reported the finding of some bones of a mastodon, about 6 years
previously, on the south side of Wicker Park, near Milwaukee Avenue,
Evanston. The bones were in a layer of fine sand in which were trunks of
oak trees. The depth was 13 feet. The remark was made that the level
marked the upper or late limit of the mastodon.
27. See page 105.
WISCONSIN.
(Map 5.)
1. _Dover, Racine County._—In the Milwaukee Public Museum is a tusk,
identified as that of a mastodon, exhumed from a peat-bog at Dover, in
1878. Both tusks and some fragments of a scapula, some ribs, and
vertebræ were found, but apparently no teeth. Only one tusk was saved; 4
feet 8 inches long and moderately curved, the middle of the concave
surface being about 6 inches below a line joining the base and the tip
of the tusk.
Dover is situated near the southern border of Racine County, in the
southwestern corner of township 3 north, range 20 east. It is,
therefore, within the great composite moraine which runs along the
western side of Lake Michigan. According to Alden’s map (Prof. Paper
106, U. S. Geol. Surv., plate III) the town is on a tract covered by
ground moraine of the Lake Michigan glacier.
2. _Waukesha, Waukesha County._—In the Milwaukee Public Museum is a
slightly worn upper hindermost molar of a mastodon, No. 3867, labeled as
having been found at Waukesha. There is no other history. The geological
age is probably practically the same as that of the tooth found at
Dover, Late Wisconsin.
3. _Madison, Dane County._—The records for mastodons at Madison are not
very satisfactory.
Professor Eliot Blackwelder informs the writer that there is in the
collection at the State University of Wisconsin a large vertebra,
supposed to be that of a mastodon, brought up out of Lake Monona, in
1906.
Professor C. A. Davis informed the author that in 1908 he visited the
fill in one of the city parks made by pumping mud from Lake Monona and
found fragments of ivory and parts of proboscidean bones. It is possible
that these fragments belonged to an elephant.
4. _Bluemounds, Dane County._—In 1862 J. D. Whitney, in his “Report on
the Geological Survey of the Upper Mississippi Land Region,” page 132,
mentions having found, at Bluemounds, the first 3 deciduous molars of
the mastodon, exquisitely preserved and not at all discolored. Dr.
Jeffries Wyman, in Whitney’s report, on pages 421, 422, referred to
these milk molars. Whitney in 1866 (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. I, p.
162) stated that he had found in a crevice near Bluemounds bones and
teeth of mastodon, peccary, buffalo, and wolf.
5. _Lone Rock, Richland County._—Professor Eliot Blackwelder, of the
Wisconsin State University, informs the writer that there is in their
collection a pair of tusks, supposed to be of a mastodon. They were
found somewhere about Lone Rock in 1901, which is on the northern bank
of the Wisconsin River, in the southeastern corner of Richland County.
6. _Sinsinawa, Grant County._—In his report on the geology of the lead
region, already referred to, J. D. Whitney stated, on his page 133, that
the greatest quantity of bones of the mastodon found in that region
seems to have been near Sinsinawa mound, but he had no exact particulars
of depth or position. Some were preserved at the locality for several
years; others, to the amount of several bushels, were carried off or
destroyed.
7. _Wauzeka, Crawford County._—In the collection of the Public Museum of
Milwaukee is an upper last molar, found at the place named. It is only
slightly worn and nearly white in color. Nothing is known about the
exact place or under what conditions it was found.
8. _Richland Center, Richland County._—Professor George Wagner of the
Wisconsin State University, has informed the writer that there is in
that university an almost complete skeleton of a mastodon, found at the
place named. No particulars are known to the present writer regarding
the history of the specimen.
9. _Menomonie, Dunn County._—Professor S. Weidman, of the Wisconsin
Geological and Natural History Survey, informed the writer that in the
brick clays used at Menominee had been found a part of a leg-bone of a
mastodon. Dr. Weidman was kind enough to send the bone for examination.
It proved to be the distal end of the right humerus, including the
epiphysial part. The interior of the bone had been neatly excavated, as
if by a tool of some kind, the marks of which remained, which proved to
be the jaws of a wolf. He had evidently been after the marrow and had
scraped out all of the part filled by cancellated bone. The explanation
appears to be that the mastodon had in some way broken an arm and had
died. The wolves then proceeded to devour him; they could not have
broken the limb themselves.
The finding of the bone shows that these clays belong to the
Pleistocene. In a sand formation underlying the clays a caribou antler
and bones of the Mackinaw trout, _Cristivomer namaycush_, have been
found. Professor Weidman regards the clays as being of pre-Iowan age.
MARYLAND.
(Map 5.)
1. _St. Mary’s City, St. Mary’s County._—The U. S. National Museum (No.
200) contains a fine upper left hindermost molar of _Mammut americanum_,
labeled as presented by Mr. J. Varden and as found many years ago in a
marl-bed at or near the town named. It was probably met in digging for
Miocene marl, but was doubtless inclosed in overlying Pleistocene
materials. According to Shattuck’s Pleistocene map of Maryland
(Pleistocene volume, plate I), St. Mary’s City is situated on the
Wicomico terrace; but because of absence of exact information whether
the tooth was in the body of this deposit, or below it, or possibly in
later materials above the Wicomico, its exact age can not be determined.
Teeth from the locality were mentioned by Lucas on page 162 of the
volume just cited. The geology of the county is described in a special
volume of the Maryland Survey, 1907.
2. _St. Clements, St. Mary’s County._—The U. S. National Museum contains
a lower right hindermost molar, found long ago, apparently 1837, and
presented by A. McWilliams. It is recorded as having been discovered in
digging a mill-race at or above St. Clements. This race must quite
certainly have been located along St. Clements Creek. The place is
situated in the Wicomico plain; but possibly Talbot deposits extended up
the creek farther than mapped.
3. _Towson, Baltimore County._—Professor F. A. Lucas (Maryland Pliocene,
Pleistocene vol., p. 163) stated that the collection of the Maryland
Geological Survey contains a fine upper last molar of a mastodon found
on the Ridgeley estate, at Hampton, near Towson, about 10 miles north of
Baltimore. At present one can not determine the time during the
Pleistocene when this tooth was part of a living creature.
4. _Lane’s Creek?, Washington County._—The writer received, in 1912, a
letter from Professor A. F. Bechdolt, of Bellingham, State of
Washington, in which he stated that somewhat more than 37 years before,
while teaching school in Washington County, Maryland, he saw the remains
of a skull of a mastodon which some negroes had unearthed in making a
mill-race, but they had broken it in pieces with sledgehammers.
Professor Bechdolt recollected plainly the “mammillary face” of the
tooth. The locality is described as being near the Pennsylvania line,
south and somewhat west of Mercersberg, Pennsylvania, among the
foot-hills of North Mountain, at a place locally known as “The Corner.”
It appears probable that the locality was somewhere along Lane’s Creek.
4. _Clear Spring, Washington County._—In circular No. 109, volume XIII,
Johns Hopkins University, 1893, pages 26, 27, is an account of the
finding of a mastodon tooth in 1863. It was discovered after a storm,
lying on a pile of driftwood, in Conococheague Creek, at a point 2.5
miles south of Clear Spring, and a mile north of the entry of the creek
into Potomac River. The tooth is in the collection of Johns Hopkins
University.
VIRGINIA.
(Map 5.)
1. _Six miles east of Williamsburg, York County._—In Godman’s Natural
History (3d ed., 1860, vol. II, p. 77) mention is made of the discovery,
in 1811, of remains of a mastodon along the banks of the York River, 6
miles east of Williamsburg. The account was derived from Dr. S. L.
Mitchill (Med. Repos., New York, vol. XV, p. 388; Cuvier’s “Theory of
the Earth,” p. 399). He had received his information from Bishop James
Madison, then president of College of William and Mary, at Williamsburg.
The parts found consisted of the bones of the pelvis, a thigh bone, 2
vertebræ, 2 ribs, 2 tusks, and 7 molar teeth, 4 of which were yet in a
part of the jaw, probably the lower. The largest tooth is reported as
weighing 7.25 pounds; the smallest between 3 and 4 pounds. It is
probable that mastodon teeth in a wet condition would weigh the amount
stated. Clark and Miller (Bull. IV, Virginia Geol. Surv., 1912, p. 20)
refer this animal to the Pleistocene of the Talbot formation.
Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, president of College of William and Mary, informs the
writer that the fossils above mentioned were doubtless destroyed in a
fire which consumed the main building in 1859.
2. _City Point, Prince George County._—The U. S. National Museum (No.
539) contains a part of the upper second true molar of _Mammut
americanum_, sent there in 1888 by Mr. John S. Webb. The tooth is
silicified. Mr. Webb reported that the fragment had been unearthed by
laborers in making a ditch through some lowland which abounded in shells
and blue marl. In a letter dated September 2, 1918, Mr. Webb informed
the writer that his recollection is that the tooth was found about 12
miles north of Disputanta and near James River.
3. _Abingdon, Washington County._—An upper right second true molar in
the U. S. National Museum (No. 8807) is recorded as having been received
in January 1869 from Mr. Wyndham Robinson, but there is no information
as to the exact locality, depth, and kind of soil inclosing it. With it
were found some vertebræ and fragments of ribs and of tusks.
4. _Saltville, Smyth County._—In the U. S. National Museum is the
horizontal part of the right ramus of the lower jaw of a young mastodon,
found at the place named. This, with some remains of an undetermined
species of _Bison_ and some teeth of _Elephas primigenius_, were
presented to the museum in 1914 by Mr. H. D. Mount. They had been found
about 1896, in making an excavation for the water reservoir of the town.
It is said that within less than a century the valley at Saltville was
at times a lake. The reservoir is situated at the edge of this former
lake. The bones were found at a depth of not more than 8 feet. Mr. O. A.
Peterson (Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. XI, 1917, p. 474) records the finding
of mastodon remains in the Saltville deposit. He states that fragmentary
remains of mastodon have for many years been picked up in that valley. A
list of the species of vertebrates found at this place is given on page
353.
About 100 years ago (Med. and Physic. Jour., Phila., XV, 1806, 1st
Supp., p. 388) an account of the discovery of mastodon remains in Wythe
County, Virginia, was published by B. S. Barton. The details had been
communicated to him by Bishop James Madison, president of William and
Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. According to the bishop, not only
were bones discovered but also the stomach of the animal in a state of
perfect preservation, and containing a large quantity of half-masticated
food (Godman’s Amer. Nat. Hist., 3d ed., 1860, vol. II, p. 74). Later,
the bishop admitted that he had been misinformed. It is probable that
something was found there, at least some bones. Bishop Madison had made
arrangements to have the bones sent to Williamsburg; but if they reached
there they were doubtless destroyed by a fire in 1859. The supposed
discovery is mentioned in Cuvier’s “Ossemens Fossiles,” volume II, page
270, and is discussed in Barton’s “Archæologia Americana,” 1814, page
41.
Wythe County at that time occupied far more territory than at present,
and possibly the bones described by Madison had really been found in
Washington or Smyth Counties; but Saltville, as the writer is informed
by Mr. E. C. Hutton, surveyor, never was in Wythe County.
5. _Covington, Alleghany County._—In 1901 there was sent to the U. S.
National Museum by Dr. A. C. Jones, of Covington, a lower last molar of
a mastodon found at that place. This tooth differs from the ordinary
teeth of _Mammut americanum_ in having the crown more depressed. The
writer has observed similar teeth which have been found elsewhere. It is
possible that they belonged to a species distinct from _M. americanum_.
Dr. Jones informed the writer that the tooth was found within the city
limits of Covington, about 300 yards from Jackson River, at a depth of
12 feet, in brick clay.
6. _Hot Springs, Bath County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a part of
an upper left second true molar, recorded as having been found about a
mile from the Hot Springs Hotel. The tooth is silicified. It was
presented by Mr. J. F. McAllister. Hot Springs is at the head of Wilson
Creek, a tributary of Jackson River. In the folio of Monterey Quadrangle
coming down nearly to Hot Springs, no mention is made of any
Pleistocene; but the presence of occasional deposits of soils along some
of the streams is recorded. Evidently some of these deposits were laid
down in Pleistocene times.
7. _Edom, Rockingham County._—The American Geologist in 1891 (vol. VII,
p. 335), contains an account of the finding at this place of bones of
what was called a mammoth, but which was more probably a mastodon. It
was said to have been discovered on the land of a Mr. Frank. The
information was furnished by Dr. Zirkle, who stated that a nearly
complete skull had been found.
In the U. S. National Museum is the symphysis of the lower jaw of a
mastodon, recorded only as having been found in Virginia. The specimen
(No. 210) would not be worth mentioning were it not that it presents in
front two sockets for tusks of considerable size. The bases of the tusks
are retained at the bottom of the sockets. The left socket has a
diameter of about 35 mm.; the other is slightly smaller. From the
outside of one socket to the outside of the other is 94 mm. The front of
the symphysis is damaged, so that its length can not be determined. Its
lower face is quite flat. The height of the jaw at the front of the
tooth which was present is about 150 mm. It seems to the writer that
this jaw belonged to the species _Mammut progenium_.
WEST VIRGINIA.
(Map 5.)
1. _Stewartstown, Monongalia County._—Dr. G. F. Wright, in his “Ice Age
in Northern America,” fifth edition, page 378, wrote that Dr. I. C.
White had reported (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. XXXIV, pp. 378–379)
the finding of a tooth of a mastodon at this place; but in the article
quoted nothing is said about a mastodon. Evidently White published this
article elsewhere.
The tooth is said to have been dug up on the fifth and highest terrace
along Monongahela River. In White’s article, page 378, it is stated that
in the region of Morgantown the high-terrace deposits are about 275 feet
above low-water in the Monongahela and 1,065 feet above tide. It is
probable that the mastodon lived there during the early Pleistocene.
2. _Parkersburg, Wood County._—In 1902 the present writer received from
Mr. J. W. Miller, of the High School of Williamstown, West Virginia, a
letter inclosing photographs of a mastodon tooth, found on Neal Island,
3 miles above Parkersburg. The tooth appears to be the upper left second
molar and is furnished with all of its roots. The writer does not know
under what conditions the tooth was found. Its perfect state of
preservation shows that it could not have been carried far by the
stream. For a discussion of the Pleistocene of some parts of West
Virginia the reader may consult the paragraphs on pages 354–355.
NORTH CAROLINA.
(Maps 5, 39.)
1. _New Hanover County._—Under this number must be mentioned that a
tooth of _Mammut americanum_ has been found about 10 miles below
Wilmington, near the Fort Fisher road. This tooth is in the possession
of Captain E. D. Williams, of Wilmington.
2. _Pender County._—Professor H. H. Brimley, of the State Museum at
Raleigh, North Carolina, has informed the writer that there are in that
museum some remains of mastodon from Pender County; but nothing more is
known to the present writer about the nature of these remains or about
the locality where they were found.
3. _Duplin County._—From the same source it is learned that there are in
the collection at Raleigh teeth of mastodon which had been found in
Duplin County.
4. _Goldsboro, Wayne County._—In the State Museum at Raleigh is a left
ramus of a mastodon, collected near Goldsboro. The writer has examined
this important specimen and has also received a photograph of it, sent
by Professor H. H. Brimley. This is evidently the jaw described by Leidy
(Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1871, p. 113) from photographs received
from Professor W. C. Kerr, then State geologist of North Carolina. This
jaw was recorded as having been obtained from gravel overlying Miocene
marl, near Goldsboro.
This specimen presents the peculiarity of having two tusks at the front
of the symphysis. The diameter of these is 45 mm. How long they were
originally can not be determined. The form of this jaw and presence of
two large incisor tusks indicates that this specimen belongs to _Mammut
progenium_. The front molar present, M_{2}, has a length of 122 mm. and
a width of 88 mm. Leidy regarded this jaw as having belonged to a male
animal. Professor E. Emmons (Geol. Surv. North Carolina, 1858, p. 199)
mentions that a large number of bones had been found in a marl pit near
Goldsboro.
5. _Jacksonville, Onslow County._—In the collection of the State Museum
at Raleigh the writer has seen a part of a skeleton of a mastodon, found
near Jacksonville and exhumed by Mr. T. W. Adicks. A considerable part
of the skull, including upper teeth, both upper tusks, lower jaw, and
some limb-bones, were secured. The animal was evidently a fully mature
one, as there were present in the jaws the last and the next to the last
molars; but these were not greatly worn. In the lower jaw there were no
tusks, but the tip of the jaw seemed to indicate that earlier in life
these might have been present. The upper tusks are unusually short. One
is 33 inches (841 mm.) long, 94 mm. in diameter at the base, and 120 mm.
about the middle of the length. At the base is a pulp-cavity whose depth
is 230 mm. The distal end of this tusk is much worn, evidently during
the life of the animal. On one side is a flat surface 120 mm. long and
75 mm. wide which is directed obliquely to the plane of the curvature of
the tusk. Opposite this surface is another whose plane is parallel with
that of the curvature of the tusk. About 50 mm. from its tip the tusk is
crossed by a groove nearly 20 mm. wide and 42 mm. deep, which appears to
have been produced by the drawing of branches or roots across the tusk.
About 60 mm. further back there is another groove, broader and
shallower. The other tusk is 940 mm. long. Near its extremity it is
crossed by three grooves, one of which, about 55 mm. behind the tip,
runs two-thirds of the way around the tusk.
The small size of the tusks makes it pretty certain that this animal was
a female. The jaw does not differ especially from that of a Late
Wisconsin mastodon, apparently about one-sixth taller, found near
Winamac, Indiana, and now mounted in the U. S. National Museum.
6. _Maysville, Jones County._—From Professor H. H. Brimley, of the State
Museum, at Raleigh, the writer has learned that tusks and teeth of
_Mammut americanum_ had been secured for that museum at Maysville. This
is situated on White Oak River. Photographs show the teeth are lower
hindermost molars, right and left. The writer has seen these teeth;
likewise upper second and third molars and the tusks. The latter are of
medium size, having a diameter of 120 mm. at the base. The pulp-cavity
is 190 mm. deep. The enamel of all the teeth is rather rough and
corrugated.
7. _Sixteen miles southeast of Newbern, Pamlico County._—On the left
bank of Neuse River, at a point said to be 16 miles below Newbern,
several vertebrate fossils were collected many years ago. The collection
appears to have been made by the botanist Nuttall; but the first mention
found by the writer is a paper by H. B. Croom, in 1835 (Amer. Jour.
Sci., ser. 1, vol. XXVII, pp. 168–171). He stated that the locality was
on the north bank of Neuse River, on the land of Mr. Benners, who had
dug several pits in order to obtain marl. In these pits, some reaching a
depth of 25 feet, many fossil shells, sharks’ teeth, and bones of marine
fishes were found. These marls appear to belong to the Pleistocene
(Stephenson, North Carolina Geol. and Econom. Surv., vol. III, p. 289).
In the same pits were found teeth and bones of various Pleistocene
mammals. A few of the fossils, as the great shark tooth, certainly
belonged to Tertiary deposits. Croom states that there were fragments of
the horns of a fossil elk; also a mastodon tooth which had a breadth of
7 inches and a depth of 9.5 inches. It is not improbable that this was a
tooth of an elephant. Teeth, supposed to belong to a fossil elk and
which had a breadth of 3 inches and a depth of 4.5 inches, were probably
hindermost milk molars of _Mammut americanum_. Harlan (Amer. Jour. Sci.,
vol. XLIII, 1842, p. 143) indicated that he had seen in the collection
made by Nuttall remains of the mastodon; also of a supposed _Sus_, an
elephant, elk, deer, horse, seal, cetaceans, a tortoise, shark, skate,
snake, and fish. This collection apparently passed into the hands of T.
A. Conrad. J. W. Foster (Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., vol. X, p. 166)
stated that Conrad had many years previously obtained these animals near
Newbern. Besides those mentioned he included a hippopotamus. This
identification was probably based on milk tusks or lower tusks of the
mastodon.
8. _Harlowe, Carteret County._—In 1828 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XIII, p.
348), Elisha Mitchell wrote that in digging the Clubfoot and Harlowe
Canal, remains of both the elephant and the mastodon had been found.
Under this number may be mentioned the finding of a jaw of a mastodon in
the Inland Waterway Canal, which appears to run some miles east of the
old Clubfoot and Harlowe Canal. This specimen is, or was recently, in
the laboratory of the U. S. Fish Commission at Beaufort.
9. _Pitt County._—In 1871 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 113), Leidy
reported that an isolated lower last molar tooth of _Mammut americanum_,
but accompanied by the jaw, had been obtained in Pitt County. No more
exact locality was mentioned. In the U. S. National Museum (No. 202) is
a lower right hindermost molar which was found in Pitt County.
10. _Wilson County._—From Professor H. H. Brimley the writer learned
that there are in the museum at Raleigh some remains of mastodon from
Wilson County. The writer has seen at Raleigh a lower second left molar,
from Wilson County.
11. _Tarboro, Edgecombe County._—In the U. S. National Museum (No. 205)
is a lower right last molar of _Mammut americanum_, recorded as having
been sent by Dr. Pitman, of Tarboro. It is black and very heavy.
12. _Rocky Mount, Nash County._—Professor E. Emmons (Geol. Surv. North
Carolina, 1852, p. 56) mentioned the finding of mastodon bones in
marl-pits, on the farm of Mr. Knight, on the bank of Tar River, 3 miles
west of Rocky Mount. The Pleistocene is here supposed to belong
principally to the Sunderland, but partly to the Wicomico formation.
Emmons, in 1858 (Rep. North Carolina Geol. Surv., Agric. East Cos., p.
199), figured and briefly described a molar of a mastodon which he
referred to _Mastodon giganteus_. This was found in a Miocene marl pit
in Halifax County; but so many Pleistocene species have been reported
from such marls that it is possible that the tooth belonged to a
Pleistocene animal.