VIII NEOMYLODON O^ GLOSSOTHERIUM l8l 



The well-known naturalist of La Plata, Seiior Moreno, engaged 

 in studies connected with the political boundary line between 

 Chili and the Argentine, had occasion to visit Consuelo Cove 

 on Last Hope Inlet in Patagonia. Hanging from a tree he 

 noticed a piece of dried skin, which at once struck him as looking 

 more like the remains of a Mylodon than of any living animal. 

 The inhabitants regarded this piece of skin as a great cm'iosity, 

 but w^ere of opinion that it was the hide of a cow encrusted with 

 peebles ! This fragment from a bygone age was originally 

 described by Professor Ameghino, who had apparently seen some of 

 the bonelets imbedded in it, as Neomylodon listed, " a living- 

 representative of the ancient Gravigrade Edentates of Argentina." 

 That this piece of skin is of quite recent date seems to be proved 

 by a number of considerations. In the first place it is covered 

 by long hair of a light yellowish-brown colour ; it does not seem 

 likely that hair would preserve its character for geological epochs. 

 The nearest corresponding case is that of the remains of Moas in 

 'New Zealand, whose feathers, dried skin, and tendons are known. 

 Now the Moa was unquestionably contemporaneous with man, as 

 abundant surviving legends prove, and indeed it cannot have been 

 long extinct. Still, hair is a resisting structure, and in a dry cave, 

 with no possibility of irruptions of floods, might retain its characters 

 for long periods. The evidence, however, of more recent date is 

 stronger than this. The skin shows patches of reddish colour, sugges- 

 tive of course of blood-stains. A small piece of the outside of the 

 skin at the cut edge, which presented the appearance of freshly 

 or comparatively freshly dried fluid, was sul)mitted to a chemical 

 examination and shown to be serum ! Dr. Lonnberg examined 

 chemically a bit of the skin itself and found in it, after boiling, 

 glue, " which proves that the collagen and gelatinous sul)stances 

 are perfectly preserved." After this it seems impossible to suppose 

 that the skin can be of any very great age ; for bacteria would 

 have finished their work upon the serum and gelatine long ago. 

 Combined with the fresh appearance of the skin is the very 

 fresh appearance of the skull. In fact it is impossible to believe 

 that the animal was not alive quite a few years since, relatively 

 speaking. It is admitted that this animal was contemporaneous 

 with man. There are actually legends of a creature which may 

 have been this Glossotherium. " Ancient chroniclers inform us 

 that the indigenous inhabitants recorded the existence of a 



