The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-02-21
GIANTS IN SWAMPS.
eur Only Specimens Of Extinct AnimaIs
Preserved by Mire.

1 SuH OEly SpoSAA1CAAo "a >~A<AA~s <AA-AA>A~sA&
Preserved by Mirs.
It would perhaps be difficult to f1ne
anybody who would speak a good
word for swamps. The man who
drains one and turns its marshy sur.
face into productive soil is univer-
sally regarded as public benefactor.
So the projected draining of the
Dismal Swamp Of Virginia and the
Okefenokee Swamp Of Georgia is re-
garded only with favor, and few
could be found to regret the disap-
pearance Of those remarkable features
If our American landscapes.
Yet, setting aside the strange pic
;uresqueness of such marshy regions,
and the curiosities of plant life which
they exhibit, it is easy to show that
swamps have been useful in man
ner that could hardly have been an
tlcipated. They have very efectua!ly
served the cause Of science by pre-
serving the remains Of some Of the
| most remarkable OF the former in.
habitants Of the earth.
Here in America the skeletons OF
several mastodons have been found
embedded in ancient swamps, and so
perfectly preserved that no diff
Guilty whatever has been encountered
in restoring the bones to their nor
NAL position, setting the skeletons
on their feet, and thus exhibiting to
the eyes of modern men the monster
animals which were probably famil-
lar sights to our ancestors nobody
knows just how many thousands OF
Years ago.
In Ireland the ancient swamps
were equally efdcacious in preserving
for US the gigantic elks which be-
ame mired in them.
Swamps have proved no less usefu.
agents of science in other parts Of
the world, and particularly in Aus
tralia, New Zealand; and Madagas-
car. What could be more interest
ing than the bones Of giant bird
which was in all probability the roc
described by Sindbad? Just such
bones have been discovered in the
marshes Of Madagascar and New
Zealand, and there is plenty of eyi-
dence that the great birds which
owned them were the contempo-
raries Of men in the past history Of
those islands. But for the swamps
we might have remained ignorant Of
the fact that birds with legs larger
and HEAVIER thar those of the largest
horse once fourlshed in the South.
IN Hemisphere.
Lately these Madagascar swamp
have yielded other remains of ex-
tinct animals, hardly less interesting
than the huge bird, the epiornis, it
self. These are the skeletons Of a
creature resembling lemur of gigan-
tic size, but remarkable for the
small quantity Of brains which it
possessed. 1t is said that there is
evidence that man was responsible
for the destruction and disappear
ance of this creature. If so it was
probably a simple case Of brains
against brute force.
There is reason for thinking that
still other discoveries remain to be
made in Madagascar, discoveries that
will possibly bring to light even more
interesting facts concerning the
former inhabitants Of that part Of
he world.
Suppose one Of our sWamps, which
we regard as utterly useless, should
preserve to a remote future age the
only remains of some animal like the
bison or the tiger. now rapidly be-
coming extinct. Then men Of science
then living would have the same
reason for rejoicing that that swamp
had existed, that we have for being
thankful for the revelations con.
tained in the swamps of ancient days