Gigantic A rmour of an Extinct Animal. 6 1 



ing fields of his entire voyage, and nearly a week 

 was spent in working over what appeared to be the 

 graves of innumerable monsters of the olden time. 

 He discovered at the base of the lofty cliff a stratum 

 containing sea-shells and sharks' teeth, while higher 

 up came a red clay earth, which contained the re- 

 mains of some remarkable forms. 



Darwin read the explored section zs the pages of 

 a book, assuming that here was once a large bay of 

 salt water, which had gradually been encroached 

 upon, and into which the bodies of huge animals 

 had been swept and buried. Out on the pampas be- 

 yond Bajada he came upon a wonderful deposit, in 

 which he unearthed the gigantic armour of an extinct 

 armadillo-like animal, which he compared to a huge 

 caldron, large enough for several men to find protec- 

 tion in. In the vicinity were the remains of a mas- 

 todon, showing that the elephant once roamed the 

 plains. With these was a horse's tooth, of which 

 Darvvin wrote in his note-book : " This latter tooth 

 greatly interested me, and I took scrupulous care in 

 ascertaining that it had been embedded contempora- 

 neously with the other remains, for I was not then 

 aware that amongst the fossils from Bahia Blanca 

 there was a horse's tooth hidden in the matrix, nor 

 was it then known with certainty that the remains of 

 horses are common in South America. Mr. Lyell 

 has lately brought from the United States a tooth of 

 a horse, and it is an interesting fact that Professor 

 Owen could find, in no species, either fossil or recent, 

 a slight but peculiar curvature characterising it, until 

 he thought of comparing it with my specimen found 



