THE MAMMOTH 151 



it has not been possible for any scientific institution to 

 avail itself of any of these discoveries so much valuable 

 material has been lost to science. As previously noted, 

 several more or less entire carcasses of the mammoth 

 have been discovered in Siberia, only to be lost; and, 

 while no entire animal has so far been found in Alaska, 

 some day one may yet come to light. That there is 

 some possibility of this is shown by the discovery, 

 recorded by Mr. Dall, of the partial skeleton of a mam- 

 moth in the bank of the Yukon with some of the fat still 

 present, and although this had been partially converted 

 into adipocere, it was fresh enough to be used by the 

 natives for greasing, not then- boots, but their boats. 

 Quite recently Judge Worcester reports the finding of a 

 specimen on which much of the flesh was present and 

 large quantities of the hair and wool. And up to the 

 present time this is the nearest approach to finding a 

 live mammoth in Alaska. 



As to why the mammoth became extinct, we know 

 absolutely nothing, although various theories, some 

 much more ingenious than plausible, have been ad- 

 vanced to account for their extermination they 

 perished of starvation; they were overtaken by floods 

 on their supposed migrations and drowned in detach- 

 ments; they fell through the ice, equally in detachments, 

 and were swept out to sea. But all we can safely say is 

 that long ages ago the last one perished off the face of 

 the earth. Strange it is, too, that these mighty beasts, 

 whose bulk was ample to protect them against four- 

 footed foes, and whose woolly coat was proof against 

 the cold, should have utterly vanished. 



A most ingenious and rather plausible theory has re- 

 cently been advanced by M. Neuville that this was due 

 to the lack of oil glands which were absent in the mam- 

 moth as well as in existing elephants : thus there was no 



