The Giants Of Old

The belief in a race of giants was once altnost universal and held until recent years. Even today large skeletons wben fonnd are sometimes reported as being thoseof giant human beings. This was especially trne of the period about the tenth and eleventh centuries, and in the latter a most amazing discovery was reported, which threw the scientiflc world of the time into great exoitement. It was said that the body of Pallas, the son of Evander, had been discovered beneath the tomb of the emperor Henry III. The bones were enormons, and it is unnecessary to state, proved to have belonged to a hnge fossil elephant. As late as the fifteenth tnry a war of words was waged over a j find of large bones, one party claiming ! that they belonged tcthe giant bochus. In 1857 a giant wa3 discovered i in Switzerland. The conncil of Lucerne reqnested a learned scientifio man, Professor Felix Plater of Basel, to report npon it, and he not only annonnced the bones as part of a human giant, but made a complete restoration, showing the man 20 feet high, which the proud city adopted as an ancestor in the arma of the commonwealth. The design and some of the bones can still be seen in the college of Jesuits at Luoerne. Unfortunately for the theory and much to the discomfltnre of tbe people who had raised to a high pinnacle this migbty anoestor, it was fonnd to be the remains of an elephant. Nearly all the mastodon finds in thia country were attributed to giants, but there is no evidence that a human giant ever existed over 8 feet in height, and it is extremely doubtful if this height was ever attained. Qiants other than human are very common in all branches of the animal kingdom - giants in every sense when compared to their pygmy representativos of today. Some years ago some laborers in the Senalik hills of India were engaged npon a government work when they carne npon the remains of a turtle that proved bevond question that these animáis had their giants in the days of old. The shell which the men exposed might have been used as a shelter for several men, and at first, before its bony nature was observed, it was thought by the natives to be a hut of some kind. Fortunately the bones were uninjured, and they were taken out and removed to tbe British museum, where a complete restoration of the animal may be seen. The length of the turtle was 10 feet, its horizontal circumference 25 feet, and its girth 15 feet, but it was estimated by scientists that this was not an adult, and that when fully grown this hnge creature would display a domelike back 8 or 9 feet high, giving a total length of 20 feet. One of the common animáis in equatorial South Amerioa and in Central America is the lizard, iguana, which attains a length of 4 or 5 feet and is coneidered a large lizard, but it was a pygmy when compared to an ancestor that once wandered over England and various portions of tbe world. A number of years ago some workingmen were excavating and blasting in a quarry near Maidstone, England, when some bones were uncovered that caused profound astonishment on the part of the finders. The skeleton was perfect, and as it was lifted out, bone by boue, their amazement increased, and the uews was spread all over the country, attracting largo numbers of people. When the bones were placed in their proper position, they were found to be the skeleton of a gigantio lizard that when alive must have been three times as bulky as the largest living elephant and stood upon its bind legs like a kangaroo, tearing down branches from the highest trees. Such an animal was a slow mover and sluggish and must have fallen an easy prey to the human hnntors, if they existed. The marine gianta were even more bizarre and remarkable than the land forms. If we can imagine the little iguana lengthened out to 30 feet, its back spines changed to broad finlike objects, we form some idea of the appearance of one of the small dinosaurs, Stegosaurus úngula tus, one of the most uncanny and remarkable creatures ever found. It is oalled the plated lizard, and the best skeleton was found on the eastern flank of tbe Rocky Mountains. Some of the plates with whioh this armored lizard were protected were two or three feet in diameter and the spines over two feet in length. From the fact that the bind lirubs were the largest, it is evident that this strange creature could lift itself up and sit like a kangaroo, resting upon its powerful tail, which, with its enormous spines, must have been a terrible weapon. A giant from America had a skull that measured eight feet in length. Altnost over the eyes were two large horns, a tbird placed over the nose. The great length of the skull was given by a huge crest that was protected by a ridge of long plates. The mouth of the triceratops was protected by a horny beak. In life it must have presented a formidable appearance, with a body clunisy and low like that of a hippopotamus, a long tail like an alligator 's, its head calling to mind the rhinoceros. This monster was 25 feet in length and must have been one of the strangest animáis of its