33 



in my fust memoir, have been attributed to n 

 giant; to the hippopotamus; to the elephant ; 

 to some carnivorous animal ; and to some evil 

 spirit, or devil. 



This perversion must be owing to the ne- 

 glect of natural history, or to the insufficient 

 and mutilated evidence alone within the reach 

 of those whose knowledge is contained in their 

 closets, and Avho have never visited the haunts, 

 or become acquainted with the passions, of" the 

 animals whose classification and properties they 

 affect to give. Hence a tooth sent to Paris ; a 

 tusk to London, and some mixed fractions to 

 Philadelphia, decide a different character; to 

 which, however, indolence, and the terror at- 

 tending active enquiry, have assigned the ge- 

 neral name of mammoth. 



Concerning the real origin of so terrific an 

 animal as the megalonyx, various discordant, 

 contradictory theories have been heard, equally 

 repugnant to common sense, and the principles 

 of sound philosophy. Concerning his early 

 existence I may plead the general tradition of 

 the most ancient nations, and of his present 

 existence I feel unwillingness to doubt. There 



D 



