Our planet, its past and future; or, Lectures on geology . n in Siberia from south tonorth, that their bodies may have been floated many hun-dred miles from a warmer country to the spot where theybecame embedded in ice. The bulky carcass of a mam-moth or rhinoceros would float a long way before dis-integrating by putrefiction. This occurring in theLena towards winter, when there is ice at its mouth,it might be frozen in, and preserved for ages. Thisexplanation is, hcwever, I think, inadequate to accountfor the facts. In the drift have likewise been found two speciesof the horse (one the size o
Our planet, its past and future; or, Lectures on geology . n in Siberia from south tonorth, that their bodies may have been floated many hun-dred miles from a warmer country to the spot where theybecame embedded in ice. The bulky carcass of a mam-moth or rhinoceros would float a long way before dis-integrating by putrefiction. This occurring in theLena towards winter, when there is ice at its mouth,it might be frozen in, and preserved for ages. Thisexplanation is, hcwever, I think, inadequate to accountfor the facts. In the drift have likewise been found two speciesof the horse (one the size of the common horse, andthe other that of the zebra), two species of camels, agigantic musk-ox, a giraffe, deer of various kinds, andthe great Irish elk. The remains of the great Irish elk, 3Iegaceros Hiher-nicus (great horn of Ireland), Fig. 52, are found abuu-da:itly in peat-bogs and marl-pits in Ireland, so that it 260 LECTURES ON GKOLOGY. is not considered ;i curiosity. It is found also in tlicIsle of Man, England, France, Germany, and Italy. Fig. Jlc^iiceros Ililjeriiicus. Ireland was, perhaps, where they lived most recently,as their remains are lound there in better preservatit)n,and in greater abundance. One perfect skeleton was ft)und there, which is nowin the museum of the lloyal Dublin Society. From thetip of one horn to the tip of the other, it measures twelvefeet, less two inches ; and from the ground to the highestpoint of the horn, nearly ten feet and a half. Theweight of the skull of one, without the lower jaw, wasfive pounds and a quarter; while the same skull withlower jaw and anthers was eighty-seven pounds. probably existed coeval with this enormous Germany, there were lound in the same drain severalUius and stone hatciiets, and a head of tliis extinct Ireland, a human body was found, under eleven feetof peat, in good |ireservation, and clad in garmentsmade, ap])arently, of the hair of this animal. Thereexists a rib in l)nl)lin, whi
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