44. 



it is certain such a one has existed in America, 

 and that it has been the largest of all terrestrial 

 beings. It should have sufficed to have rescued 

 the earih it inhabited and the atmosphere it 

 breathed, from the imputation of impotence in 

 the conception and nourishment of animal life 

 on a large scale ; to have stifled in its birth, the 

 opinion of a writer *, the most learned too of 

 all others in the science of animal history, that, 

 in the n-ew world, ' La nature vivante est beau- 

 coup moins agissante, beaucoup moins forte :* 

 That nature is less active, les energetic on one 

 side of the globe than she is on the other." ' 



It was my intention to have closed this ac- 

 count with Dr. Dunter's essay, whose accuracy 

 in the examination, and knowledge in the dis- 

 crimination of those few bones which were with- 

 in his reach, had already given to his opinion the 

 weight of unquestionable authority ; but as his 

 paper was somewhat long, and as the facts since 

 he wrote are more numerous, and subject in the 

 skeleton which we have, to the examination of 

 every one ; I shall only introduce his concluding 

 sentence, that, " If this animal was indeed car- 

 nivorous, which I believe cannot be doubted, 



* BufFon. 



