Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1906-02-22
GIANTS OF THE PAST
PREVIOUS AGES SUPPLY US WlTh.
y ENORMOUS FOSSIL BONES.

ENORMOUS FOSSIL BONES.
Lixards Three Times the Size Of the
Largest Elephant and d Turtle
Whose she'll Looked Like Hut.
The Remarkable Plated LsKard.
The belief ii a race Of giants was
once almost universal. Even today
large skeletons when found are some
times reported as being those of giant
human beings. This was especially
true of the period abut the tenth and
eleventh centuries, and In the latter a
most amazing discovery was reported,
which, threw the scientific world of the
time into great excitement. 1t was said
that the body Of Pallas, the son Of
Evander, had been discovered beneath
the tomb Of the Emperor Henry III.
The bones were enormous aud proved
to have belonged to a huge fossil ele-
plant AS late as the fifteenth century
a war of words was waged over q find
of large bones, one party claiming that
they belonged to the giant Teutobochus
In 1857 a giant was discovered In
Switzerland. The council of Lucerne
requested a 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 twenty feet high, which the
proud city adopted as an ancestor in
the arms Of the commonwealth. Unfor-.
tunately 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 re.
mains Of an elephant. ,a~~.... ~
Nearly all the mastodon finds were
attributed to giants, but there is no evi
dence that human giant ever existed
over eight feet in height, and 1t is ex
tremely doubtful If this height was
ever attained. -.
Giants other than human are very
common in all branches of the animal,
kingdom -gisnts in every sense when
compared to their pygnly representa-
lives Of today. Some years ago some
laborers in the Senalik hills Of India
were engaged upon government
work when they came upon the re-.
mains of a turtle that proved beyond
question that these animals had their
giants in the days Of old. The shell
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
natives to be hut of some kind. For
tunately the bones were un1njured, and
the British museum, where a complete
restoration of the animal may be seen.
The length Of the turtle was ten feet,
Its horizontal circumference twenty
five feet and its girth fifteen feet but
1t was estimated by scientists that
this was not an adult and that when
fully grown this huge creature would
display dome-like back eight or nine
feet high, giving a total length OF
twenty feet. - ssa* $s@'9sa
One Of the common animals in equa-
toriaI South America and in Central
America is the lizard iguana, which
attains length Of four or five feet
and is considered rather large, but
1t was pygmy when compared to an
ancestor that once wandered over Eng
land and various portions Of the world
A. number Of years ago some working
men were excavating and blasting In
quarry near Maidstone, England, wher
some bones were uncovered that caus
ed profound establishment on the par
/ >Qy she LAIR
4 feet and as it was lifted out, bone b5
4 bone. their amazement increased, and
Fthe news was spread all over the coun
try, attracting large numbers Of PEG
pie. When the bones were placed II
their proper position they were fount
; to be the skeleton OF gigantic iizart
Il that when alive must have been thre'
times as bulky as the largest living ele
plant and stood upon its hind legs lik'
Ia kangaroo, tearing down branche
from the highest trees. Such an ami
I'maI was q slow mover and sluggisl
and must have fallen an easy prey 7
the human hunters, IL they existed.
The marine giants were even NOR
bizarre and remarkable than the lam
IEIOEIues IL We StA AlAuE5AAAS LIZ 49,
liguana heightened out to thirty feet, It
back spines changed to broad fnlik
objects, we form some idea OF the ar
pearance Of one Of the small dinosaurs
Stegosaurus ungulatus, one Of the mos
uncanny and remarkable creatures eve
found. Il is called the plated lizard
and the best skeleton was found on tn
eastern flank of the Rocky mountains
Some Of the plates with which this a
mored lizard were protected were tw
or three feet In diameter and the spine
over two feet In length. From the far
u that the hind limbs were the largest
Id evident that this strange creatlr
could lift itself up and cit like q kaI
CARGO, resting upon its powerful tai
which, with its enormous spines, muf
Y have been q terrible weapon.
"A giant from America had sku
that measured eight feet I'd length. "a
most over the eyes were two lare
horns; a third placed over the nose. II
great length Of the skull was given b
u huge crest that was protected BY