22 4 



EXTINCT MONSTERS. 



The bones with which Mazuyer practised his famous deception 

 were those of a Mastodon (see p. 196). 



Contemporary with the Mammoth in Siberia and in Northern 

 and Western Europe, was the " Woolly Rhinoceros " (Rhinoceros 

 tichorhinus). Its body has been found in frozen soil in Siberia, 

 with the skin, the two horns, the hair, and even the flesh pre- 

 served, as in the case of the Mammoth. It had a smooth skin 

 without folds, covered with a fine curly and coarse hairy coat, 

 to enable it to withstand the rigours of an arctic climate. The 



FIG. 55. Head of Woolly Rhinoceros, partly restored by M. Deslongchamps. 



traveller Pallas gives a long account of one of these creatures, 

 which was taken out of the ice, with its skin, hair, and flesh pre- 

 served. The following is a brief summary of his narrative. The 

 body was observed in December, 1771, by some Jakuts near the 

 river Vilui, which discharges itself into the Lena below Jakutsk in 

 Siberia, latitude 64 north. It lay in frozen sand upon the banks 

 of the river A certain Russian inspector had sent on to Irkutsk 



