The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-01-18
THAT LITTLE HAPPY THOUGHT.


Now little Nell was skipping by, to visit
Presto: the little happy thought was
And SO She turned, and hurried back.
and stayed at home instead.
Readng g S5a m eesn t Esa tongue
| Off went the little happy thought, and
saw some idle feet
Drumming their heels against the steps,
upon quiet street
And soon those feet were carrying, upon
an errand hot,
and said he'd rather not
If satan finds some mischief still for
Why. then, a little happy thought can
set them working. too.
And, judging from a-many things no
That t helpful little happy thought is still
upon its way.
Minnie Leona Upton, in st. Nicholas
| Ancient Animals.
! The western portion of the North
| American continent has been SO gen.
orally recognized as one OF the most
/ interesting regions of the world for
cal periods, and has therefore been
so assiduously explored for many
| years by biologists and palaeontol-
| ogists. that the discovery of new
i field for Investigations of this nature
almost within the limits of large
city is distinctly surprising. Yet this
has recently been made in the loca-
ton of great accumulation Of re-
markedly preserved remains of ex-
tinct animals in deposits around pre-
| historic tar or asphalt pool at Rancho
LIE Brea, near Los Angeles
| OF the recent discoveries made in
the asphalt work, one of the most in
teresting is the finding of gigantic
lion, representing the group of true
cats as contrasted with the saber-
|
here SO abundantly. Although frag
ments of the skeleton had been known
| for some time, the first recognizable
specimen was obtained in December,
| 1908, by DR.. William Bebb of Los An
geles. The skull found by DR.. Bebb
resembles that of the modern African
| lion in It's general characters, but
| is larger than in any other member
of theIcat group, recent or fossil, of
| which any record has been obtained
| by the writer. The species seems to
| be the same as that represented by
| large jaw fragment obtained in 1886
I'm the vicinity of Natchez, Miss This
animal was given the name American
lion by Prof. Leidy, who first described
it. It probably had wide range
over North America in the last geolog-
| ical period.
| 1t is interesting. to note the pres
ence in the same asphalt beds of the
| great American lion along with the
saber-tooth tiger, the two representing
the highest stages of development of
| the cat group, and being at the same
time two of the most formidable car
nivorous creatures that have existed.
| They represent two quite distinct di-
visions of the cat family, which de-
veIoped concurrently through many
| geological periods, but reached their
| highest stage of efficiency in these two
types. The true cats, represented by
the lion, although very ancient have
been less important in past geological
periods than the saber-tooths. They
4 are. apparently, production of the
| Old World. having come into America
in comparatively late geological time
| The saber-tooths group. on the other
hand, has ffourished for many periods
and was represented In North Amer
| lea by numerous species and indf-
| vidualS
These two great groups of animals,
| represented by their most formidable
types, existed together in the environs
| of the Brea pools. What battles were
waged between them we can only con-
lecture, but we may feel certain that
/ encounters were not to be avoided
! The saber-tooths outnumbered the
lions at least five to one, judging from
| the number of specimens found. The
| combats WERE however, not ordinarily
between groups, but between individ-
1 uals The style of attack of the two
| animals must have been fundamental
ly different. Both animals slashe0
! and tore wit htheir claws. The lion
with its powerful jaws and monstrous
| biting muscles. throttIed its prey.
! shaking and twisting it as a modern
cat deals with a rat OF rabbit. The
| saber-tootl slashed and stabbed with
its knife-like teeth. sometimes inca
pacitating its adversary with a single
blow. In some cases while lifting its
| head to strike it gave an opening for
the lion to attack it's throat and the
! battle. was quickly ended. At other
| times a blow from the lions paw may
have broken it's long, thin sabers, and
rendered it a comparatively inefficient
adversary.-John c. Merriam, in Har-
| per's Weekly.