The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-08-14

| dences Of his presence, however, were
! supplied by the bones and hide fragments
| of the griffin beasts. One skull showed
| a fracture which was undoubtedly made
when the animal was killed, presumably
| with a stone axe, and other indications
proved that the huge creature was there
| upon cut TO pieces-for cooking and eat
| ing, one may suppose
| A piece of skin, over three feet in
| length, had been partly stripped of its
| long nair by means Of blunt tools Of
some kind marks of which were still
perceptible. This piece appeared tc be
| from the upper back part Of the right
| fore leg Some Of the bones. it should
| be mentioned, bore marks of fire, as If
| they had been charred incidentally to
| the roasting of the flesh.
The notion that the Patagonians may
have MIXED the griffin beasts is nothing
more than a suggestion-a mere sur
| mise, in fact-though entirely within the
bounds of possibility. They may even
have bred them-an idea which obtains
some plausibility from the circumstance
that some Of the bones unearthed are
comparatively small In size and evident
~ those Of young animals. Three of the
skulls were found in such good condition
that casts were made of the brain cav
tiles, thus reproducing the exact of the
brain of the ''gypotherium.'
These casts are exceedingly interest
ing and from them it is ascertained that
the great sloths. though so stupid, pos
sessed very keen scent, the olfactory
lobes being largely developed In two
cases the little bones of the inner ear
cavity behind the drum by the dried
soft parts
DR.. Moreno is inclined to believe that a
few specimens of the ''grypotherium"
still survive in the UNEMPLOYED wilds of
Patagonia, and this notion is shared by
DR.. Ramon Listai, who discovered the
first bones of the beast that were found
Indeed, DR.. Lisai goes so far as to de-
clare that he caught a glimpse of liv-
ing specimen disappearing in the forest
though. most unfortunately, the circu.a-
stances were such, a stream intervening
that he was unable to follow it. Other
naturalists, however, are exceedingly
sceptical on this point, believing that
the creature has been extinct for some
thousands of years.
1t was a short legged, shapeless, I'M
calmly brute, with four toes on each of
it's front feet and three toes on the
hind feet. 1t fed on grasses and the
leaves Of trees, which latter it frequently
uprooted, being enormously strong, and |
one of its peculiarities was an arrange |
ment of the little bony ossciles put to- |
gether like the stones of a pavement |
beneath its skin. These ossicles were !
w civ hut ;,,,
were set in parallel rows quite symmet- |
really. They may have served to some |!
extent the purpose of coat of armor, |
the beast being incapable of running |
away and possessing no weapons of de- |
tense except its claws. Very likely the /
tiger already mentioned was its most /
deadly and dreaded foe.
1t will be remembered, perhaps, that |
some years ago footprints of supposed |
giant men were discovered in the neigh
borhood of Carson City, New. They were
very interesting until it was discovered !
that in reality they were fossil tracks
Of the "mylodon" an extinct species OF
sloth slightly bigger than the "grypothe-
rum" The footprints had been made
in mud thousands of years ago, and the
mud had hardened into rock, thus pre-
serving them.
There seem to have been three species
Of giant sloths in this hemisphere in
ancient times. One, which was much
the largest, now known as the mega
therium, ranged from Patagonia as far
north as Virginia, though occurring in i
the United States only in a small belt
from Florida up Another was the my
odon," which ranged from Patagonia
up through our Western States into Ore
son. Finally, there was the ''grypothe-
rum which appears to have been ex- |
2lusively South American.
These beasts were much like modern i
'loths except that they were of enor- {
nous size and had long tails. If, as .
would seem to be the case the primi- ,
i've Patagonians succeeded In domesti-
,atng one species Of the nightly brutes, ,
t was certainly a wonderful achieve
nent. Apparently they utilized both the
lair and hides for some purpose, but ,
here is no evidence that they tanned the
after