The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1892-06-09
GIANTS ON THE EARTH.
4 COOP DEAL OF ficTlcN WRITTEN
ABOUT THEM.

The Belief That the Ancestors of Man.
Kind Were Giants Expieded Long
Ago-No,ed Rg Men Whose Stature
Has Becs Recorded by Actual o.
servers.
The idea conveyed by the word giant
in classical mythology is that of beings
more or less man-like, but enormous in
size and strength. Figures like the Titans
and the Giants. Whose birth from heaven
and earth is sung by Hesiod in the The
ognomy, such as heap up mountains to
scale the sky, and war beside or against
the gods, must he treated w;iik other like
monstross figures of the wonder tales of
fhe world as belonging altogether 10 the
realms of mythology.
Besides tie conception of giants as
special races distinct from mankind, it
was n Common opinion of the ancients
that the human race had itself degenera-
ted, t e NEIL of primeval ages having
been of so far greater stature and strength
as to be in fact gigantic. Yet so far MS
can be judged 10y actual remains it. DOES
not appear that giants. in the sense of
tribes of altogether superhumap stature,
ever existed, or that the men of ancient
time were, on the whole, taller than those
now living. It is now usual TO apply tho
word giant to beings not suprfhunian
in their height. but merely the tallest
men and women of our nations.
Until the beginning of the present CEN
tury, it was universally believed that
giants, of a size far exceeding those
which are exhibited in our times. form.
crly existed, either as nations or as indi-
vidual specimens. This belief was lItsed.
first, on the asserted discovery of colossal
human bones; second, on supposed scrip
tural evidence; third, on the evidence Of
various ancient and medieval authors.
A reference to the first volume of Cul-
.ver's easements FosSiies" will show that
Che bones Of elephants, rhinosceroses,
mastodons, etc. have been exhibited and
accepted as evidence of prehistoric
giants. Even SD good naturalist as
Button fell into this popular deltsion
and figured the bones of AN elephant as
the remains of human giants. Saint
uiiaire, in his Historic des Anomalies
de rOrgainsation. notices several of the
most famous of these Cases. A gigantic
skeleton which WIS found at Trapani, in
Sicily. in the fourteenth century, was at
once pronounced to be that of the CLASH
GAL giant, Poiyplemns, and his height
was calculated at 500 feet. 1t WAS
pointed out that the bones differed in
form as well as in size from those
of man, but this objection was easily
met by the question, Why, if his
height was sixty times rs great as that
of an ordinary man, should not his form
also he different2 Many less celebrated
giants were subsequently, exumed in
Sicily, and the existence of the "Osseous
Canerus" described by De Quatrefages in
his ~Rambles a Naturalist" fully ac-
count for such discoveries rt All epoch
when few could recognize the differences
in form between the bones of an elephant
und those Of man.
Nor have our own counirymen been
Jess credulous than their neiShbors. In
1712 Dr. Increase Mat,ier, in the "PhilO-
sophical Transactions, announced the
discovery of enormous bones and teeth,
which had been fouad in The State of
New York, and which he regarded as af.
for,ling evidence of the existence OF gi-
nuts of enormous size in ancient times.
The bones were in reality those of a mus.
iodon.
The Scripture evidence, when carefully
examined, does not amount to much.
The Hebrew words nephirim and gibo-
rim, which occur several times in the
book of Genesis. ana which are trans
tated giants, might as we'll he trans
lated BEARDED, cruel" or violent
Dieu. The height of Os, King of Ba-
shan, is not given-we ARE only told the
length of his bel. And including his
helmet, which was probably taken into
account in the recorded measurement,
Goliath at most did not exceed eight feet
and half in stature aud consequently
was not taller than SOME giants of mod
eru days.
The classical evidence is abundant. but
obviously untrustworthy. Thus, Plutarch
relates that Serboeins had the grave of
Antalus. in the city OF Tungis. opened
and, finding there his body full 80 cubits
long was Infinitely aatonished. ordered
the tomb to he closed. gave his contirma.
tiOh W ucW uoioiS
to the memory of the giant" ~ Pliny
gives to one. Gabbaras. an Arabian, the
stature of nine feet nine inches. Gaping
this with the mention of Posio and So.
eundilly, who were half foot higher.
Piiny reports also that an earthquake
In Crete disclosed the bones of giant
forty six cybits in length. who was held
by Dorne to he Orion and by Others Otus
.Mhat exaggeratiou can DO in this way
may be judged from the fact that the
Patagouians. whose average height is five
feet eleven inches, are described in Piga.
feita's Voyage Round the World" as SO
monstrous that the Spauards heads
hardly reached their waists. Descending
10 more certain evidence there can be no
doubt that height Of eight and nise
fest. aud probably of more than nine
feet, has been attained. There is skel-
eaon in the museum of Trinity College,
Dublin. eight feet six inches in height;
that of O Brien (or Byrael in the museum
OF the College of Surgeons of Englan IS
eight feet two inches, anL that OF Il giant
in the museum at Bonn is eight feet, and
the actual body, with the soft parts at
tache,, was probably two or three inches
longer than the skeleton Fui example,
we find it recorded that . Brien measured
eight feet four inches after his death