The Field of Search 2I 



animals that actually lived on what are now the islands. More re- 

 cently fresh evidence has come from this group. " Mr, F. A. Lucas " 

 noted ' the Occurrence of Mammoth Remains on the Pribilof Is- 

 lands,' stating that Mr. R. E. Snodgrass and the party from Stan- 

 ford University had, in 1897, obtained two teeth of the Mammoth 

 and bones of a bear, apparently distinct from the existing Polar 

 Bear, from a lava cave on Bogoslof Hill (St. Paul Island). He 

 was of the opinion that possibly the presence of these bones in such 

 a situation might indicate the comparatively recent connection of 

 the island with the mainland." 



Mr. Bristow Adams, artist to the Fur Seal Commission that in- 

 vestigated the Condition of the Pribilof Islands in 1897, was one 

 of the discoverers of this cave and the remains above mentioned. In 

 a conversation with the writer he says : The cave is apparently 

 formed by a contraction of the lava that forms the entire mass of 

 Bogoslof Hill, which is about six- hundred feet high and at least 

 one-half mile from the nearest part of the seashore. The cave is 

 up well towards its top. The cavity is not a large one, for its 

 greatest dimension is not over forty feet and its height only about 

 eight or nine feet. It has two openings. A large one in the roof 

 about six feet in diameter by which nothing might enter the cavity 

 without making a shear drop of twelve feet and by which it is im- 

 possible to make an exit ; and a small opening at one end barely large 

 enough for an average sized man to squeeze through. It was by 

 this smaller opening the party entered the cave. The floor of the 

 cave was entirely composed of pulverulent organic humus and it 

 was from this the mammoth teeth and bear bones were disinterred. 

 The depth of the humus floor deposit was not determined and as 

 only a limited time was spent in the cave no extensive excavations 

 were made. The remains found were situated at the end of the 

 cave farthest from the openings as if they had been dragged there. 

 As it is not stated whether the mammoth teeth are those of the upper 

 or lower jaws we are unable to say whether the evidence points 

 towards the presence of the whole skull or only the lower jaw of the 

 animal in the cave. It seems impossible that the skull of the mam- 

 moth could have been dragged into the cave and remains of it not 

 be found with the teeth, but it would be an easy matter for a de- 

 tached lower jaw to be transported to the cave by a bear. 



With these facts we leave each one to draw such conclusions as 

 may suit his fancy. But we suggest that it will require more evi- 



" Science, Nov. 18, 1898, p. 718. 



