256 



ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



no scratches or other marks of ice action have been observed by 

 any of our party, though carefull3^ looked for. I shall examine 

 the crests of the accessible mountains for traces." 



HEIGHTS OF THE PRINCIPAL VOLCANOES. 



Gualatierra, in Peru, 

 Sahaira, 



Cayambi, . . 

 Cotopaxi, . 

 Arequipa, . 

 St. Elias, . 

 Popocatepetl, 

 Pichincha, . 

 Agua, Guatemala, 

 Fuego, " 

 Cartajo, Costa Rica, 

 Demaverel, Asia, 

 Mauna Kea, 

 Mauna Loa, 

 Volcanoes of Java, 



Feet. 



22,000 

 22,000 

 19,625 

 19,408 

 18,000 

 17,900 

 17,737 

 15,900 

 14,900 

 14,700 

 14,000 

 14,000 

 13,800 

 13,760 

 12,700 



Feet. 



Fusiyama, Niphon, . . 12,450 



Erebus, Antarctic Continent, 12,400 



Volcano of Tahiti, . . 12,200 



Terror, Antarctic Continent, 12,000 



Peak of Teneriffe, . . 12,000 



Etna, 11,870 



Mayon, Philippine Islands, . 10,540 



Hualalai, Sandwich " . 10,000 



Awatschka, Kamtschatka, . 9,750 



Fojo, Cape de Verds, . . 8,100 



Pico Island, . . . 7,618 



El Viejo, Nicaragua, . . 7,000 



Monotombo, " . . 6,500 



Hecla, .... 5,000 



Vesuvius, .... 3,932 



ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE MASTODON UNDER THE BASALT 



OF CALIFORNIA. 



In the " American Journal of Science" for May, 1868, is an 

 article by Prof. Sillhnan, in which the evidence is given leading 

 to the conclusion that the mastodon existed prior to the* great 

 volcanic disturbances and outpourings of lava which occurred 

 throuo-hout the Sierra Nevada Mountains during, or at the close 

 of, the epoch in which the deep-lying placers were produced. 

 This epoch of volcanic activity has been regarded as marking the 

 period of the pliocene, dividing it from the post-pliocene and exist- 

 ing epoch by a well-marked horizon. Among the animals whose 

 remains have been found in this ancient auriferous detritus of 

 California, preceding the epoch of volcanic activit3% are the rhi- 

 noceros, a hippopotamoid, an extinct species of horse, and a spe- 

 cies allied to the camel. The remains of mastodon and elephant 

 are found abundantl}' in the superficial detritus of the gold region, 

 over an extensive area, but, until now, have never been iilentified 

 as occurring under the basalt, which covers the ancient gold di'ift, 

 and forms the characteristic ranges of tlie "Table Mountains." 



Near Jamestown, in Tuolumne county, extensive explorations 

 have, for 14 years, been made in the deep-h'ing gold detritus, by 

 tunnels driven in beneath the basaltic capping, at a level low 

 enough to open the bed of the ancient rivers, in the channels of 

 which rests the gold-bearing gravel. These tunnels are, in some 

 cases, more than 3,000 feet in length, and from 200 to 300 feet 

 below the nearly level surface of the basalt. Under the basalt is 

 a mass of stratified, almost horizontal, generally thin-bedded, 

 detrital matter, alternating with clay and argillaceous zones, the 



