Page:Amazing Stories Volume 21 Number 06.djvu/147

Rh of giant humans because of the oft-times striking resemblance of certain hills or mountains to various parts of the human anatomy, especially the female breast.

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

"The rock of which the Devils Tower is composed closely resembles granite in appearance and is quite similar mineralogically. The fluting which produces the appearance of bark is brought about by columnar rock structure which in turn results from relatively rapid cooling of the molten rock. Such columnar jointing can be observed in formation today in vicinity of volcanos. The columnar rock here is like the now-forming columnar rock in many respects, so many that we cannot attribute it to coincidence.

"As to the over-all shape, it has resulted from the arrangement of the columns as they were formed in response to varying rates of radiation of heat, gases and liquids into rock surrounding the molten mass as it cooled. Four miles to the north-west of here there is a convex-shaped hill of the same sort of rock which displays an arrangement of columns within the mass of such a nature that when erosion and undercutting progress further, certain columns will fall off and the shape of the hill will change from convex to a stump-like structure similar to the Devils Tower.

"In the case of this hill, it will be quite possible in years to come to liken it to a giant tree stump. Its existence, so close to the Devils Tower which also has that appearance, will likely cause visitors of that time to remark upon the similarity of what they see to a "forest" of giant tree stumps. Those who base their conceptions on superficial appearances will be more certain than they are today that there was a time when gigantic trees were in existence. But the records will show, if records for man exist for that long a time, that at least one of these stumps was once just a hill. And a study of the nature of the rock at first hand, which you have not had the privilege of making and which you inqureinquire [sic] about, will show that the only resemblance to a petrified tree stump is in the superficial shape.

"I wish to thank you for writing to us for information, instead of cataloguing this structure as favoring your theory of giantism without attempting any research."

The foregoing is the official statement about the Devils Tower. We want to thank the Park officials for their kind and complete reply to Mr. Shaver's letter. It gives us facts to work on, rather than theory. But let's examine the facts and see what they really are. First, geologists are by no means in agreement with the origin of Devils Tower. They do agree that it is standing free, and not buried in the earth, because erosion freed it. If it was buried in the earth, then at