190 Mr. Lyell on the Geological Position of the 



with the existing species of the marine shells of the coast shows that 

 the temperature of the ocean at a period prior to the existence of 

 the megatherium, the mastodon, and the hippopotamus was such as 

 is congenial to the present marine testacea of Georgia. 



7. On the Geological position of the Mastodon giganteum and as- 

 sociated fossil remains at Bigbone Lick, Kentucky, and other localities 

 in the United States and Canada. By Charles Lyell, Esq., V.P.G.S*. 



With a view to ascertain the relations of the soil in which the 

 hones of the Mastodon are found, to the drift or boulder formation, 

 whether any important geographical or geological changes had 

 taken place since they were imbedded, and what species of shells are 

 associated with them, Mr. Lyell visited a number of places where 

 they had been obtained. In this paper he gives the result of his 

 researches. 



The most celebrated locality visited was Bigbone Lick, in the 

 northern part of Kentucky, distant about 25 miles to the S.W. of 

 Cincinnati, situated on a small tributary of the river Ohio called 

 Bigbone Creek, which winds for about 7 miles below the Lick before 

 joining the Ohio. A "Lick" is a place where saline springs break 

 out, generally among marshes and bogs, to which deer, buffaloes, and 

 other wild animals resort to drink the brackish water and lick the salt 

 in summer. The country around Bigbone Lick, and for a consider- 

 able distance on both banks of the Ohio, above and below it, is 

 composed of blue argillaceous limestone and marl, constituting one of 

 the oldest members of the transition or Silurian system. The strata 

 are nearly horizontal and form flat table-lands intersected by nume- 

 rous valleys in which alluvial gravel and silt occur ; but there is no 

 covering of drift in this region. The drift is abundant in the north- 

 ern parts of Ohio and Indiana, but disappears almost entirely before 

 we reach the Ohio. 



Until lately herds of buffaloes were in the habit of frequenting 

 the springs, and the paths made by them are still to be seen. Num- 

 bers of these animals have been mired in the bogs, and horses and 

 cows have perished in like manner. Along with their remains are 

 found innumerable bones of Mastodon, Elephant, and other extinct 

 quadrupeds, which must have visited these springs when the valley 

 was in its present geographical condition in almost every particular, 

 and which must have been mired in them as existing quadrupeds are 

 at present. The mastodon remains are most numerous and belong 

 to individuals of all ages. The mud is very deep, black, and soft. 

 In places it is seen to rest upon the- limestone, and at some points 

 it swells up to the height of several feet above the general level 

 of the plain and of the river. It is occasionally covered by a 

 deposit of yellow clay or loam, resembling the silt of the Ohio, 

 which is from 10 to 20 feet thick, rising to that height above the 

 creek and often terminating abruptly at its edges. This loam has 

 all the appearance of having been deposited tranquilly on the sur- 

 face of the morass and of having afterwards suffered denudation. 

 * Read Feb. 1, 1843. See p. 552 of our preceding volume. 



