76 MAN. 



of the animal. Some small remains of the head were left 

 unconsumed, but enough to show that they belonged to 

 the mastodon. There were also found, mingled with these 

 ashes and bones, and partly protruding out of them, a large 

 number of broken pieces of rock, which had evidently been 

 carried thither from the shore of Bourbense River, to be 

 hurled at the animal by its destroyers ; for the above-men- 

 tioned layer of clay was entirely void even of the smallest 

 pebbles; whereas, on going to the river I found the stra- 

 tum of clay cropping out of the bank, and resting on a 

 layer of shelving rocks of the same kind as the fragments ; 

 from which place, it was evident, they had' been carried to 

 the scene of action. The layers of ashes, etc., varied in 

 thickness from two to six inches, from which it may be in- 

 ferred that the fire had been kept up for some length 

 of time. It seemed that the burning of the victim and 

 the hurling of rocks at it, had not satisfied the destroyers, 

 for I found also among the ashes, bones, and rocks, several 

 arrow-heads, a stone spear-head, and some stone axes, 

 which were taken out in the presence of a number of wit- 

 nesses." The statement of Dr. Koch was received at first 

 with contempt. During the last year of his life he was 

 closely questioned by Dr. J. "\V. Foster concerning this dis- 

 covery, when in the most solemn and emphatic manner he 

 assured him that his statement was true. 



The statement of Dr. Koch is not in the least incredible, 

 in the light of more recent discoveries. It is further con- 

 firmed by the discovery on the 25th April, 1878, of the 

 skeleton of a mastodon in Ashtabula county, Ohio. The 

 remains consisted of the head, the atlas, twenty-five ribs, 

 the scapula, several dorsal vertebrae, and three vertebrae 

 of the cocc^^x, all in the middle of a muck swamp three 

 and one-half feet below the surface. The bones had all 

 the appearance of having been disturbed. Fragments 

 of charcoal were distributed through the upper soil, and 



