FRUIT 40,000,000 YEARS OLD

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 December 1935, Page 10

FRUIT 40,000,000 YEARS OLD

DUG IN PATAGONION WILDS. BUENOS AIRES, November 10. Fossilised fruit some of which retains the beautiful natural lines, although it may be 40,000,000 years old, is featured in a Patagonian collection on public view here by Dr. Franz Mansfield, a German archaelogist, who lias just returned to this capital city after spending five years of study in the cold wilds of the Far South. ■There he has been delving into the secrets of a long-forgotten past which are written in the earth for those who know how to translate them. His collection of fossilized fruit consists for the most part of araucaria (monkey puzzle) fruits which Dr.- Mansfield dates back to the Third Epoch—approximately forty million years ago. Far those who may not be interested in this “modern” fruit be has ni'ne ancient exhibits —some sections ot fossilized palm which thrived in Patagonia at least 150.000,000 years 'I °C. The German claims that the like of his fv'j'.t and wood specimens arc to be found in no other part of the world. Some of them are striking—even beautiful —in colour and design. They have been cut in sections and polished externally to reveal the delightful graining and shades of rare colour. T.ie doctor explained that were they seep in their crude state, just as he dug them up 100 feet belo-.v tne windswept pampas of the Far South, the average person would be unimpressed, oblivious of their antiquity or interest to the archaelogical student. DOWN NEAR THE HORN. Dr. Mansfield’s specimens come from that desolate area bordering on the Magellan Straits where, in prehistoric ages, it is thought, tropical forest and vegetation supplied food for innumerable dinosaurs and other immense creatures long since extinct. His opinion coincides with North American and European natural scientists who made recent visits to the distant territory which they declared, in the long-distant past, abounded in sustenance for animals of 100 to 150 feet in length. This contrasts with present conditions in the territory where sometimes at least five square miles are required to feed one goat. In an interview Dr. Mansfield said he was surprised that the Argentine and Chilean Governments did not sponsor official scientific investigations in their Patagonian lands. The attractions for the archaelogist were endless there, he declared, especially on the tip of the mainland and across the water throughout Tierra del Fuego. “Patagonia,” he said, “is a happy hunting-ground for fossils and holds a rich store of fascinating knowledge of past ages dating back tens of millions of years. The barren nature of the country, with its strong, cold permanent winds from the south and the sand and dust storms, holds back the investigator. “These climatic difficulties, allied with the transportation problem, interfere with the geological and archaeological exploitation of Patagonia. But a rich and almost virgin field is awaiting the men and women who are prepared to brave these difficulties.”

Not only were there fossilised trees and fruits to be found there, he said, but also relics of many now longextinct animals and reptiles. These were to be found usually approximately 100 feet below the surface. He paid tribute to the co-operation vouchsafed by the local authorities.