Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-25

frst informed his people Of the discovery the
chief Of his tribe fell sick and the supsrstitiois
Timgusians would not 60 out 10 the carcass,
fears subsidized and they repaired to the field.
They had been busily engaged for over three
months in hacking and cutting up the man.
moth body. carrying OF the flesh for their
dogs and eating portions of 1t themselves.
The news had spread to the Jscksts and
they also Joined in the work Of getting
o plentiful supply Of dog meat. Wild beasts,
such ~ white bears, wolves, wolverines and
foxes, had fed literally upon u before the
Sioer1ans mustered courage TO attack il, so
that when Mr.. Adams came upon the scene
in August, 1906. the skeleton OF this mammoth
was almost entirely cleared Of it's flesh. with
the exception Of one foreleg and foot. The
spine, from the head to the caudal vertebra, was
missing, but shoulder blade, the pelvic basin
and the bones of the three other legs were in
tact and held firmly together.
SOME vALuABLx RELICS
"The head" says Mr.. Adams, "was covered
with dry skin. One Of the ears, well pre-.
served, was furnished with tuft of hair. All
of these parts have necessarily been more or
less injured In transporting them to st. Peters,
burg. distance Of 1000 versts 1880 miles),
yet the eyes have been preserved ard the pupil
OF the eve can still be distinguished. This
mammoth was male, with a long name on the
neck, but the tail and proboscis were missing
(thsse were eaten by the wild beasts long before
any other portions of the body. The SKIN, Of
which possess three-fourths Is Of q
dark gray color, covered with red
dish wool and black hairs. The damp
ness OF the spot where the animal had lain
so long had in some degree destroyed the
hair; the entire carcass, Of which collected the
bones on this spot, was nine feet four inches
high and sixteen feet long from the point of the
nose to the end Of the tail, without including
the tusks (Which secured subsequently; these
ara aal, ,,sx &C. -. -
their curves; these two tusks weigh $50 pounds;
the head as have it alone weighs Ala pounds.
II then detached the skin of the side on
which the animal had laid. which was
well preserved. This skin was of such extra
ordinary weigh. that ten men found great diff
Guilty in transporting II to the shore. After
moving this down dug the ground in various
places to ascertain whether any of its bones
were buried, but chiefly in order to collect all
the hairs which the white bears had trod into
the ground while devouring the mammoth's
flesh. Although this difficult from
succeeded in collecting more than thirty-six
pounds of hair. In q few days this work was
completed, and found myself in possession Of
treasure which amply recompensed me for
the fatigues and the dangers OF the journey
and the considerable expense of the enterprise. "
THE CENTURIES BRIDoED.
In this remarkable manner has civilized man
been permitted to bridge the interval of CEN
turtles past and look directly upon the fresh
body of giant beast which then ranged over
the whole of the northern world wherever
shrubs and hardy trees could grow and upon
the flesh Of which his savage ancestors thou
sands OF years ago set great store by.
The relation of =. Mr.. Adams calls
up to the minds Of naturalists and
anthropologists food Of interesting and sug-
gestive thought. and the solid evidence of the
firm Of ,hol ;oJ 1,-< Ill
skeleton and a part of the skin and hair at
tacbed as it stands in the museum Of the Acad-
envy Of Sciences Of St. Petersburg.
THE HAIR OF THE MAMMOTH
thus found is entirely separated now from the
skin, has fallen out, except in one small area.
where it is still attached. 1t consists of two
sorts, common hair and bristles, and Of each
there are several varieties differing in length
and thickness. That which remains fixed on
the skin is of the color of camel, an inch and q
half long, very thick set and curled in locks. 1t
is interspersed with few bristles about three
inches long of dark reddish color. Among
the separate parcels of hair brought in by Mr.
Adams is some rather redder than the short
hair just mentioned. about four inches long,
and some bristles nearly black, much thicker
than horse hair. and twelve to eighteen inches
long. These long hairs or bristles are well ex-
pressed in that crude drawing made by pre-
historic man, which was found in the lone cave
Of Auvergne.
FOSSIL IVORY.
The immense amount Of fossil ivory which
has been derived from the remains of the man.
moth is beyond reliable statement 1t has been
taken annually in large quantities. tons and
tons Of it. into the markets of the world during
the last $50 years. and even today the quest in
Siberia and Alaska is undated. Remains of
elephas pinnigenins have been found also in
great numbers in the British Islands. Wood
ward, in his geology of Norfolk calculates that
upward of 1900 grinders of this animal have
been dredgedupby the fishermen in the channel
off Happisburgh during the space of only
thirteen years. Not only are these vestigei of the
mammoth found all over England on the dry
land, but they have been and are being dredged
up repeatedly in the German ocean and the
British channel. A large Russian industry Of
dredging for fossil ivory in the Okotsk sea il
still in active prosecution, but on the Alaskan
side no concerted single attempt has been made
thus far by any corporation TO develop the
business.
Associated with the mammoth in the tertiary
beds of England and Europe and OF America
are the remains Of another giant pachyderm
the mastodon, but 1t never ranged in the chill
northlands; but the beautiful glades of Ken
lucky and Missouri seem to have been its chosen
herding places on this continent ages ard ages
ago. In the Big Bone Lick of Kentucky the re-
mains of not less than 100 mastodons and
twenty mammoths have been found.