492 THE RESTORATION OF EXTINCT ANIMALS. 



The restoration of tlie (.•oimiion or American mastodon {Mastodon 

 americonus)^ drawn by Mr. J. M. Gleeson, to accompany this article, 

 may be taken as another example of the methods followed in recon- 

 structing^ extinct animals. 



The mastodon is an elephant, and his general appearance is indicated, 

 but there are certain details some of which are purely deductive and 

 some of which have fortunately been proved for us. The skeleton 

 shows that, taking the skeleton as a whole, the mastodon and African 

 elephant represent two extremes of elephantine structures, the latter 

 being the highest or longest legged, the former })eing for its bulk the 

 lowest, most massive species, known, although low is a comparative 

 term, for the animal attained a height of 10 feet. Yet when the skull 

 and teeth arc considered, these two animals have decided points of 

 resemblance. The skull of the African elephant is flatter than that of 

 the Indian species; the skull of the mastodon is even more depressed, 

 and, as this feature^ would have shown plainly in life, it should be 

 borne in mind in making any restorations. Many mastodon tusks have 

 been found, and thus we know that they were slightly heavier, more 

 abruptly tapering than in the mammoth or Indian elephant, and that, 

 whil(> there was great variety in the curve, in the typical examples 

 from eastern North America they described nearly a half circle. In 

 supplying the mastodon with a trunk it is to be borne in mind that 

 there is a striking diflerence between the trunks of the Asiatic and 

 African elephants, that of the former wrinkling up when bent, as 

 though it were equally elastic throughout, while that of the latter 

 bends, as it were, in sections, suggesting the joints of a telescope. As 

 the skull and teeth of the mastodon are simpler in structure than 

 those of the Indian elephant, and in these particulars more like the 

 corresponding parts of the African elephant, it is a fair inference that 

 the trunk was similar and that it also lacked the finger-like process 

 of the Indian species. The northern mammoth was clad in hair and 

 wool, and, as the mastodon ranged well to the north, it is fair to sup- 

 pose that the more northern individuals were more or less completely 

 clad in hair. And this supposition is substantiated by the discovery 

 noted by Titian Peale of long, coarse, wooly hair, in one of the swamps 

 of Ulster County, N. Y. Thus the restoration of the mastodon repre- 

 sents a proportionately lower, more heavily built elephant than those 

 now living, with recurved tusks and jointed trunk, and clad in fairly 

 long hair. 



Finally, it maj" be gathered from what has been said that, while the 

 restoration of extinct animals is subject to some uncertainties, and 

 mistakes of interpretation are liable to occur, these efforts to reproduce 

 the living forms of past ages are not mere guesswork, but rest upon 

 a solid foundation of scientific facts and careful deductions. 



