THE CARDIFF GIANT -1869 -1870 475 



the number of people who can be induced to adopt it 

 that truth is a matter of majorities. The current of cre 

 dulity seemed irresistible. 



Shortly afterward the statue was raised from its grave, 

 taken to Syracuse and to various other cities, especially 

 to the city of New York, and in each place exhibited as 

 a show. 



As already stated, there was but one thing in the figure, 

 as I had seen it, which puzzled me, and that was the 

 grooving of the under side, apparently by currents of 

 water, which, as the statue appeared to be of our Onon- 

 daga gray limestone, would require very many years. 

 But one day one of the cool-headed skeptics of the val 

 ley, an old schoolmate of mine, came to me, and with 

 an air of great solemnity took from his pocket an ob 

 ject which he carefully unrolled from its wrappings, and 

 said, &quot; There is a piece of the giant. Careful guard has 

 been kept from the first in order to prevent people touch 

 ing it ; but I have managed to get a piece of it, and here 

 it is.&quot; I took it in my hand, and the matter was made 

 clear in an instant. The stone was not our hard Onon- 

 daga gray limestone, but soft, easily marked with the 

 finger-nail, and, on testing it with an acid, I found it, 

 not hard carbonate of lime, but a soft, friable sulphate 

 of lime a form of gypsum, which must have been 

 brought from some other part of the country. 



A healthful skepticism now began to assert its rights. 

 Professor Marsh of Yale appeared upon the scene. For 

 tunately, he was not only one of the most eminent of 

 living paleontologists, but, unlike most who had given an 

 opinion, he really knew something of sculpture, for he 

 had been familiar with the best galleries of the Old 

 &quot;World. He examined the statue and said, &quot;It is of very 

 recent origin, and a most decided humbug. . . . Very 

 short exposure of the statue would suffice to obliterate 

 all trace of tool-marks, and also to roughen the polished 

 surfaces, but these are still quite perfect, and hence the 

 giant must have been very recently buried. ... I am 



