Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-09-21

- science exhibit from Roches-
ter, N. Y, with its colossal and
G terrible objects, the immense
skeletons and restored forms of ami
mails which roamed the earth in past
geologic ages, although occupying the
south gallery of the Anthropological
Building at the Worlds Fair, is the
first thing which strikes the eye and
chains the attention upon entering
even at its extreme north end
In the centre, and most awe-inspir-
ing of all, is a gigantic mammoth, n
hideous hairy monster of the elephant
family, beside which the largest ele-
phant of the present day is pigmy.
On either side tower weird and fearful
remains of ancient reptile life from
which one shrinks, thankful at not liv-
ing in company with such creatures.
To get a clear idea of the exhibit one
must begin at the beginning. 1t is n
collection from every division of na-
ture, except those of insect and botani-
cal life, the foundation being a large
cabinet of fossils Starting with the
lowest forms of animal life known on
our planet, it continues in regular or
der from one geological formation to
another, Silurian, Devonian, etc, up
the present time; from the humble
sponge, coral, or trilobite by series
of cases to the more highly organized
fishes and reptiles, birds and beasts.
These are carefully arranged in geolo-
gic order, but against the walls on the
pedestals of the central area are the
monsters vast of ages past" which
first startle one.
The largest of these, the mammoth,
already mentioned, is restoration
from bones found few years ago in
Wurtemberg, Germany. Remains of
this animal are found in all parts of
Europe and Asia between the 10th and
10th parallels of latitude, and the bones
are usually in such good state of pres
ervation that their position in the ami
mails anatomy may be easily deter
mined In northern Russia and Siberia
the tusks occur in such abundance as
to supply no inconsiderable portion of
the ivory of commerce. The Royal
Natural History Museum of Stuttgart
has the bones of over hundred NAM
moths, probably the best collection in
the world it was by native of that
city, Herr j.. Martin, that the man.
moth exhibited here was originally re-
constructed. 1t was subsequently
bought by Professor Ward, taken to
pieces, shipped tothis country and re-
mounted by him. For the original
restoration the largest bones in the
Stuttgart Museum were chosen, SO that
this specimen is evennbove the average
size of n mammoth. It's dimensions,
as it stands on oil fours, are Height.
sixteen feet length, from front of pen
dant trunk to tail, twenty-five feet !;
from front curve of tusks, four feet
more, making n total length of twenty
six feet, while the gfrth in the largest
part of the body is thirty-two feet
The two tusks, which bend outward
with double curve, are thirteen feet
eight inches long and forty inches in
circumference at the base, and the feet,
nearly round, are quite yard in di-
ameter. The body is covered with long
wiry black hair; the small eyes seem
to shine vindictively; the pose is life
like, and one almost expects the great
beast to lift his destroying tr,ink. The
color and texture of the hair were
copied from the mammoth now in the
Imperial Museum at st. Petersburg,
which when found fir ozem in the ice in
1899 was in such remarkable state of
preservation that, Notwithstanding its
thousands of years of imprisonment,
the flesh was greedily devoured by the
Siberian dogs.
Another tremendous piece is the
megatherium, or fossil ground -sloth OF
the pampas of Buenos Ayres. 1t seems
nearly twenty feet high, of truly
dreadful appearance, and is repre-
sented in an erect attitude, tearing
down a tree, on the branches of which
it was accustomed to feed, point in
its habits said to be early proven by
its anatomy. Another large piece is
the colossal-chelys, or immense land
turtle, nine feet in length and stand
ing five feet high. which was found in
the upper tertiary beds on the banks
of the Himalayas about fifty wears
ago. By its side is the megaceras, or
great Irish elk. This specimen isfrom
peat bog in County Limerick, Ire
land. 1t is the king of all thDdeer
family, its antlers spreading eleven
feet and being broad in proportion.
Next is mounted specimen OF the
mastodon. the fossil elephant which
once was so common in nearly ell parts
of our country.
BY the side of this is strange, res
toration, the jaws of fossil shark
from the phosphate beds in thoneigh-
borhood of Charleston, S. G. The
largest man-eater shark of our present
oceans has a gGpe Of scarcely II foot,
through which it might take man or
a dog with effort; while this restora-
tion, carefully constructed with the
actual teeth in place to show it's cor
rectness, is more than six feet across
from side TO side of the jaws, so that
its old-time and no doubt ravenous
possessor might easily have swallowed
II full grown horse.
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