':bj^:rt X. 



The yVL 



ASTODON, 



I. GEXERAL DESCRIPTION. 



*'Built high and wide, his solid bones surpass 

 The bars of steel ; his ribs are ribs of brass ; 

 His port majestic and his armed jaw 

 Give the wide forest and the mountain, law. 

 Earth sinks beneath him as he moves along 

 To seek the herbs, and mingle with the throng. 

 See with what strength his hardened loins are bound, 

 All over proof, and shut against a wound !" 



This description of the behemoth of the book of Job, as 

 given by Dr. Young, may very properly be applied to the 

 mastodon which once roamed through the primeval 

 forests of America, and certain parts of Europe and Asia. 

 We know it only from its remains, which have been found 

 in various localities. Language is insufficient to give an 

 adequate idea of the grandeur and massiveness of the 

 complete skeleton. It towers far above the animals with 

 which we are so familiar; and even the elephant, although 

 nearly of the same height, has a frame which may be called 

 delicate in comparison. It belonged to the elephantine 

 family, though, in many respects, differing from the living 

 specimens. It was not superior to the elephant in height, 

 but its limbs were thicker, the abdomen slenderer, the 

 length greater, and the head more massive and longer. 



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