The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-22
SIBERIAN MAMMOTH PRE-
SERVED.

Some eighteen months ago the Gov
ernor of Yatutsk informed the I'm
perial Scientific Academy Of St. Pet
ersburg of an unusually interesting
discovery in Siberia. A Cossack had
learned from the natives that a. gigan-
tic animal with huge tusks had been
found embedded in the ice on the Bere-
sovska, a tributary of the Kolyma riv-
4 er, about 200 miles from Svedin
Kolymsk. From the description given
| it seemed probable that the animal
was mammoth, and DR.. Otto Herr.
director of the Museum, and Herr
| Psitzemayer, naturalist, were author
| lied to proceed to the spot and bring 1t
to st. Petersburg in as good condition
as was possible under the circum-
stances. The animal is now in the
Russian capital, where it is being pre-
served and set up. Special interest at
taches to it. as it is the most complete
specimen of this long extinct species
ever yet obtained.
Although in DR.. Herz's opinion it is
| s 900 years old, the skeleton Is in Won
derfully good preservation, as is also
the hairy covering of the skin. Messrs.
Herr and Psitzemayer succeeded in
carrying out their mission successfully,
but not without many difficulties. Last
summer they Travelled to Yakutsk,
and then their troubles commenced.
From that point to where the man.
moth had been found was distance of
!, 200 miles, which had to be traversed
on horseback. The country was an ex-
tremely difficult one; mosquitoes
swarmed, and in the dangerous
swamps it happened more than once
| that a Cossack and his horse disappear
ed without leaving a trace behind
them. At length in the autumn the
party reached their destination and
found, to their satisfaction, the huge
beast resting in an almost horizontal
position. Probably it had stumbled
when grazing and fallen into a.
crevasse. The forelegs, especially the
| left one, were much bent, which Show
ed that when attempting to recover it
self the animals body had proved too
heavy, the hind legs slipped underneath
it, and it became frozen fast. Thus the
beast persisted, and has ever since lain
undisturbed beneath the layer of earth
which in the course of ages formed
above the ice, until at length the
warmth of the sun exposed it to the
light.
1t was necessary to remove the re-
mains before the advent of spring,
Iotherwise it would have been too late.
Wild animals had already begun to
tear at the flesh and to preserve the
remains on the spot was impossible, as
q body, which has lain for SO long in
the ice decomposes with greater rapid
ity when exposed to the air. 1t was,
therefore, determined to divide it into
several parts, forwarding each in a
frozen state, and putting them together
iafterWard. A hut with a stove in 1t
was constructed over the mammoth
and as the ice gradually melted the
IportiOn thus released was removed and
Iduly prepared for transit. The entire
Iprocess of excavation occupied two
months, during which time the open
lair temperature was so degrees Celsius
The legs and feet resemble those of an
Elephant, except that the latter has
three toes, the mammoth five The
lhair is of q broWnish-yelloW color and
lis SO long and thick that it's owner
could hardly have felt cold in any
temperature, however low. The skin is
from 20 to % nm. thick and under.
meath it there is a layer of fat nm
thick. Blood was found in the body
and in the mouth there was the re.
mains of food on which the marks OF
1.-THE teeth were impressed. The con-