FLINT IMPLEMENTS AND FOSSIL REMAINS. 243 



or of strong pressure from beneath, have been toward the points of least 

 resistance at the spring. The finely comminuted materials, the sand 

 and clay, would be carried away by the strong flow of water, and the 

 great teeth and the coarse gravel would remain in the basin. At least 

 one instance was observed of such movement in the deposits near the 

 spring. A year or two previous to my visit to Afton, and during the 

 wet season, a body of liquid and semi-liquid material suddenly broke 

 through the surface of the ground near the spring, like a bursting 

 bubble, leaving a little hillock which is still distinctly visible. Such 

 movements may have occurred from time to time, the direction being 

 horizontal and toward the spring or directly or obliquely upward. 



But perhaps the most plausible theory that can be advanced to 

 account for the accumulation of bones in the spring is that when the 

 place became an object of special attention on the part of the native 

 tribes, such bones as were exposed in the vicinity were gathered and 

 cast in as appropriate offerings to the beings supposed to inhabit it. 

 This suggestion is strengthened by the fact that the ancient bones are 

 more plentiful in exactly the area in which the bones of modern crea- 

 tures and Indian implements are found. Indeed, it is not improbable, 

 as has been elsewhere remarked, that the occurrence of these huge 

 bones gave rise to the superstition in the native mind that powerful 

 spirits made this their dwelling place — that the spring was the door- 

 way to the realm beneath. The remains of recent forms occurred 

 nowhere at a depth of more than 4 or 5 feet, except in the immediate 

 vicinity of the spring funnel, where they were deeper, and the teeth 

 of a modern horse were, as has been stated, found associated with 

 mammoth teeth at a depth of 7 feet. 



It is clear that in the formations outside of the spring remains of 

 the ancient creatures are quite uniformly distributed, and it appears 

 that everywhere they are fragmental, the bones being separated and 

 broken up as if subjected, at some past period, to vigorous transpor- 

 tation by water or to crushing under the feet of monsters trampling 

 in the muck. In some instances two or more teeth were so related as 

 to show that they^ had been in place in the jawbone when carried to 

 their present position. 



The remains of tusks were also fragmental, and in all cases in a state 

 of disintegration so advanced that onh T small portions could be saved. 

 The bones are broken with a sharp fracture, as if already brittle from 

 decay or silicification when the disturbing agencies were active. 

 Examples are illustrated in Plate 6. In the neighborhood stories are 

 told of the discovery about the spring of bones of great size, but the 

 largest piece encountered in our excavations was half of the lower jaw T 

 of a mastodon. Plate 7 illustrates a number of mastodon teeth, the 

 one shown in e being of unusual shape, the result probably of disease. 



Mammoth teeth are shown in Plates 8 and 9. The largest, a lower 

 tooth, 16 inches in length, appears in Plate 8, while the larger of the 



