St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-06-15
PHENAcoous pRlMEvU&


ADOPOA SsASOsAs VI uOOAO&y A0 sss0 R1sOSA )
can Museum Of Natural History. hAa
just received = new addition to his de-
partment This is cast Of one Of the
earliest mammal fossils which science
has yet discovered. The original oi
the cast is the property Of Prof. E d.
Cope. the paleontologist Of Philadel.
phia, and the cast itself. tho FIRST one
made. was presented to the museum
by DR.. Robort H Lamborne. Of this
city. The interest in this specimen Is
keen, owing to the fact that the fossil
u the skeleton Of an animal which is
regarded a. the parent types Of all
animals Of to-day which are distin-
Ruished BY having hoofs. Its scien-
ti6c name Is Phenacodus-prim9vus.
The fossil was discovered several years
ago in the Wind River valley in
Wyoming Territory, and was after
ward secured by Prof. Cope. who
learned Of the circumstance.
The preservation Of the animal Is
remarkable It had apparently lain
down TO die in tho clay, and the body
remaining undisturbed. the bones were
not scattered. In appearance the
skeleton II not formidable. The ami.
NAL. which Is believed to have been
full grown, was not when alive. much
larger than sheep or . yearling calf.
What first strikes the observer Is it
remarkable preservation. The small.
est bone appears to be preserved. Ap.
parently the animal sank down In the
clay exhausted and went into its last
sleep. The carcass was not disturbed.
the bones were never scattered and
tho skeleton was gradually, In the
course Of thousands Of years, trans-
formed with the surrounding earth In
to stone. The skull has some resem.
blance to that OF . horse. but IL more
Of the general type Of the rhinoceros.
There are no tusks, but slight pro-
tuberances which indicate an ap.
proach to them. The teeth have
much the same character as those Of
modern animals Each Of the four
feet have i've long and slender toes.
which have the general appearance Of
human fingers, except that each Of the
toes Is capped with . small. perfectly
shaped hoof, which Il . copy In mini
ature Of . horses hoof.
Tho animal. Prot. Whitfield says,
fed on plants and desh, ~ Il was best
able to procure the one or tho other.
Tho cartilaginous portion OF the skull
at the mouth IL wanting, but the gen.
eral structure IL similar to that Of the
rhinoceros. which has the long. point
ed lip like the beginning Of . trunk
for the purpose Of better gathering in
the grass or foliage. while the teeth in
their structure are adapted In some
measure to the food Of carnivorous an
imala II the larger animals Of to-day
had not then made their appearance,
the Phenacodus must have been In the
habit Of making his special meals on
snakes, frogs and the like. From the
appearance Of the feet, he was . dat
footed animal. but the toes also rested
on the ground and aided him in climb
ing steep inclines.
Prot Cope, - we'll - the European
paleontologists, regard this skeleton
a ono Of the most remarkable discov.
cries Of recent years. A moro id.
vanced form Of this animal was OBJ
tained some years ago In France. and
was tho subject Of much speculation by
Cuvier, the naturalist Il was termed
the Paleotherium, and was regarded
q the ancestral form Of the horse.
Several other specimens have since
been discovered in good condition.
showing that the animal reached the
size Of . deer. but its toes vere 10
duced to three or four. Prot Cope, q
the results Of his studies ON the early
character Of animals, indicated In q
paper which he published In 1881. that
the older form Of these animals, II ever
found. would possess those distinctive
traits which arc indicated in this speci-
men Of tho Phenacodus, which
hs has since obtaired. The
stratum in which the fossil wa
found belongs to the early Eocene. OF
the Lower Tertiary period. in the
6rst OF which the remains OF mann.
mails have been obtained. Tho time
OF their existence 10 calculated BY
eeologists - anywhere between 400,
600 and 500, 900 years ago. % small q
matter q 100000 years either way
making little difference
Tho Phenacodus DR.. Cope regards
. the distinct ancestor Of the higher
forms OF animala In succeeding agea
the larger animals. like tho elephant
and giraffe, were developed from It.
and the different surroundings and
conditions led TO the growth Of planti-
grade animals like the bear. the
carnivors like the leopard, and the
lion and hoofed animals like tho horse
and deer, all Of these branches do
veloping some Of the minor traits
which were possessed BY the original
type. When the now building Of The
Nuseum Of Natural History b CON.
pleted, Prot Whitfield expects - -
cure for his department. . oo0plsts
eollection Of fossils showing tAe de.
vslopmsat o4 these branches of aai.
al liSo - far . science has yet beez
ahle . indicate them-Cor. Cincin.
naA Commercial
"A boy living near Abilene. Tex,
was recently bitten By . snake. and
vas eoon taken With convulsions An
old Mexican scraped out The bowl Of Z
briar pipe. applied the scrapinsS "a