THE MASTODON. 19 



Central and South America, and still other varieties have 

 been discovered in England, France, Switzerland, Ger- 

 many, Spain, Italy, Greece, in Asia Minor, and in several 

 parts of India. 



It is a little remarkable that scarcely any remains have 

 been found east of the Hudson, and none east of the Con- 

 necticut River. Some bones have been found near New 

 Britain, and two teeth thirteen miles north of New Haven. 

 But these are exceptional instances. There certainly must 

 have been some reasons why the mastodon did not choose 

 to penetrate the woods of New England. It may have 

 been that the Hudson served as a partial barrier to its 

 passage farther east ; and, besides, the climate may have 

 been less desirable than the milder regions of the South 

 and West, or a particular kind of vegetation may have 

 been wanting which it fed upon. Stragglers or small 

 troops penetrated into Canada, but the probability is that 

 these relics, which occur outside the natural range, only 

 prove the disposition of the animal to wander. 



A vast number of bones have been collected in New 

 York, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, the Carolinas, Alabama, 

 Mississippi, Missouri, California, and Oregon. The most 

 celebrated locality is Big Bone Lick in Kentucky. This 

 marsh is about twenty-three miles below Cincinnati, about 

 four miles from the Ohio, and nearly opposite the mouth 

 of the Great Miami, and situated in a nearly level plain, 

 in a valley bounded by gentle slopes. The general course 

 of the stream, which meanders through this plain, is from 

 east to vfest. The bog is many acres in extent, but was 

 much larger before the surrounding forest was cleared 

 away. The greater number of the bones have been taken 

 from the black mud, about twelve feet below the level 

 of the creek. The bones belonging to more than one hun- 

 dred mastodons have been found there, besides about 

 twenty-five of the mammoth, some of the megalonyx, and 



