supposed Change of Climate of' the Arctic Regions. 285 



Siberian Elephant was not, from the abundance of its clothing, 

 fitted for a warm country, but destined for a dwelling of an 

 opposite character. In other words, that the Siberian ele- 

 phant was fitted for braving the severity of a northern cli- 

 mate, and that at the period in which this individual died, 

 there was freezing taking place in Siberia, much after the same 

 manner as at present. To form an accurate conception of 

 the Siberian elephant or mammoth, we must not imagine an 

 animal naked, like the African or Asiatic species, but enveloped 

 in a shaggy, thick covering of fur, like the musk oX, impene- 

 trable to rain or cold. The carcass of the Siberian rhinoceros, 

 found on the banks of the Wilhoui, in 1770, by Pallas, gave 

 similar indications of its hairy covering being suitable to an arc- 

 tic animal. 



Perhaps there may be some readers, irritated at the over- 

 throw of a favourite hypothesis, ready to offer the following ob- 

 jection. How could such animals, as the elephant and rhino- 

 ceros, find means of subsistence in the northern regions, which 

 are so scantily supplied with herbage ? There is no difficulty 

 in conceiving the elephant capable of securing food, when we 

 know that many of our largest quadrupeds at present people 

 those regions ; such, for example, as the musk ox, the moose 

 deer, and the bison. The kind of food these ancient elephants 

 employed, will probably never be ascertained, and we do not 

 possess the means of forming even a feasablc conjecture. We 

 may know the kind of food the existing species prefer, but this 

 yields no aid in determining the taste of the extinct species. 

 Who is there acquainted with the gramineous character of the 

 food of our fallow deer, stag, or roe, that would have assigned 

 a lichen to the rein-deer ? 



Yet, reluctant to admit that Siberia was once peopled by 

 elephants, the reader may be disposed to ask, how could such 

 animals outlive the winter ? This question can only be answer- 

 ed by a reference to the history of animals in similar circum- 

 stances. The modern northern animals migrate, and we en- 

 tertain little doubt that the Siberian elephant was equally dis- 

 posed to the shifting of place, with the changes of the season. 



Those who have been misled by the prejudices connected 

 with the names elephant and rhinoceros, and in consequence 



JANUARY — MARCH 1829. U 



