UNCUS IN ENGLAND, . - , : - 101 



banks of the Ohio must have stood twelve feet 

 high. 



My uncle had before told me that the term 

 mammoth came from Russia ; it is said to be of 

 Tartar origin, derived from mama, which signifies 

 the earth ; for the Siberians believe that elephants 

 of that description still live under ground. He 

 says that their tusks are found in such abun- 

 dance in Eastern Siberia and in the Arctic 

 marshes, that almost the whole of the ivory- 

 turner's work in Russia is made from Siberian 

 fossil ivory, and that it is not at all inferior in 

 quality to the living ivory of Africa and Asia. 

 Although for a long series of years thousands 

 have been annually procured from the banks of 

 the rivers and from the shores of the Frozen Sea, 

 yet they are still collected in abundance. The 

 best fossil ivory is found in the countries within 

 the arctic circle, wheje the ground is thawed at 

 the surface only during their very short summer. 

 The remains of two other huge animals have 

 also been discovered in America, the megathe- 

 rium, about the size of the rhinoceros ; and the 

 megalonix, which was something smaller. From 

 the construction of their teeth they were both 

 herbivorous, and M. Cuvier supposes their pro- 

 digious claws to have been employed in digging 

 up roots. They appear to be different species of 

 the same family; and, though related to the 

 sloth genus, they are, like the mammoth and 



K 3 



