Discovering the Mammoth

by John J. McKay

  p. 20Riolan on unicorn—Riolan, Gigantologie, pp. 46–47.

  p. 20Ctesias—Shepherd, pp. 26–29.

  p. 21Megasthenes—Beer, p. 14.

  p. 22Physiologus—Ibid., pp. 44–71.

  p. 24“effectuall cure”—Ibid., p. 184.

  p. 24Purity tests—Shepherd, pp. 116–119.

  p. 24Marini—Shepherd, pp. 158–161. His marine animal could mean narwhal tooth or walrus ivory. See chapter 2.

  p. 25Marini—Shepherd, pp. 158–161.

  p. 25Bacci—Ibid., pp. 161–163.

  p. 26Discours and Reponse—Ginsburg, pp. 190–191.

  p. 27Riolan—Cohen, pp. 33–37.

  p. 28L’imposture—Morand, pp. 103–105.

  p. 29Letters—Habicot, pp. 70–73.

  p. 29Gilles—Gillio.

  p. 31Peiresc and d’Arcos—Godard, pp. 68–69.

  p. 31The elephant of Claude de Lorraine—Gandilhon.

  p. 31“I was curious enough”—Godard, p. 69.

  p. 32Nivolet to Peiresc—Tamizey, “Un Document”

  p. 32Peiresc on the coin and the tomb—Ginsburg, pp. 187–188.

  p. 33The last tooth—Ibid., p. 213.

  p. 33Krems discovery—Merian, p. 934.

  p. 34Able and Angerer identify the tooth—Angerer.

  p. 35Theophrastus—Mayor, The First, p. 274.

  p. 35Quedlinburg—Guericke, p. 155.

  p. 36Mäyern illustration—Valentini, p. 481.

  p. 36About Mäyern—Krafft, p. 202.

  p. 37Protogaea—Leibnitz, xxxvii–xlii.

  p. 37Seeländer—Krafft, pp. 178–9.

  p. 38Early ID as rhinoceros—Gottfried Adrian Müller, pp. 345–346.

  p. 38Fraas—Fraas, pp. 38–40.

  p. 38Abel reconstruction—Cohen, p. 45.

  p. 39Dublin elephant—A.M. [Allen Mullen], pp. 3–42.

  CHAPTER 2

  p. 42Ohthere’s voyage—Hofstra and Samplonius, p. 239.

  p. 42“Chiefly he went thither”—Bosworth, pp. 9–10.

  p. 43Olaf, Karli, and Thorir—Hofstra and Samplonius, pp. 240–241.

  p. 44Williamson—referenced in Walker, pp. 54–55.

  p. 44al-Muqaddasi—Christian, p. 7.

  p. 44al-Biruni—Laufer, “Arabic and Chinese trade,” p. 316.

  p. 45Even imported into India—Laufer, Ivory in China, pp. 49–50.

  p. 45al-Gharnati—Ibid., p. 32.

  p. 45Old Chinese sources—Ibid., pp. 24–25.

  p. 46Kangxi & Tulishen—Ibid., pp. 26–28.

  p. 47Sushen—Ibid., pp. 52–53.

  p. 48Appearence of ku-tu—Ibid., pp. 53–56.

  p. 48Different types of ivory mixed—Ibid., pp. 35–37.

  p. 49Novgorodian expasion—Armstrong, Russian Settlement, pp. 10–15.

  p. 49Mansi etymology—Heaney, p. 109.

  p. 50Digges’s failure—The Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 15, p. 69.

  p. 50James—Heaney, p. 103.

  p. 50Logan—Logan, p. III, iii, 546.

  p. 51Finch—Finch., p. III, iii, 538.

  p. 51Earliest known record—Helimski, pp. 353.

  p. 52Desceliers 1550 map—Van Duzer, The World for a King, pp. 47–59.

  p. 52The elephant—Ibid. pp. 82, 165, 185, nn. 270–273.

  p. 52Maps, animals, monsters—George, pp. 21 ff.

  p. 521553 map—The original was destroyed in a fire; only photographs taken before 1915 survive.

  p. 53Dieppe school—Toulouse, pp. 1550–1554, and Van Duzer, World, pp. 13–25.

  p. 531546 Dauphine Map—Currently in the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester.

  p. 531547 Vallard Atlas—Currently at the Huntington Library in Los Angeles.

  p. 53Waldseemüller 1516 Carta Marina—Seaver, “‘A very common and usuall trade’” p. 13, and Duzer, Carta Marina.

  p. 54Albert’s description of walrus hunting—Borgnet, pp. 515–517.

  p. 55Magnus 1539 Carta Marina—Only two copies have survived. One is at Uppsala University in Sweden and the other in the Bavarian State Library.

  p. 55Magnus on the walrus—Magnus, pp. 757–758.

  p. 56Herberstein—Herberstein, p. 112.

  CHAPTER 3

  p. 59Witsen in Moscow—Peters, pp. 37–45.

  p. 61Importance of the fur trade in the sixteenth century—Fisher, chap. 2.

  p. 62Rise of the Stroganovs—Lincoln, pp. 33–40.

  p. 63Yermak—Ibid., pp. 41–47, and Bobrick, pp. 41–45.

  p. 63Peak of the fur trade—Fisher, pp. 96–103.

  p. 64Witsen discovers Mammot ivory—the longest account is in Witsen, Noord en Oost (1785), pp. 742–748.

  p. 64Mention in shipbuilding books—Witsen, Aeloude, p. 4, and Witsen, Architectura, p. 4.

  p. 65Protogaea—Leibniz, Protogaea p. 99.

  p. 65Tentzel—see chapter 5.

  p. 67Sophia during the rebellion of 1682—Hughes, pp. 52–88.

  p. 68Struggle for the Amur—Lincoln, pp. 64–71, and Bobrick, pp. 79–88.

  p. 69The emperor strikes back and the treaty of Nerchinsk—Bobrick, pp. 88–95.

  p. 69Tolerating plagiarism—Peters, pp. 180–181.

  p. 69Dedicated to Peter—Keuning, p. 98.

  p. 70Winius as a map source—Ibid., p. 99.

  p. 71Letter of thanks—Ibid., p. 103.

  p. 71Advice on China and Persia—Peters, pp. 113–116.

  p. 721692 mammoth—Witsen, Noord en Oost (1692), pp. 472–473.

  p. 73Burnet—Gould, pp. 30–41.

  p. 74Ides biography—Hundt, pp. 1–8.

  p. 75Ides mammoth—Ides, pp. 25–27.

  p. 77Ludolf background—Simmons, pp. 104–107.

  p. 78Ludolf mammoth—Ludolfi, p. 92.

  p. 79Hooke—Hooke, p. 438.

  p. 80Peter in Amsterdam—Peters, pp. 124–127.

  p. 80Letter to Cuper—Gebhard, pp. 296–299.

  p. 82Avril mammoth—Avril, pp. 175–178.

  p. 82Avril deported—Hughes, pp. 208–209.

  CHAPTER 4

  p. 86Treatment of prisoners—Massie, pp. 638–640.

  p. 86Ivory carvers—Lange, p. 12.

  p. 86Corruption of Gargarin—Massie, p. 930.

  p. 87Müller’s report—Johann Bernard Müller, pp. 50–52.

  p. 89Society meeting and drawing—Nordenskiold.

  p. 90Might be a Siödiur—Hag, p. 56.

  p. 91Lost tribes—Rudbeck.

  p. 91Sparwenfeld’s analysis—Hag, p. 62.

  p. 92Probably Capt. Tabbert—Hag, p. 63.

  p. 93Strahlenberg background—Ehrensvärd, p. 23.

  p. 93Messerschmidt—Vermeulen, chap. 3.

  p. 93Strahlenberg at the society—Hag, p. 64.

  p. 94Bell on Strahlenberg—John Bell, vol. 1, pp. 191–192.

  p. 94Strahlenberg’s map—Ehrensvärd, pp. 24–25.

  p. 94Tatar Chronicle—Ehrensvärd, p. 26.

  p. 94Mamatowa Kost—Strahlenberg, pp. 402–406.

  p. 96Remezov—Bagrow, “Semyon Remezov.”

  p. 97Background to Tatishchev’s trip to Sweden—Dunér, pp. 933–936.

  p. 97Tatishchev’s paper—Tatischow.

  p. 99Linné—Hag, pp. 70–71.

  CHAPTER 5

  p. 101Tonna discovery—There all several accounts of the discovery. All agree closely. I have used the version Tentzelii “Epistola de sceleto” published in Philosophical Transactions.

  p. 102Submit briefs—Collett, p. 168.

  p. 102Doctors’ brief—Anon. [Schnetter].

  p. 103Tentzel’s public presentation—Tentzel, Monatliche, April 1696, pp. 297–498.

  p. 104Two hundred years old—Ibid., p. 309.

  p. 104“The use of ivory”—Tentzel, “Epistola de sceleto,” n.p.

  p. 105May letter from Leibniz—Leibniz, Sämtliche, vol. 12, p. 602.

  p. 106Appeal to Magliabechi—Tentzel, “Epistola de sceleto,” n.p.

  p. 107Boccone traveled to Gotha—Collet. p. 176.

&n
bsp; p. 108Additional correspondence with Leibniz—Leibniz, Sämtliche, vol. 12, pp. 618, 639, 653, 661, 707, and 748.

  p. 108Assures Leibniz that he does not mean extinction—Leibniz, ibid., vol. 13, p. 204.

  p. 108Scala naturae—Wilkins, pp. 50–53.

  p. 110Steno and glossopetrae—Cutler, pp. 53–62.

  p. 110Steno’s geology—Ibid., pp. 93–122.

  p. 111Early societies and journals—Rappaport, Chap. 1.

  p. 111Origin of the Royal Society—Ibid., pp. 20–26.

  p. 112Mentions Witsen and Ludolf’s mammoths—Tentzel, Monatliche, January 1697, pp. 52–53.

  p. 114Disappointed with the society’s response—Collet, pp. 176–177, n. 530.

  p. 114Cannstatt discovery—Spleiss, n.p.

  p. 115Prodigious Os Frontis—Molyneux, “Part of 2 Letters.”

  p. 115Molyneux antlers—Molyneux, “A Discourse Concerning.”

  p. 116Nevile and Molyneux elephant—Nevile, “A Letter,” and Molyneux, “Remarks.”

  p. 117Sloan’s first paper—Sloane, “An Account.”

  p. 118Sloan’s second paper—Sloane, “Of Fossile Teeth.”

  p. 120De Bruyn, Schober, Lange & Bell—Vermeulen, p. 116.

  p. 121Breyne recommends Messerschmidt—Ibid.

  p. 121Messerschmidt heartbroken—Messerschmidt, p. 100.

  p. 122Messerschmidt’s mammoth—Breyne, pp. 137–138.

  p. 122Bones to Breyne—Vermeulen, p. 121.

  p. 124Creating the academy—Black, pp. 8–13, and Vucinich, pp. 70–72.

  p. 124Bering’s first voyage—Lincoln, pp. 100–106, and Bobrick, pp. 150–156.

  p. 124Messerschmidt and Bering—Vermeulen, p. 120.

  p. 124Messerschmidt goes home—Vermeulen, p. 123.

  p. 124Strahlenberg on Messerschmidt—Strahlenberg, p. ii.

  p. 124Messerschmidt called back to St. Petersburg—Vermeulen, p. 124.

  p. 125Planning the Second Kamchatka—Bobrick, pp. 161–166, and Black, pp. 51–53.

  p. 125Academics depart—Black, pp. 53–55.

  p. 125“uncooperative officials, impassable landscapes, and Siberian mosquitoes”—Ibid., pp. 61–63.

  p. 125Friction with Bering—Ibid., p. 65.

  p. 126Müller on mammoths—Gerhard Müller, pp. 561–563.

  p. 126Gmelin’s ox skulls—Gmelin, Reise, pp. 152–154.

  p. 127Steller background—Stejneger, pp. 8–66.

  p. 127Steller and Messerschmidt—Ibid., pp. 81–84.

  p. 127Steller goes east—Ibid., pp. 144–148.

  p. 128Failed trip to Kolyma—Ibid., pp. 81–84, and Stellero, p. 293.

  p. 128Stejneger believes—Stejneger, pp. 407–408.

  p. 129Delisle’s spying—Breitfuss, pp. 90–92.

  CHAPTER 6

  p. 131Flower Wars—This explanation, given by Montezuma himself, has been challenged by recent historians. See, for example, Isaac.

  p. 131Tlaxcala bone story—Díaz del Castillo, p. 286.

  p. 132Probable species—Mayor, Fossil Legends, p. 78.

  p. 132Mayor looks for the bone—Ibid., p. 77.

  p. 132Others in Mexico—Acosta, vol. II, pp. 453–454; Hererra y Tordesillas, fol. 23; Torrubia pp. 76–78.

  p. 133Cieza and Zárate—Cieza de Léon, pp. 189–191, Zárate, pp. 16–18.

  p. 134Witsen—Witsen, Aeloude, p. 3.

  p. 134Boston News-Letter—Stanford, p. 47.

  p. 134Cornbury’s letter—Ibid., p. 48.

  p. 134Cornbury’s unpopularity—Semonin, p. 17.

  p. 135Dudley to Mather—Stanford, pp. 49–50.

  p. 135Taylor on Indian reaction—Ibid., p. 53.

  p. 135Mather’s low period—Levin, pp. 752–753, Semonin, pp. 27–29.

  p. 136Text of Mather’s letter—Levin, pp. 761–770.

  p. 137Society’s response—Mather, pp. 62–63.

  p. 137Catesby—Catesby, p. vii.

  p. 138First campaign against the Chickasaw—Atkinson, 43–61.

  p. 139Composition of Longueuil’s army—“Une Expédition Canadienne,” pp. 181–182.

  p. 140Shawnee reinforcements—Stevens and Kent, p. 5.

  p. 141de Lery’s map—Ibid., p. 4.

  p. 141Fabry’s account of the discovery—Buffon, vol. 11, p. 171

  p. 141The second campaign—Atkinson, pp. 66–73.

  p. 141Mandeville’s incorrect date—Stevens, pp. 6–67.

  p. 141Bossu’s incorrect date—Bossu, p. 206.

  p. 142Guettard—Guettard, pp. 349–351.

  p. 142Source of Guettard’s tooth—Tassy, pp. 270–273.

  p. 144Gist and Smith—Semonin, pp. 92–94.

  p. 144Mary Ingles—Thompson, pp. 12–15.

  p. 145Shawnee peace gift—Semonin, p. 100.

  p. 145Kenny and Sutton—Hedeen, pp. 39–40.

  p. 146Collinson letters—Ibid., pp. 40–41.

  p. 146The prodigious Mahmout—Buffon, vol. 9, p. 126.

  p. 147Daubenton on femurs—Daubenton, pp. 207–214.

  p. 147Daubenton on teeth—Ibid., pp. 217–224.

  p. 148Elephant in Buffon, Natural History, vol. 11 and hippo in vol. 12.

  p. 148Turquoise teeth—Reamur.

  p. 149Croghan’s trips—Semonin, pp. 104–110.

  p. 149Gordon at Big Bone Lick—Hedeen, p. 43.

  p. 150Franklin to Croghan—Semonin, p. 138.

  p. 150Franklin sends a tooth to Abbé Chappe—Ibid., p. 141.

  p. 151Collinson’s letters—Collinson, “An Account,” and Collinson, “Sequel.”

  p. 151Hunter’s researches—Hunter, pp. 34–38.

  p. 152Shelburne’s questionaire—Ibid., pp. 38–40.

  p. 152Hunter’s conclusions—Ibid., pp. 44–45.

  CHAPTER 7

  p. 153Fossil Bones—Diederot, ed., Encyclopédie, vol. 7, pp. 686–687.

  p. 153Behemoth—Ibid., vol. 2, p. 191.

  p. 153Mammoth—Ibid., vol. 10, p. 7.

  p. 154Fossil Ivory—Ibid., vol. 9, pp. 63–64.

  p. 155Voltaire—Mervaud, pp. 119–120.

  p. 156Peter’s orders—Cohen, pp. 64–65.

  p. 157Middendorf—Middendorff, pp. 278–279.

  p. 157Mammoth coast—Petermann map.

  p. 157Betskoi’s plan and Büsching’s recommendation—Black, pp. 161–162, 166.

  p. 158Pallas and Messerschmidt’s journals—Vermeulen, p. 125.

  p. 158Pallas publishes Müller—Black, p. 187.

  p. 158Pallas’s first paper—Pallas, “De ossibus Sibiriae.”

  p. 159Müller’s instructions—Black, p. 177.

  p. 159“from the Don”—Pallas, “De reliquiis,” p. 576.

  p. 160Vilui rhinoceros—Pallas, Reise durch, pp. 98–101.

  p. 160Brandt illustration—Brandt, “Observationes.”

  p. 161Camper’s conclusions—Camper, “Dissertatio,” pp. 202–205.

  p. 161Pallas’s comments—Ibid., pp. 210–212.

  p. 161Javan rhinoceros—Rookmaaker et al., p. 125.

  p. 162Dr. Morgan’s collection—Bell, p. 171.

  p. 162Michaelis views the bones—Ibid.

  p. 163Michaelis’s conclusions—Ibid., pp. 173–174.

  p. 163Camper convinced—Ibid., pp. 174–175.

  p. 163Morgan sells the bones—Ibid., pp. 175–176.

  p. 163Pallas on origin of mountains—Oldroyd, pp. 83–84.

  p. 164Great eastern flood—Greene, pp. 72–73.

  p. 164Religious reaction to Buffon’s geological theory—Rudwick, Bursting, pp. 141–142.

  p. 164The epochs—Ibid., pp. 144–147.

  p. 165Lyakhov—Cohen, p. 66.

  p. 165Buffon’s experiments—Oldroyd, p. 91.

  p. 166Changes during the sixth Epoch—Buffon, Sup. 5, pp. 191–224.

  p. 167New World degeneracy—Dugatkin, chap 2.

  p. 168Marbois—Ibid., pp. 63–64.

  p. 168Jefferson on the mammoth—Jefferson, pp. 55–62.

  p. 168Jefferson and Buffon—Semonin, pp. 220�
�230.

  p. 170Buffon on classification schemes—Dear, pp. 50–51.

  p. 170Blumenbach categories—Blumenbach, “Einige Naturhistorische,” pp. 13–24.

  p. 170Blumenbach names—Blumenbach, Handbuch, pp. 696–698.

  p. 171Cuvier background—Rudwick, Georges Cuvier, pp. 13–16.

  p. 171Geoffroy and Stadtholder’s collection—Rudwick, Bursting, pp. 354–356.

  p. 172First version of elephant paper—Cuvier “Mémoires,” in Magasin Encyclopedique.

  p. 173Bru and the Megatherium—Rudwick, Bursting, pp. 356–360.

  p. 173Bru and Cuvier—Rudwick, Georges Cuvier, p. 26, n. 1.

  p. 175Second version of elephant paper—Cuvier “Mémoires,” in Journal de physique.

  p. 175Addendum—Ibid., p. 22.

  p. 175An international effort—Rudwick, Georges Cuvier, pp. 42–45.

  p. 175His own contribution—Ibid., pp. 59–63.

  p. 175The mastodon genre—“Sur le Grande Mastodonte,” in Cuvier, Recherches.

  p. 176“bubby toothed”—Semonin, p. 355.

  CHAPTER 8

  p. 179The only description of the discovery is in Adams, “Some account of a journey.”

  p. 180fifty rubles in goods—In 1800, the imperial ruble was worth 1.2 grams of pure gold. As I write this the, the price of gold is down a bit; sixty grams of gold is worth about $2,400. But the difference in lifestyles between the Batouline and my neighbors is broad enough to make numbers almost meaningless. Fifty rubles was more cash than the entire community saw in five or ten years.

  p. 180Boltunov’s drawing—Baer, “Fortsetzung,” pp. 532–534.

  p. 180Boltunov’s description—Boltunov.

  p. 182Only four more—Tolmachoff, pp. 21–23.

  p. 182Pallas’s rhino—see chapter 7.

  p. 182Adams’s backgtound—“Adams, Mikhail Fredrikh,” Russian Biographical Dictionary, p. 60.

  p. 182Krusenstern on China—Krusenstern, pp. xxiv–xxxii.

  p. 183Trade at Kiakhta—Ibid., pp. xxii–xxiv.

  p. 184Golovkin’s embassy departs—Anon. [Klaproth], pp. 16–23.

  p. 185Rezanov’s mission—Krusenstern, pp. 281–287.

  p. 185Tilesius backgtound—De Bersaques, pp. 563–570.

  p. 186Patapov’s mammoth—Tilesio, “De skeleto,” 424–426.

  p. 186Golovkin held at Kiakhta—Anon. [Klaproth], pp. 26.

  p. 186Pared-down embassy—Ibid., p. 30.

  p. 187Golovkin ordered to kowtow—Ibid., pp. 41–45.

  p. 187Ordered to leave China—Timkowky and Klaproth, pp. 130–134.

  p. 188Adams in Yakutsk—Michael Adams, p. 142.

  p. 189Adams’s herbarium sibiricum forwarded to the academy—Anon. “Nachtrag,” p. 245.