61 



wanting. Several skeletons were found in the same bog, and, 

 according to the owners who dug them out, and who are evidently 

 trustwortiiy men, they were all found lying in a confused state, 

 except the one in question, which was found at some distance 

 from the others, upon its side, the bones being in a natural and 

 undisturbed position. Supposing, then, that all the bones belonged 

 to the same individual, and, also, from the soundness of their 

 structure, that none of the larger vertebra) are wanting, this speci- 

 men shows what seems never before to have been observed, the 

 true number of the dorsal vertebrce in Mastodon giganteus, 

 Cuvier remarked (Ossemens Fossiles) that there were 19, but 

 perhaps, said he, one may be wanting, and then the number would 

 be the same as in the elephant ; now in the present case there are 

 just 20. The skeleton of the so called Missourium has been re- 

 constructed under the direction of Prof. Owen, and put up in the 

 British Museum as that of a Mastodon, and, from the full-length 

 drawing which Mr. Lyell had made of it, and which he has recently 

 brought out with him to use in his lectures before the Lowell 

 Institute, it appears that on the left side, this being the front 

 view, there are but 18 ribs, these last, in a perfect skeleton, of 

 course, determining the number of the dorsal vertebra?. Of the 

 cervical vertebra? of the skeleton now here, there are 7, of the 

 lumbar 3, of the sacral 3, and of the caudal 23, besides those 

 that are wanting, the tail probably descending to the knee-joint 

 or below it, and being considerably longer than it is represented 

 in the drawing above referred to. The length from the inter- 

 maxillaries to the pelvis, inclusive, is 14 feet, and the greatest 

 height 10 feet 8 inches ; but much allowance must be made for 

 these measurements. The skeleton is that of a young adult, and, 

 from the small size of the proper tusks, and the absence of any 

 in the lower jaw, the individual was probably a female, the length 

 of the tusks beyond the intermaxillaries being 25 inches, and the 

 greatest circumference 11 inches. A curious fact is mentioned 

 by the owners, that, about in the situation of the stomach, a bushel 

 or more of small twigs, about an inch in length, were found, most 

 of which fell into a powder on exposure to the air, though a small 

 specimen was preserved, and may be seen in the collection ; the 

 same has been observed in some other cases. 



There are also in the collection two other crania which are 

 immature, but perfect, except the tusks, and of these Dr. J. gave 



