The Mammoth (Elephas primigenius) was a near relative of the Indian elephant, if not indeed a variety of the same species. One of its characteristics was a woolly covering of brownish hair, rudimentary traces of which have been found in the Indian species.
It was abundant in Europe before the glacial epoch, and seems to have been especially common in Siberia. Lydekker’s Royal Natural History gives a good account of the finding of the mammoth, and the striking fact is noticed that the imports of fossil ivory into England prove that, within a period of twenty years, over 20,000 mammoths must have been discovered.
As Brehm describes, the carcasses are found frozen in the soil, to all appearance just as the animals died, but the explanation of this is obscure. The particular case to which he alludes was one of the earliest finds—by Adams in 1806. Before Adams reached the carcass, which had been known for some years, the dogs of the yakuts had eaten most of the flesh.
See also Vogt’s Natural History of Mammals.
[Note 9] p. 73.—Colour of the Arctic Fox.
On the interesting question of the winter colour-change, Mr. Poulton’s Colours of Animals and Mr. Beddard’s Animal Coloration should be consulted.
[Note 10] p. 75.—Reindeer devouring Lemming.
With reference to Brehm’s statement as to reindeer eating lemming, I may note a report on creditable authority that in the hard winter 1894-5 stags in Aberdeenshire were known to have eaten rabbits.
[Note 11] p. 76.—Migration of the Lemming.
A careful discussion of the strange migratory instinct of the lemming will be found in the late Mr. Romanes’s Mental Evolution in Animals.