THE PROGRESS OF SCI h\XC K. 



381 



Fig. 1. Restoration of the Warren Mastodon. 



The history of the ' Warren Masto- 

 don.' found near Newburgh, N. Y., is 

 briefly as follows : In the very dry sum- 

 mer of 1845 diggers in a swamp, the 

 bottom of which had never been seen 

 above water, came upon the head two 

 or three feet beiow the surface towards 

 evening on August 12. The next day 

 they unearthed the head and then, 

 working backwards, the spine and ribs 

 with the pelvis. While the head was 

 being raised, one tusk parted near the 

 middle and the other cracked at about 

 a similar point, but did not then come 

 to pieces. The feet of the hind legs 

 were found near the shoulders (Fig. 2), 

 showing clearly that the animal had 

 been mired. On the second night the 

 walls of the excavation caved in, cover- 

 ing and disturbing the unearthed parts. 

 This is probably the reason that the 

 end of the tail and many of the last 

 phalanges are missing. Fig. 2 is a 

 photograpn of the vignette in Dr. War- 

 ren's monograph. Beside giving a view 

 of the country it represents diagram- 

 matically the geological formation. 

 The tree is growing on the very edge 



of the section. Just below it is a dark 

 layer of peat, followed by a shallower 

 layer of red moss. Then comes one of 

 shell marl in which reposed the more 

 superficial part of the body and the 

 right fore-limb. The rest lay in mud, 

 apparently contained in a cavity 

 formed by clay, which in the diagram 

 descends obliquely on the reader's 

 right. The skeleton was mounted after 

 a fashion and exhibited about the 

 country for some months, when it was 

 purchased by Dr. Warren and mounted 

 anew by Dr. N. B. Shurtleff. The 

 great tusks Avere unable to support 

 themselves and were replaced by imita- 

 tion ones, the fragments being pre- 

 served. The small tusk of the lower 

 jaw was preserved also, and it is hoped 

 will be found in some safe place in the 

 museum, but its whereabouts is at 

 present unknown. Many, if not all of 

 the terminal phalanges and perhaps a 

 yard of the tail are false, as is also a 

 part of the breastbone, which was 

 broken, probably by the cave-in. Other- 

 wise the skeleton is perfect and the 

 finest in existence. The skeleton of the 



