324 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[April 6, 1888. 



usually been noticed in other examples, was in proof of 

 the animal's extinction by miring." 



This skeleton is regarded as the most perfect of mounted 

 ones known. This is a gratifying circumstance, as the 

 greater number which have been removed from their 

 burial places have proved to be greatly decomposed. Often 

 the upper side of the great creature is much decayed, 

 owing to the nearness of the bones to the surface. The 

 only skeleton now in museums which compares to the 

 present one in perfection is that famous one — the Dr. 

 Warren example — which was found in 1S45, near New- 

 burg, N. Y. 



In the present specimen the tusks were so injured that 

 two others were substituted. The jaw is also exhibited 

 with the skeleton, and shows the two remarkable under- 

 tusks which are known to exist at an early age. These 

 lower jaw tusks are obsolescent, being only about six 

 inches in length. In most mandibles of the mastodon 

 which are extant there is more or less of remaining 

 alveolar development, which shows that at some period 

 the creature had the mandible tusks fully grown. 



The great tusks which are used in the skeleton to re- 

 place the decayed ones which were found with it 

 are from an example found in Hoopstown, Illinois. 



The dimensions of this skeleton are as follows : 



Extreme length 18 feet. 



Exclusive of tusks 14 ,, 



Width of pelvis , . . 5 " ,> 



It is the purpose of the American Museum trustees to 

 mount alongside this mastodon the skeleton of the great 

 elephant which Mr. Barnum lost by the late fire. This 

 will afford an opportunity to compare the bones of the 

 largest of Asiatic elephants with a large mastodon. It is 

 well known that the African elephant has some near 

 affinities to the latter, and in the near future a good 

 example of that species will be added to the group. 



The elephant, as contrasted with the mastodon, shows 

 at once a greater height and shorter body. This is very 

 considerable. Perhaps the next important comparison 

 is in the aspect of the fore limbs. In the elephant the 

 fore limbs are columnar, as are the hind limbs. In the 

 mastodon there is a decided aspect more or less of pre- 

 hensile capacity (as it were), that is, the latter have the 

 fore feet approaching the plantigrade in aspect, and the 

 limbs correspondingly adapted for pronation and the 

 opposite. Of course this is slight, but shows the difference 

 in probable habits. The fore limbs of the mastodon, 

 with such development, we should expect, would be able 

 to be thrown over low foliage or brushwood, and a 

 crushing effected by the somewhat expanded manus. No 

 such movement could be effected by Elephas. Although 

 there is a general resemblance in the two great creatures, 

 and especially as both have similar nasal developments, a 

 near view of both together shows many differences in 

 form. 



The teeth are usually spoken of as constituting strong 

 characters. The Molars of the mammoth with projecting, 

 strong tubercular ridges, resemble the teats of a cow. The 

 Greek ntastos, a breast, being the root ; hence mastodon, 

 mastos and odontos, breast-toothed, or nipple-toothed. 



The latter-named kind of teeth are manifestly for 

 crushing the coarse vegetable matter, and this corres- 

 ponds to the probable uses of the fore limbs in crushing 

 down shrubbery. The elephant grinds his food 

 as a horse does. Both creatures, however, have the 

 proboscis, and probably use that member similarly. 



The first notice of the finding of the remains of 

 a mastodon is found in the Transactions of the Royal 

 Society of London, in the year 17 14. Here is a short 

 article in which it is stated that a letter from Cotton 

 Mather, of Boston, New England, to Dr. John Wood- 

 ward, gives a description of some large bones which were 

 found in 1705 at Claverack, in New York State, near 

 Albany. Nothing further appeared until 1740, when De 

 Longueil, a French traveller, discovered some bones at 

 the Salt Lick, in Ohio. 



To Cuvier we are indebted for the first intelligent 

 accounts. Until 1801, little was known of the perfect 

 skeleton. At that time, Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia, ob- 

 tained and set up in his museum an example which was 

 found in Orange county, N. Y. In 1840, Mr Koch found 

 one on the banks of the Missouri River. It is now in the 

 British Museum. Some specimens, single bones, have 

 been taken up in Connecticut, along the Farmington River. 

 The great river which separates New England from New 

 York seems to have been a partial barrier to the passage 

 east of the great beasts. — Scientific America. 



A Plague of Rats. — A recent number of the Pekin 

 Gazette contains a memorial to the Emperor from the 

 Governor of Uliassutai stating that, owing to the appear- 

 ance of swarms ot rats, it has been found necessary to 

 alter the routes of the Government courier service in 

 three of the postal stations in the Khalkha region in 

 Outer Mongolia. For two years past the pasturage of 

 the districts in question has suffered severely from the 

 ravages of these vermin,' and last year nearly every 

 blade of grass was eaten up. The whole country has 

 been honeycombed with their burrows, the horses and 

 camels are in a famishing state, and there is no means 

 of keeping them alive. The burrows are a source of 

 great danger to the mounted couriers, and the want of 

 forage renders it impossible to maintain a supply of 

 animals for the service. 



The Barking Frog. — Mr. F. W. Styan, writing in the 

 Field, describes the " barking frog" of China, which he 

 has had the opportunity of observing. He says : — " It is 

 of very large size, upper parts olive green with purplish 

 brown markings, under parts white, turning to yellow 

 towards the sides, with rich purple blotches, the throat 

 being entirely marbled with them. The surface of the 

 upper part is rough, but in the specimens I have handled 

 I could find no traces of the spines or roughness on the 

 underparts mentioned by Pere David. Its peculiarity, 

 however, lies in its voice, which is precisely like the 

 deep, hoarse bark ot a dog — a big dog like a mastiff. I 

 will undertake to say that nineteen people out of twenty, 

 hearing in the still of evening its deep ' Wough, wough, 

 wough, wough,' uttered with a slight rising inflection, 

 will never suspect it to be anything but a large dog at 

 some distance away. I was deceived by it myself, and 

 did not find out the real source of the bark for a long 

 time, and I have seen many others taken in by it. One 

 party actually sallied out one day, armed with revolvers, 

 and followed by natives carrying long bamboos, to drive 

 the supposed wild beast out of a hole among the rocks, 

 where it appeared to have taken shelter, and whence it 

 declined to be dislodged. For my own part I was only 

 undeceived at last by hearing one strike up within a few 

 feet in a half-hearted kind of way, more of a croak than a 

 bark, and yet sufficiently like the real full blown note to 



