The elephantine remains which have been found in Siberia, have been suppos ed to have belonged to no existing spe cies; for though the teeth are farmed of plates disposed parallel to each other, as in the Asiatic, these plates are said to be thinner, and consequently more numer ous ; but this distinction is by no means es tablished. The remains of elephants dis covered in this country seem referable, in most instances, to the Asiatic.
With respect to the elephant whose re mains have been found in America, the tooth of which differs essentially from all known fossil or recent species, in having its crown cuspidated and covered with enamel, (Plate II. fig. 6 ) there exists at present every reason for supposing it to be of a species now extinct. The gene rally adopted opinion, that this animal was ofa carnivorous nature, is by no means established ; but is indeed contradicted by the assertion, that the stomach of one of these animals has been found filled with vegetable matter. One of these ani mals, with its flesh, skin, and hair, has been lately found in Siberia.
The remains of an animal, of an enor mous size, has been found at Paraguay, at no great distance from the river Plata, which, being properly arranged, has been formed into a skeleton, and placed in the cabinet of natural history at Madrid. This animal, twelve feet in length and six in height, is distinguished, as well as by its general form, by the largeness of its claws; on which account, Mr. Jefferson, who has described some remains of a si milar animal, in the Philosophical Trans actions of Philadelphia, has named it the megalonyx. The celebrated Cuvier has arranged this animal with the sloths ; but Faujas St. Fond, concluding that an animal so enormous was never intended to climb the trunks of trees, thinks he should not be thus classed ; and wishes him to be held, as it were, in reserve, un. til some discoveries should supply us with more satisfactory notions respecting its nature.
In various parts of Scotland, and of France, in Tuscany, the Veronese, and in North America, have been found the fossil remains of some animal, which has been supposed to be a variety a the urus of Julius Czsar, or of the bison.
But these horns, which are of very con siderable size, the bone of each horn ex ceeding two feet in length, appear to have belonged to a different species of animal from any which is at present known. The observations which have been made on these fossils, particularly by the liberal and industrious Faujas St. Fond, give great reason for believing that two species of animals have existed, bearing horns of this enormous magni tude. These remains are found to exist in Siberia along with the bones and horns of the rhinoceros, with the bones and teeth of the mammouthean elephant of Siberia.
To the fossil remains already mention ed, may be added the animal incognitum of Symore, in Languedoc ; the enormous stag, found in the mosses of Ireland ; the gigantic tapir, found at the bottom of the black mountains of Languedoc ; the bears, of two species, now unknown, found in Bareith ; and the numerous animals of unknown species which the admirably in defatigable Cuvier is perpetually discov ering, in that mine of fossils, the quarries of gypsum, near Paris.
Of the mineralized remains of man no well attested instance is known. In a cavern, indeed, in Mendip Hills, some human bones have been found, invest ed with stalactite ; these appear to be but comparatively of modern existence. Scheuchzer published an essay describing a supposed skeleton of a man ; which was undoubtedly the remains of some large fish.
A view of the foregoing sketch cannot but chew, that the study of this science must prove a source of the highest grati fication to every mind that contemplates the works of nature, for the purpose of obtaining a glimpse of the beauty which they display, and of the power which they manifest. By this science we ob tain, not only a knowledge of the peculiar beings which dwelt on this planet'in its antediluvian state, but we also acquire a more correct knowledge of the structure of this globe itself. We at the same time discover the strongest proofs of those changes which it has suffered, and which are recorded in the Holy Scriptures ; whilst our reverential admiration is excited at this wonderful display of the power and providence of the Almighty creator.