79 



the crania of the North American Indians, and to a comparison 

 of the skulls found in the mounds of the West with those of the 

 other aboriginal races. I believe some credit belongs to him as 

 being among the first, if not the first, to point out, on anatomical 

 grounds, the probability of another and more advanced race 

 having existed in the western country previous to those who 

 were found there at the time it was discovered and explored by 

 the Europeans. 



Leaving out of view the less important articles on scientific 

 subjects which were presented here and elsewhere, I will only 

 call attention to his most considerable scientific labor, viz : the 

 investigation of the remains of the Mastodon giganteus of North 

 America. This gives us the best evidence we could wish of his 

 characteristic enterprise, and of the persistency with which he 

 pursued his object. 



In the summer of 1845, there was exhumed in Newburgh, in 

 the State of New York, the most perfect fossil skeleton of the 

 Mastodon, which has yet been discovered ; in fact, none of the 

 skeletons of the gigantic extinct races surpass or even equal it in 

 completeness ; that of the Siberian Mammoth, which was taken 

 from the ice and is now preserved at St. Petersburg, that of the 

 Mylodon from South America, now contained in the Hunterian 

 Museum, and that of the Megatherium, a part of which is pre- 

 served at Madrid and a part in London, are all less complete ; 

 and of the Mastodon skeletons now known to exist, all have more 

 important deficiencies. The Newburgh skeleton was mounted, 

 and publicly exhibited, for a few months, ill New York and Bos- 

 ton, and elsewhere, after which it was purchased by Dr. Warren. 

 When it came into his possession, the first duty which seemed to 

 be required, was that of remounting the skeleton in a more cor- 

 rect attitude, and the bones in more natural relations. This task 

 was accomplished in a most admirable manner by our associate. 

 Dr. ShurtlefF, and the skeleton now stands a monument to his 

 mechanical ingenuity, and to his skill as an osteologist. In addi- 

 tion to its completeness, this skeleton has the merit of certainty 

 that the bones all belonged to one and the same individual, and 

 is believed to be the largest known representative of this gigantic 

 species.* Its height is eleven feet, and the length of the head 



* That is, the largest skeleton. A larger cranium than that belonging to his 

 specimen, as will be seen, belonged to his colleetion. 



