GEOLOGY. 819 



this tradition is wholly a fable, is evident from the character of the 

 bones found, which clearly show that the bird in question had neither 

 talons, nor wings adapted for flying, but must have fed peaceably on 

 vegetable substances. 



M. Saint Hilaire considers it quite probable that the J&pyornis has 

 had an existence within the historic period, and that it has even been 

 referred to by two French travellers at different times, viz., by M. 

 Flacourt in 1758, and by another at a later period. These accounts 

 have heretofore been regarded as wholly fabulous. It is not, however, 

 improbable, that the Eastern story of the Roc may have had its origin 

 in a knowledge of the existence of the bird of Madagascar. It could 

 not, as before observed, have possessed any of the ferocious characters 

 ascribed to this fabled bird. 



OX THE EPOCH Or THE MASTODONS. 



AT the Boston Society of Xatural History, June, the President, 

 Dr. Warren, brought before the society the subject of the epoch of the 

 Mastodons, with the view of eliciting, he said, the opinions of mem- 

 bers on the subject. He thought that great importance was due to 

 the condition in which the remains of the food of these animals had 

 been found in its bearing on this subject. Relics of the food of 

 Mastodons had been found, in several instances, in such relation to 

 them, as to leave no doubt of its real character. It was unfossilized, 

 and in fragments of one or two inches in length, parts of it in coiled 

 masses, as if shaped by the intestines. The vegetable structure could 

 be distinctly made out under the microscope. The President, like- 

 wise, alluded to a tradition of the Indians, quoted by Mr. Jefferson, 

 which he thought might have reference to the Mastodon. From these 

 circumstances, he was inclined to the belief that Mastodons may have 

 existed within the human epoch, possibly within 1000 or 2000 years. 



Dr. Gould remarked that the remains of these animals had been 

 usually found in bogs of peat, a substance particularly well calculated 

 to preserve objects buried in them from decomposition. Most of the 

 fragments of wood, also, which had been found with Mastodons, were 

 resinous, and, from their very nature, capable of resisting, for a long 

 time, the tendency to decay. Mr. Lyeil, from his study of the forma- 

 tions at Niagara, has been led to the opinion that at least 20,000 

 years must have elapsed since the epoch of the Mastodons. They are 

 found in formations below all the works of man, even the earth works 

 cf Ohio. Dr. Gould thought that if these animals had been known to 

 the Indians, some trace of them would have been found in their vari- 

 ous utensils, or in their pictures ; but no such trace existed. 



Dr. Cabot thought it not impossible that Jefferson's tradition might 

 refer to the Mastodon. That such gigantic animals might be slain by 

 the Indians, was evident from the fact that the Camrs of the present 

 day are able, with their primitive weapons, to kill elephants, almost as 

 large. Such an event as the expulsion of the last of the race would 

 be likely to be commemorated, and handed down from one generation 

 to another. Bones of Mastodons were found at Big Bone Lick, ia 



