Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1895-12-26
q a. - -
AN OLD PIECE or FAT.

Bit of NIammOth's Carcass. Preserved
for Thoas s.lds OF Years. $50
Dr.. Dall,s OF the Smithsonian institu.i
ton, during his recent visit to Alaska
secured a atural history specimen that
was prize indeed. 1t was u bit Of hi n,-
moth fat, from heactuaI adipose tissue
of an animal that had been dead forstel.s
of thousands of years. f@s
BODIES of mammoths in a fresh state
have been dug UP from t line time Sin
arctic Siberia, preserved in natural cold
storage since a period probably ante
dating the first appearance of man OH.
the earth. That is an old story; but
this is the first known instnnceainM which
the soft parts Of a beast OF this species
have been found on the American conti-
nent. 1t is easy to imagine the scien-
titic interest attaching to tie discovery.
Ages ago this mammoth died, under
snch circumstances that his corpus was
buried in mud. At about that time
there was a great and permanent
change in the temperature OF circuln-
polar regions. The climate had been
subtropical; itsuddenly became frigid.
The mammoths were literally frozen
out" the last of the species perishing OF
cold. This particular individual, frozen
in a bank of clay, had every. prospect of
Excepting" for an indefinite period. 1
Hundreds OF centuries later a stream
flowing through an Alaskan valley.
tackled the clay bank referred to and
began to cut it away. AT length some
big bones stuck out, and a native of ex-
ceptional courage dug ouy one or two
of them. ThisR required more of that
quality known in civilized countries as
NERVE" than might be imagined, for.
strange monsters, however long they
may have been dead, are regarded with
superstitious awe by savages. Il.
However, the natives finally SUM
moned courage enough to drag the re-
mains of the mammoth out of the clay
bank piecemeal. The body Of the ami
NAL had been preserved SO well that a
fairly perfect cast Of it was found in the
matriX. A quantity OF fat, which over.
lay the intestines, was obtained and was
used for greasing boats. Dr. Dali Sc
cured piece Of it, and fetched it back
to Washington for an exhibit.
In the Office of Osteologist Frederic
4. Lucas, at the National museum, is a
mammoth's molar tooth, to which an
odd story is attached. TWAS got from
spring at Paso Verde, in the country of
the Papago Indians. Ever so many cen
turtles ago a mammoth in it's dying ag-
onies sought that spring for water and
fell into it, too weak to climb out. There
its bones remain to this day, and the
Indians believe that, if they were re.
moved, the spring would dry up. OF
course, such an event in that region
means the destruction of a village.
Mastodon bones. Of course, are fre-
quently dug up in the United States.
The mastodon was kind of elephant,
but it did not belong to tie genus Ele-
phas. The mammoth did not belong to
that genus, being known to modern
science as elephas primigenus. 1t
often happens that farmers, pillow upthe
osseous remains of mastodons, particu-.
larly in reclaimed swamIs, where an
GENTLY the gigantic beasts became
mired and died from sheer helplessness
to get OUT The tusks are commonly
found so far decomposed that the ivory
crumbles between the fingers.
The first imastodon, ever dug up was
found in 1913. The remains Of these ami
mails are by. no means confined to the
United States; they are discovered all
over the world They are.much thicker.
set than the modern elephant. The
lower jawbone Of a full-grown speci-
men weighs, nearly 100 pounds. The
first mastodon bones that were dug up
We're supposed to be those of giants of
On earlier epoch Washington Star.