62 



THE FOSSIL SLOTH AT BIG BONE CAVE, TENN. [Jan. 15 



the deposition of the sloth bones. Many of the nuts had been 

 gnawed by cave rats (see Fig. 17 object 9), Neotoma magister, and 

 the same agile pilfering animal, helped possibly by the porcupine, 

 had doubtless dragged in by way of the roof holes, whether for 

 nest building, for food, or in pursuance of its eccentric hoarding 

 habits, many of the other objects scattered at various points in 

 Layer 2. In this mass of excrements of the cave rat, which, dry as 

 they were, were crushed with some difficulty between the thumb 

 and finger, together with the lesser porcupine coprolites, we found a 

 hair from the back of the porcupine and a portion of the right side 

 of the upper jaw with molar teeth of the cave rat (see Fig. 17 ob- 

 jects 16 and 15). Scattered irregularly through the layer, as identi- 

 fied by Mr. Thomas Meehan and Mr. Brown, lay an acorn cup of 

 the Spanish oak, Qiiercus digitata (Marsh) Sud. (see Fig. 20); 



two fragments of acorns of the 

 pin oak, Quei^cus palustris; a seed of 

 the horn beam, Carpinus caroliniana 

 Walt.; and fragments of seed of the 

 blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangidata Mx.; 

 a fragment of hickory nut, Hicoria 

 minima /of hazel nut, Corylus amer- 

 icana, Walt, (see Fig. 17 object 18), 

 and of beech nut, Fagus americana 

 Sweet (see Fig. 19); a valve of the 

 hop horn beam, Ostrya virginica 

 Willd.; an awn of wild rye or lyme 

 grass, Elymus Linn.; and a piece of 

 the stipe of common brake, probably 

 Ptcris aquelina Linn. With these were 

 two seeds of the blue ash, Fraxinus 

 qiiadrangulata, others of thehorn beam, 

 Caj'pinus caroliniana (see Fig. 21), 

 alder, Alnus incana (see Fig. 20), 

 beech, Fagus americana, and gum, 

 Nyssa sylvatica (see Fig. 21), two 

 wild cherry stonts, Pru?tus pennsylvani- 

 cus, a piece of chokecherry bark, twigs 

 of dog wood, Cornus alternifolia, frag- 

 ments of sticks (see Fig. 17 object 

 10) and leaves, and, according ro Prof. 



Fig. 20 (actual size). — Chaiacter- 

 istic portion of the rubbish of Layer 



2. Coprolites of the cave rat and 

 pieces of dry clay form the back- 

 ground. The vegetable remains 

 carried into the cave by rats and 

 porcupines w^ere found buried in 

 the undisturbed layer near the 

 sloth bones. i. Acorn cup of 

 Spanish oak, Quercus digitata. 



3. Two seeds of the alder, Alnus 

 incana, and, 2. Seed of the sun- 

 flower, Helianthus annuus, a plant 

 supposed by botanists to have 

 been transplanted by Indians from 

 South America or the trans-Missis- 

 sippi plains. Omitted from the 

 evidence for reasons given below. 



