furnished by Dr. Leidy, of the mammalian fossils which had been found
“in a solid blue clay said to belong to this formation” (the Bluff
formation). Mastodons are said to be by far the most common. At Pine
Ridge, 6 miles north of Natchez, in townships 7 and 8 north, range 3
west, mastodons and other mammals occurred at a depth of about 20 feet
from the surface, in a ravine. The list referred to was quoted from
Wailles’s report of 1854 (Agric. Geol. Mississippi, pp. 285, 286).
Leidy, in 1889 (Trans. Wagner Inst., vol. II, p. 9), in speaking of the
occurrence of human remains at Natchez, referred to the occurrence of
the mastodon at this place. McGee, in 1891 (12th Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol.
Surv., pt. I, p. 399), in discussing the geological conditions at
Natchez, stated that several nearly perfect skulls of the mastodon and
at least one of the American elephant had been discovered at Natchez.
His idea was that some of these remains had been found in the brown loam
and some in the gravelly beds well down toward the Port Hudson clays.
In his discussion of the loess at Natchez, Shimek, in 1904 (Bull. Labs.
Nat. Hist., Univ. Iowa, p. 305), expressed doubt about the occurrence of
mastodons and other vertebrates in the loess.
In the collection at Yale University is a large lower jaw of _Mammut
americanum_, labeled as found at Natchez. Both rami are represented and
each has in it the second and third molars. The hindermost molar is but
little worn. The second molar is 115 mm. long and 87 mm. wide, the third
molar 188 mm. long and 93 mm. wide. The spout at the front of the jaw is
cut off square and is rough, but there are no sockets for tusks.
For further consideration of the Pleistocene geology at Natchez and a
list of the species of vertebrates found there, the reader is referred
to pages 389 to 393.
9. _Pinckneyville, Wilkinson County._—On page 284 of Wailles’s report of
1854 he stated that mastodon bones had been obtained in Bayou Sara, near
Pinckneyville.
10. _Between Zeiglerville and Pearce, Yazoo County._—In the U. S.
National Museum (No. 10275) is a right ramus of the lower jaw of a
mastodon, found on the farm of Mr. R. L. Fisher, about 8 miles northwest
of Vaughan. This jaw was sent to the U. S. National Museum by Mr. R. H.
Douthat, secretary of the Yazoo Commercial Club, of Yazoo City. The
specimen had been washed out of its place of burial along a creek. From
Mr. Fisher the writer has received the information that the jaw was
found along Teshacah Creek, in section 9, township 12 north, range 1
east. It appears to have been buried at a depth of about 15 feet.
The length of the jaw from the rear to the front of the penultimate
molar is 630 mm., to the front of the beak 808 mm. A part of the front
of the jaw has been broken off during exhumation, as shown by the
photographs. The height at the middle of the length is 195 mm. The
coronoid process rises 400 mm. above the lower border of the jaw. There
are present the hindermost and the penultimate molars. The hindermost is
220 mm. long and has five crests and a low rough talon. In the front of
the jaw is a part of the socket for an incisor tusk which had a diameter
of about 40 mm. Apparently the jaw is to be referred to _Mammut
progenium_.
11. _Woodville, Wilkinson County._—From Mr. W. L. Ferguson, of
Woodville, the writer has received a letter, with a photograph showing
jawbones, with teeth, of one or more mastodons found near Woodville.
Some fragments of tusks, a part of a skull, and some vertebræ were also
found. The information is sent that these remains were buried under 30
feet of deposit. They were found on the bank of Dunbar Creek, a
tributary of Bayou Sara, in township 1, range 3, section 24.
On pages 385 to 389 will be treated the geology of this region; but at
the present it would be unsafe to refer these mastodons to any
particular stage of the Pleistocene.
TENNESSEE.
(Map 5. Fig. 23.)
1. _Kingsport, Sullivan County._—The writer was informed by Mr. George
P. Torbett, a newspaper man, that D. M. Lafitte, of Bristol, Tennessee,
had a tooth of a mastodon, found near Kingsport. Mr. Torbett had seen
the tooth and recognized its similarity to a mastodon tooth shown him.
2. _St. Clair, Hawkins County._—Dr. S. W. McCallie, State Geologist of
Georgia, waiting in 1892 (Science, vol. XX, p. 333), reported that a
mastodon tooth had been found somewhere in that county. On making
inquiry of Dr. McCallie the writer received the information that the
tooth was found about 3.5 miles nearly due east from St. Clair and about
7 or 8 miles south of Rogersville. The tooth was presented to the
University of Tennessee.
3. _Mossy Creek, Jefferson County._—The writer has received from Mr. W.
C. Bayless the information that a mastodon tooth had been found 3 miles
south of the place named. The more exact locality is given as the farm
of John Silver, 0.75 mile north of Bays Mountain. The tooth was
discovered under a white oak stump, at a depth of 6 feet. It was 7.5
inches long and had 5 cross-crests.
4. _Dandridge, Jefferson County._—The geologist G. Troost, writing in
1835 (Trans. Geol. Soc. Pa., vol. I, p. 142), stated that he had in his
cabinet a tooth of a mastodon from the locality named.
5. _Neuberts Springs, 7 miles Southeast of Knoxville._—Doctor McCallie,
as cited above, reported the discovery of four molars of a mastodon in a
fair state of preservation at a point 7 miles southeast of Knoxville.
They were found beneath 30 inches of a yellow tenacious clay, in which
occurred water-worn stones. In a communication to the writer, Dr.
McCallie indicates that the remains had been buried at a time when
Tennessee River flowed at a higher level than at present.
6. _Eleven miles West of Nashville, Davidson County._—From Mr. William
A. Nelson, a member of the Tennessee Geological Survey, the information
has been received that some mastodon remains, including teeth, had been
found 11 miles west of Nashville, just west of Mill Creek and about 200
yards from Cumberland River. The remains occurred in a very tough
yellowish clay which occupied a solution channel in the Carter Creek
limestone. This was at a depth of about 15 feet from the surface.
Under this number may be recorded the finding of a part of a lower molar
of a young mastodon near Nashville, sent to the writer for examination
by Mr. W. E. Myer, of Nashville, in 1920. It had been found in the north
bank of Cumberland River, about 300 yards upstream from Lock A, in a bed
of sand beneath nearly 30 feet of gravel. With it were found a calcaneum
of a camel and some fragments of a shell of a turtle. In a thin bed of
gravel just below this were discovered a tooth of _Equus leidyi_, a
femur of a probably larger horse, and an antler of a small probably
undescribed deer. Apparently these fossil-bearing deposits belong
somewhere near the Aftonian interglacial stage. Remarks on the geology
of this locality will be found on page 399.
7. _Williamson County, 11 miles Southeast of Nashville._—The geologist
Troost (vol. cit., p. 139) recorded the finding of mastodon bones and
teeth in the region noted. The locality was said to be about 0.5 mile
from Liberty meeting-house. It must be in the extreme northeastern
corner of Williamson County. In another spot not far away were found a
tusk and a part of a tooth.
8. _Fayetteville, Lincoln County._—From Mr. Wilbur A. Nelson, above
mentioned, the writer learned in 1913 that Mr. W. F. Myer, of Carthage,
had dug up, near Fayetteville, about two-thirds of the skeleton of a
mastodon. Nothing more has been learned about this.
9. _Memphis, Shelby County._—In 1850 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. X,
p. 57), Dr. Jeffries Wyman reported that teeth of a mastodon had been
found somewhere about Memphis. They were supposed to have been obtained
from the diluvium of Mississippi River, and were found associated with
_Castoroides_, _Castor_, and _Megalonyx_.
KENTUCKY.
(Map 5.)
1. _Ludlow, Kenton County._—In the Sunday Star of Washington, D. C., for
January 3, 1919, there appeared a reproduction of a photograph of a
tusk, believed to belong to a mastodon, which had been found at Ludlow,
opposite the lower end of Cincinnati. It was unearthed by the steam
shovel in the course of excavating for the Southern Railroad, at a depth
of 35 feet, in a gravel bank. It is reported to have a length of 6 feet
10 inches and a diameter of 7 inches. A part of the distal end is
missing. According to the photograph, the tusk forms somewhat more than
half the circumference of a circle whose radius is about 23.5 inches.
The curvature and the thickness, as compared with the length, appear to
indicate that it belonged to a mastodon, but the identity is not
certain.
2. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—At this place there have been collected
an almost incredible number of teeth, skulls, and other bones of _Mammut
americanum_; and these have been sent to many museums of this country
and Europe. While skulls are said to have been found, no complete
skeletons have ever been collected. In 1805, Dr. B. S. Barton (Med.
Phys. Jour. Phila., vol. I, pp. 154–159) wrote of bones he had seen from
this place. He quoted from a letter written by John Bartram to James
Logan. Some Shawanese Indians had brought to Pittsburgh a tooth and a
piece of tusk. They described a head as having a long nose and a mouth
on the underside. They reported that there were at the Lick five whole
skeletons; also a shoulder-blade which, when stood on end, came to the
shoulders of a tall man. What they regarded as the long nose may be
interpreted as a tusk. Probably some tons of mastodon bones have been
collected at this place, but it is quite certain that nearly the whole
of this important material has been lost. Further reference to the
locality, its geology, and the species collected there will be made on
pages 401 to 404, map 41.
3. _Bluelick Springs, Nicholas County._—From an excavation made at this
place by Mr. Thomas W. Hunter, in an attempt to restore the springs
which supplied the once popular watering-place, there were taken a large
quantity of bones of various animals, perhaps as much as two farm-wagon
loads. The greater number of these bones belonged to the mastodon.
Portions of skulls were found, but no complete skull. There were in the
collection perhaps 100 mastodon teeth and many tusks, but some of these
may have belonged to elephants. In some cases the tusks show at the
distal end evidences of abrasion by use. Several tusks are planed off on
opposite sides, as if they had lain buried in the bottom of a stream,
had been worn down flat by sand and gravel, and had then been turned
over and planed on the other side. In Mr. Hunter’s collection, seen by
the writer, there are small tusks, probably deciduous upper or lower
ones, which vary from 87 mm. to 115 mm. in length. Each one is slightly
flattened, and has an outer layer of hard dentine or possibly enamel,
which is smooth. When this has peeled off the underlying dentine is
grooved and ridged longitudinally. The transverse diameters vary from 20
to about 27 mm. Some of these small tusks are straight, others are
slightly curved. On page 405 will be given a list of the associated
animals and remarks on the geology.
4. _Harrisonville, Harrison County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a
lower left penultimate molar of a mastodon said to have been found
somewhere near this place. It was presented by Hon. M. L. Ross, through
Mr. R. L. Garner. No details are known. The village mentioned is said to
be near Cynthiana, but it is not on the maps at hand.
5. _Fayette County._—In Kentucky University there is a lower left
hindermost molar of a mastodon, labeled as having been found somewhere
in the county.
6. _Drennon Springs, Henry County._—In 1881, Mr. G. K. Greene, (2d Ann.
Rep. Bur. Statist. and Geol. Indiana, 1880, p. 428) stated that the
collection of the State University of Indiana contains a remarkably fine
half of a lower jaw of a mastodon, found at the place named. Nothing
more is known about it. In 1831, C. S. Rafinesque (Monthly Amer. Jour.
Geol., vol. I, p. 354) wrote that “Drennon’s Licks had bones and
mounds,” indicating that at that early time fossil bones had been found
there.
7. _Louisville, Jefferson County._—In 1835, Dr. Richard Harlan (Med. and
Phys. Res., p. 256) referred to statements made to the effect that
several mastodon skeletons had been found in digging the canal around
the falls of the Ohio, at Louisville. They were taken from the river
banks, at a depth of several feet beneath the present soil. It was added
that several pairs of tusks were arranged in a circle within which were
remains of a fire and Indian tools. The authority for this story is
hardly what one could desire.
8. _Smithland?, Livingston County._—In the Academy of Natural Sciences
at Philadelphia is a part of a lower left hindermost mastodon molar,
labeled as having been found at the mouth of Cumberland River. It is
credited to Dr. P. B. Goddard. No details have been preserved. Smithland
is at the mouth of Cumberland River, but how far away from this town the
tooth was found is not known.
FINDS OF ELEPHAS PRIMIGENIUS IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.
ONTARIO.
(Map 11.)
1. _Toronto, York County._—In 1863 (Canad. Naturalist and Geol., vol.
VIII, p. 399), Professor Alex. Winchell wrote that he had a cast of a
tooth found at Toronto, and thought by him to belong to _Elephas
primigenius_. The writer saw this cast at Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is
evidently a lower right penultimate molar of the species mentioned. It
is to be regretted that more information was not furnished as to the
exact locality and the beds; it would be of interest to know whether it
had been found in the interglacial deposits that occur about Toronto.
2. _Amaranth, Dufferin County._—In 1908 (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol.
IX, p. 387), Dr. Robert Bell reported the finding of the greater part of
the skeleton of an elephant in a swamp in lot 9, range 7, of the
township of Amaranth. The tusk was said to be 14 feet long and 8 inches
in diameter. The context indicates that the remains were found at a
moderate depth in shell marl.
In 1891 (Geol. Mag., dec. 3, vol. VIII, p. 504), Professor J. Hoyes
Panton reported the discovery, in 1890, of bones of a mammoth at this
place, impliedly in a bed of marl. There were 31 ribs, several vertebræ,
a tusk 12.66 feet long, with a portion broken off; also a tooth weighing
16.75 pounds. From Mr. Simon Jelly, of Shelburne, the writer learns that
the bones reported to have been found at Shelburne are the same as those
reported from Amaranth. They had been exhumed by his brother, John
Jelly, and were taken to Owen Sound and from there exhibited at county
fairs for several years.
These bones, or a part of them, are at present in possession of Mr.
Alexander Duke, of San Diego, California. A photograph of the tusk shows
it has quite the length given for it. It is relatively slender, the base
having a diameter said to be 9.5 inches. It is spirally twisted in the
distal half. The atlas is present and stated to measure 16 by 9 inches.
There is a small but distinct photograph of a hindermost molar,
apparently an upper one. The tooth is 16 inches long, 7 inches high, and
3 inches wide. This is the length from the front of the grinding-surface
to the base behind. The plates are not worn to the base in front. There
appear to be 22 ridge-plates present, and 6 in a 4–inch line. The base
of the tooth is straight; the ridge-plates curve forward slightly as
they ascend. The hyoid arch is preserved. The writer regards the
specimen as being a large individual of _Elephas primigenius_.
This elephant lived after the Wisconsin ice-sheet had begun to withdraw.
According to Taylor’s map (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., LIII, plate XIX),
this region had become cleared of ice while the basin of Lake Ontario
was still fully occupied by the glacier; but it is doubtful that the
animal could have lived there at that time.
NEW YORK.
(Map 11.)
1. _Minoa, Onondaga County._—Dr. Burnett Smith, of Syracuse University,
sent the writer photographs of a lower hindermost molar of an elephant
which, associated with a tusk, was found at this place, 8 miles east of
Syracuse. Dr. Smith has ascertained that the tooth and the tusk were dug
up during the construction of the West Shore Railroad. The tooth is
quite certainly that of _Elephas primigenius_. It is worn down to the
base in front, but retains a part of its large posterior root.
2. _Williamson, Wayne County._—In the collection of Rochester University
is a lower left hindermost molar tooth found at this place. Professor H.
L. Fairchild informed the writer that the tooth was found on the
Iroquois beach, but whether on the northern or southern side is not
known.
3. _Pittsford, Monroe County._—In 1842 (Zool. New York Mamm., p. 101,
plate XXXII, fig. 2), J. E. De Kay described, under the name _Elephas
americanus_, a tooth found at Perinton, about 10 miles east of Rochester
and near Irondequoit River. A description of the discovery and of the
locality had been given in 1837 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXXII, p. 377)
by an anonymous writer. Two teeth and a tusk had been found in a sandy
bank on the stream mentioned while a race was being made for a saw-mill.
The tusk, and probably the teeth also, lay at a depth of 4 feet. The
exact locality was described as being 2 miles north of the crossing of
Erie Canal. This is in reality southeast of Rochester and near
Pittsford. On page 59 is described a tusk of a supposed mastodon found
at Pittsford in 1830.
De Kay regarded the animal as belonging to an undescribed species, but
his name _Elephas americanus_ had been applied to the mastodon by Cuvier
in 1799.
On examining Fairchild’s plates showing the recession of the Wisconsin
ice-sheet (Bull. 127, State Mus. New York) it will be seen that the
localities where the three specimens of _Elephas primigenius_ have been
found are close to the south shore of the ancient Lake Iroquois. The
animals could not, therefore, have lived before the ice had nearly or
quite withdrawn into the basin of the present Lake Ontario. They may
have lived long after this, possibly up to, or near to, the beginning of
the Recent. It is to be noted further that the locality of the molar
tooth found at Williamson, Wayne County, is closer to the shore of
Iroquois Lake than is that of any of the mastodons; so possibly this
species existed somewhat longer than did the mastodon.
4. _Buffalo, Erie County._—From the director of the Buffalo Society of
Natural History, Dr. William L. Bryant, the writer has received
photographs of a right upper hindermost molar of _Elephas primigenius_
dredged from near the middle of Niagara River, opposite Buffalo. The
tooth is 275 mm. long and 100 mm. wide on the worn surface. It is worn
to near the base in front, but probably no plates are wholly lost. There
appear to be about 24 present. It appears probable that the tooth had
not been carried far after being washed from its resting-place. Although
it probably belongs to the Wisconsin stage, there is a possibility that
it was washed out of some older Pleistocene deposit.
5. _Queensbury, Warren County._—Mr. C. A. Hartnagel, assistant State
geologist of New York, informed the writer of the discovery, some 60
years ago, of a tooth of an elephant near Queensbury, situated near the
southern end of Lake George. The tooth is labeled as found on the John
Harris farm. The nature of the deposit in which it was buried is not
known. It was found during the excavation of a cellar, therefore at no
great depth.
The tooth is a lower right hindermost molar, worn on only about 8 plates
and not to the base in front. About 7 plates are missing from the rear.
There are present 17 ridge-plates. The length along the base is 250 mm.;
originally it must have been close to 350 mm. On a lateral face there
are only about 7 of the plates in a 100–mm. line. Nevertheless, the
writer regards the tooth as belonging to _E. primigenius_. It is
unusually long for the species; hence the plates are thicker, quite as
thick as some specimens of _E. columbi_. However, the enamel, as shown
on the worn face, is much thinner than that of _E. columbi_ and
comparatively little folded. The plates are only moderately concave on
the hinder face. The height of the tooth at the ninth plate is 140 mm.
6. _Lewiston, Niagara County._—From Mr. C. A. Hartnagel the writer
received information of the finding of a tooth of an elephant at
Lewiston; and later the tooth was sent for examination. It proved to
belong to _E. primigenius_ and to be the upper right hindermost molar.
Inasmuch as it is worn to the base in front and as the large anterior
root is missing, some plates, probably at least two, are missing. There
are 22 present. The tooth is worn back to the tenth from the rear. The
length, as the tooth is preserved, is 275 mm. The height at the tenth
plate from the rear is 160 mm., not including the base of the roots. The
greatest thickness is 85 mm. On the lateral face are 9 plates in a
100–mm. line. The base of the tooth is straight; the hinder border of
the crown, arched.
Mr. Hartnagel stated that besides the tooth some fragments of other
teeth and two atlases were found at the same place. Evidently more than
one animal was present. The remains here described were discovered at
least 20 feet below the gravel-bed at that place and 80 feet below the
level top of the terrace at points where it was not eroded. The bones
and teeth appear to have been scattered through a bed of sediments at
least 6 feet in thickness. The remains described above were mentioned by
Kindle and Taylor on page 13 of Folio 190 of the U. S. Geological
Survey, but were referred to a mastodon. The writers described the
deposit in which the tooth was found. The geological age was believed to
be that of the Iroquois episode of the Wisconsin.
NEW JERSEY.
(Map 11.)
1. _Trenton, Mercer County._—In the collection at Princeton University
is an upper right last molar of this species recorded as having been
found at Trenton. It was discovered in the bluff of Delaware River, just
outside the fence of the Riverview cemetery, about 12 feet from the
surface. The tooth was given to Dr. Marcus S. Farr by Dr. C. C. Abbott,
and to him by Dr. Ward, of Trenton. Dr. Abbott was certain that it was
found in the Trenton gravels. Further mention will be made of this on
page 304.
2. _North Plainfield, Union County._—In Rutgers College is a
considerably weathered elephant tooth referred to this species. It was
found on Greenbrook road, 2 miles east of North Plainfield. There are
about 12 ridge-plates present in the specimen. This locality is on the
border of the Wisconsin drift moraine, and the elephant tooth was
probably buried in outwash from the moraine.
PENNSYLVANIA.
(Map 11.)
1. _Brookfield, Tioga County._—In the U. S. National Museum (No. 193) is
a part of an upper molar of _Elephas primigenius_ sent in 1889 by Mr.
Ira Sayles, of Brookfield. It was found along the north fork of
Cowanesqua Creek. The hinder 13 plates are present. Mr. Sayles, in a
letter to the present writer, stated that originally the tooth had 8
more enamel plates. This would seem to indicate that the tooth is the
hindermost molar. Ten of the plates on the side of the tooth are crossed
by a line 100 mm. long. The animal probably belonged to the Late
Wisconsin stage.
2. _Chadd’s Ford, Chester or Delaware County._—In the collection of the
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, is a fragment of an elephant
tooth labeled as found in kaolin deposits owned by W. W. Jeffries and G.
B. Dillingham. The specimen was described by Leidy (Proc. Phila. Acad.,
1875, p. 121). In this fragment are six ridge-plates, and a line
crossing them measures 60 mm. The tooth appears to have belonged to
_Elephas primigenius_. Leidy stated that it had been found lying on the
kaolin bed, 8 feet below the surface.
In the same collection is a fragment of a tooth to be referred to _E.
primigenius_, consisting of three plates, apparently presented by I.
McClure. It is said to have been found in Chester County, but no more
exact locality was named.