Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1894-09-21
A GRUESOME EXHIBITION.
COLLECTION OF VALUABLE BONES
AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Great Auk's SkeIeton-Human Bones
Less Costly Than Those of AMI
maIs-Used as FertiliZers

TIUNK ISLAND-that is, part
n of it-has been reproduced for
exhibition at the National
c Museum, says the Washington
Star. 1t was ON that lonely rock,
thirty-two miles off the coast of New
foundland, that the now-extinct great
aux had its principal roost. Fifty
years ago the last individual of the
species perished. Tt is represented
now by skeleton, worth 5000, stand
ing by heap of bird remains such as
chiefly compose the surface soil of
Funk Island, while alongside is an egg
of the fowl, valned at $500, together
with the inner skin of another egg.
The National Museum possesses nearly
all of the great aux bones in existence;
they are the most costly bones in the
world The finest collection of skele-
tons in the world is stored at the
National Museum. They are arranged
in series, so as to run upward from
the lowest fishes through the reptiles
and birds, to man. Human bones are
much cheaper than those of many other
animals. One can buy a nicely-articu-
lated skeleton of a man for $40, or of
q woman for $50-sex makes some diff
ference in the price whereas the
skeleton of gorilla costs $500, of
whale $3.50, of an elephant $400, of
lion $75, of horse $40, of cat $12,
and of a python $75.
The bones of human being are
nearly one quarter water during the
life of the individual. They are
chiefly composed of phosphate of lime,
but contain good deal of animal
matter and other clements. In the
skeleton of man are nearly four
pounds of the metal calcium, which is
many times moro valuable than gold,
being worth $500 an ounce. Thus in
the osseous framework of the average
tramp may be found material with q
market value of about SIS, 200, but
the trouble is to separate it from the
substances with which it is combined.
That is what makes calcium costly. It
is only in bones that phosphate of
lime is found in anything like pure
state. Everybody knows the value of
that material as fertilizer, but it is
only recently that human skeletons
have been imported into this country
to grow crops with. Not long ago q
shipment was made from Mexico to
the United States of ten carloads of
human bones, said to have been OBJ
tanned from ancient mounds IN South
ern Mexico, but moro probably gath
cred from various old and abandoned
cemeteries. AS these remains were
fragments of unassorted skeletons, it
was estimated that 80, 900 individuals
were represented in the lot.
This would not be considered nov
city in Europe. Years ago English
farmers used human bones to some ex-
tent to fertilize their land. The bat
tlefeld of Waterloo was for tim2 the
base of supplies, and this was supple
mented by mummies from Egypt,
ground to fine powder. The mum
mics were fetched for this purpose by
the cargo, and the preserved corpses of
people dead for thousands of years
doubtless formed part of the consign-
ments, but the bulk of the material
consisted of mummies of cats and other
small animals. The Egyptians of old
used to mummify the cat, ibis and
other creatures, which they regarded
as sacred. In ancient Egyptian tombs
are found great numbers of copper
boxes, opening at one end by slide,
which contain mummies of cats, hawks,
ibises and now and then snakes and
small crocodiles. Mummies are rec
ognized commercial article in that
country to-day. For long time To-
comotives were run between Cairo and
Suez with no other fuel. Corpses of
of royal personages, 5000 years old and
upward, fetch high prices. The pro-
cesses adopted for their preservation
began with the removal of the intes-
tines. Then the brain was taken out
through the nostrils and the body, af-
ter being soaked in preservative sub
stances, was wrapped round and round
with bandages. The bundle thus made
was placed inside of papier mache
case formed ola pulp composed of linen
and whiting, and this was inclosed in
q series of wooden coffins.
Less than a year ago the Austrian
bark Villa was deserted by her crew.
Later she was picked up MS derelict
off Cape Hatteras and fetched into the
port of New York. Her cargo was
found to consist in large part of
bones of horses and cattle. In one
corner of her hold was great heap
of human skulls Nobody knows to
this day why the crew deserted the
vessel N mid-ocean. She was worth
$40, 900, including her freight. The
gruesome character of the latter was
added to by frightful odors and the
presence of swarms of blue flies. In
formation obtained respecting the
bark from Alexandria, in Egypt,
showed that the bones had been col
lected i'll deserts and cemeteries of
that country and were shipped to tho
United States for use rs fertilizer.
The preparation of human skeletons
for market is quite an important in.
dustry. The chief centre for this
branch of commercial activity is
Paris, where three concerns are en-
gagged in the business on considerable
scale. They obtain the requisite
supplies Of raw material in the shape
Of bodies from public institutions,
most of them being those of paup.rs