Aubnals Before Man 



that during the season when drainage and ditch- 

 ing work is going on not a day passes without 

 some specimen being brought to light. The 

 majority of these are teeth, some of the larger 

 bones, or portions of the tusks, but often a con- 

 siderable j^art of the skeleton is recovered, and 

 at the present date there are 10 mounted skele- 

 tons in the United States. 



If the trail of the Mastodon is obscure, that 

 of the Mammoth is plain, and he may be traced 

 by his widely scattered teeth and bones back 

 to Alaska and thence to Siberia. No entii^e 

 specimens of the Mammoth have been found in 

 North America, but in Alaska, where the soil 

 is wet and cold, the bones and tusks are com- 

 mon and the latter are sometimes in an ex- 

 cellent state of preservation, so that dishes 

 and various implements are made from the 

 ivory. 



During recent years mining operations have 

 brought to light many more or less complete 

 skeletons in the gravel of old river beds, but 

 o^ving to the difficulties of transportation noth- 

 ing like a perfect specimen has yet been ob- 



266 



