The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-05-07
THE GIANTS OF OLD.
PREVIOUS AGES SUPPLY US WITH
ENORMOUS FOSSIL BONES.

Inc Del1eI IN race OF giants was
once almost universal and held until
recent years. Even today large skeletons
when found are sometimes reported as
being those Of giant human beings. This
was especially true Of the period about
the tenth and eleventh centuries, and
in the latter most amazing discovery
was reported, which threw the scien-
tific world of the time into great excite
ment. It was said that the body of Pal
las, the son of Evander, had been dis
covered beneath the tomb of the emper-
or Henry III. The bones were enor-
nous, and it is unnecessary to state,
proved to have belonged to huge fossil
elephant. AS late as the fifteenth CEN
tury war of words was waged over
find of large bones, one party claiming
that they belonged to the giant Teuto-
bochus. In 1857 giant was discovered
in Switzerland. The council of Lucerne
requested learned scientific man, Pro-
fessor Felix Platter Of Basel, to report
upon it, and he not only announced the
bones as part Of a human giant, but
made a complete restoration, showing
the man 90 feet high, which the proud
city adopted as an ancestor in the arms
of the commonwealth. The design and
some of the bones can still be seen in
the college of Jesuits at Lucerne. Un-
fortunately for the theory and much to
the discontinue of the people who had
raised to high pinnacle this mighty
ancestor, it was found to be the remains
Of an elephant.
Nearly all the mastotinn finds in this
country were attributed to giants, but
there is no evidence that a human giant
ever existed over feet in height, and it
is extremely doubtful if this height was
ever attained.
Giants other than human are very COM
mon in all branches of the animal king
dom-giants in every sense when COM
pared to their pygmy representatives of
today. Some years ago some laborers in
the Senalik hills of India were engaged
upon a government work when they
came upon the remains of a turtle that
proved beyond question that these ami
mails had their giants in the days of old.
The she'll which the men exposed might
have been used as shelter for several
men, and at first, before its bony nature
was observed, it was thought by the ma
tives to be hut of some kind. Fortu-
nately the bones were uninjured, and
they were taken out and removed to the
British museum. where a complete res
teration of the animal may be seen. The
length of the turtle was 10 feet, its
horizontal circumference 25 feet, and its
girth Is feet, but it was estimated by
scientists that this was not an adult,
and that when fully grown this huge
creature would display domelike back
8 or feet high, giving total length of
30 feet.
One of the common animals in equa
torial South America and in Central
America is the lizard, iguana, which at
tains a length of 4 or feet and is con-
sidered large lizard, but it was pyg-
my when compared to an ancestor that
once wandered over England and vari-
years ago some workingmen were exca-
waiting and blasting in quarry near
Maidstone, England, when some bones
were uncovered that caused profound
astonishment on the part Of the finders.
The skeleton was perfect, and as it was
lifted out, bone by bone, their amaze
ment increased, and the news was spread
all over the country, attracting large
numbers of people. When the bones
were placed in their proper position,
they were found to be the skeleton Of q
gigantic lizard that when alive must
have been three times as bulky as the
largest living elephant and stood upon
its hind legs like kangaroo, tearing
kI,n L., zA A~o,
Such an animal was slow mover and
sluggish and must have fallen an easy
prey to the human hunters, if they ex-
listed.
The marine giants were even more
bizarre and remarkable than the land
forms. If we can imagine the little igu-
ana heightened out to 80 feet, its back
spines changed to broad fnlike objects,
we form some idea Of the appearance of
one of the small dinosaurs, Stegosaurus
ungulatus, one of the most uncanny and
remarkable creatures ever found. 1t is
called the plated lizard, and the best
skeleton was found on the eastern flank
Of the Rocky Mountains. Some of the
plates with which this armored lizard
were protected were two or three feet
in diameter and the spines over two
feet in length. From the fact that the
hind limbs were the largest, it is evil
dent that this strange creature could lift
itself up and sit like kangaroo. rest
ing upon its powerful tail, which, with
its enormous spines, must have been
terrible weapon.
A giant from America had a skull
that measured eight feet in length. Al
most over the eyes were two large horns,
third placed over the nose. The great
length of the skull was given by huge
crest that was protected by ridge of
long plates The mouth of the tricera-
tops was protected by a horny beak. In
life it must have presented formid-
able appearance, with body clumsy
and low like that Of a hippopotamus, a
long tail like an alligator's, its head
calling to mind the rhinoceros. This
monster was 25 feet in length and must
AVE been one Of tho strangest animals
of its time.-Philadelph Press.
Odd Prov...on 80 ..-..sy of Liners.
tDo you know" said prominent
shipping man, who had been discussing
the st. Paul disaster with party of
friends, ''that it is rule with the big
transatlantic steamship companies that
the wife of the captain shall not travel
in his ship? It's fact. The company