50 FOSSIL MAMMALIA. 



sia, that the inhabitants of Siberia have invented a fable to 

 explain their presence. They have supposed those bones to 

 belong to a subterraneous animal, living like the moles, and 

 unable to endure the light of day. This animal they call 

 Mammoth, according to some etymologists, from the word 

 mamma, which, in some Tartar idiom, signifies the earth, or, 

 according to others, from the Arabian word behemoth, or me- 

 hemothi an epithet which the Arabs still attach to the name of 

 the elephant. The Siberians call the fossil tusks the horns of 

 the mammoth, and they are so numerous and so well preserved, 

 especially in the northern parts, that they are employed for 

 the same purposes as fresh ivory, and form so lucrative an 

 article of commerce that the czars formerly reserved the mo- 

 nopoly of it to themselves. 



The Chinese are acquainted with this fable of the subter- 

 raneous animal, which they call tien-schu, the signification 

 of which word is, mouse that hides itself. They describe 

 it as continually remaining in caverns under ground, resem- 

 bling a mouse in form, but of the size of an ox or buffalo. 

 It is of a dun colour, and has no tail. This is the statement 

 of one writer. Another tells us that its tail is an ell long, the 

 eyes small, and it dies instantly when it sees the rays of the 

 sun or moon. He adds that, during an inundation of the river 

 Tan-schuann-tuy, in 1571, several of these animals were seen 

 in the neighbouring plains. M. Klaproth adds, from a Mant- 

 chu manuscript, that these animals are never found but in cold 

 countries, towards the northern sea ; that the bones resemble 

 ivory, and have no fissures ; and that the flesh is of a cold 

 nature, but very wholesome. 



Those immense rivers that descend to the Icy sea, are con- 

 tinually laying bare the remains of elephants. It was ima- 

 gined by M. Patrin, that they were brought down by those 

 rivers from the neighbouring mountains of India. But there 

 are not fewer remains along those rivers which come from the 

 north, such as the Wolga, the Tanais, and the Jaik ; nor by the 



