigmy
luail-a delicate little creature, so small
hat the ancient Chinese used to warm
heir hands in cold weather by carry
ng a bird in each closed palm. Among
he quadrupeds the pygmy deer is per-
iapS the most interesting, and when
;een it seems a perfect antelope in min
ature. 1t is the cephdlopteT1tS pymGus,
md is confined to South America-a
most delicate and fragile little creature,
,eing hardly twelve inches in length.
Tie head is long and pointed, the ears
,hort and the horns like toy ones. and
-eTy delicate and slender; beng less
han two inches in height, highly polish
d and jet black.
NtUlsS dS lllCll VI ii tNRlllY Is IIc
,ultaBa antelope: found in the hilly re-
,iOnS of AbySSinia. Its height at the
houlder is only fourteen inches; the
lorns are exceedingly thin and about
our inches long. The young of these
nidgets of the hOofed tribe are beauti-
nj little creatures, those of the antelope
,eing about eight inches long when
,orn, and with their sOft-colored fur,
elicate pipe-stem limbs, large and ex-
'reSsive eyes, they are, perhaps, the
most attractive of any of the minute an
mails. l have" continued the artist,
nearly all the interesting creatures in
ny collection, and when placed together
hey present striking and interesting
ppearance, telling story of the curious
notifications to which the various forms
{ life are subject. am going to make
model of each one for a private mu- {
cum, and they are TO be placed in con-
rast with the giants. Thus the pygmy |
ihale will be placed beside the right {
-hale, the small elephant next to the
lant mammoth. and SC on in this Way