278 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OK .VATL'RAI, SCIENCES. 



prima facie proof of the fact, and the evidence to disprove the gen- 

 uineness of these discoveries must consist of something beside misty 

 doubts and suspicions. It thus appears that the evidence furnished 

 by the elephant pipes is not the "only evidence," but is strongly cor- 

 roborative of the prior evidence furnished by the above discoveries of 

 the coexistence of man and the mastodon. Still, with all this litera- 

 ture within easy reach, Mr. Henshaw coolly ignores its existence, and 

 calmly informs the scientific world that the elephant pipes furnish "the 

 only evidence" in support of that hypothesis.* 



Many of these earlier discoveries are noted and discussed in Sir 

 John Lubbock's valuable work upon "Prehistoric Times," and in his 

 estimate of their value to science he observes a caution as commend- 

 able as it is discriminating. Commenting upon the discovery narrated 

 by Dr. Dowler, he expresses, with scientific precision, his hesitation 

 about its acceptance, as follows : 



"Whether, therefore, we accept Dr. Uowler's calculation or not, it i.s obvious 

 that, if the statements are thoroughly trustworthy, this skeleton certainly must 

 carry back the existence of man in .America to a very early period. Yet, until 

 further evidence is obtained, the question cannot, I think, be regarded as entirely 

 decided; and even if on a priori grounds the idea seems probable, there does not, 

 as yet, appear to be any conclusive proof that man coexisted with the mammoth 

 and mastodon." t 



It must not be overlooked that Sir John Lubbock based his reason- 

 ing entirely upon the earlier discoveries we have enumerated, and we 

 are justified in the conclusion that the subsequent finding of these ele- 

 phant pii)es and inscribed tablets would have furnished him with the 

 "further evidence" required to complete and make conclusive his chain 

 of evidence. As aptly expressed by Dr. Fanjuharson, "In the elephant 

 pipes we have the key-stone of the arch of evidence which has been 

 building for so many years." Xadaillac, in his recent work, thus states 

 his conclusions : 



"The first Americans, too, were c(.)ntemporary with gigantic animals, which, like 

 their conquerors of Europe, have passed away never to return. They had to con- 

 tend with the mastodon, the megatherium, the mylodon, the megalonyx, the ele- 

 phant, with a jaguar larger than that of the present day, and a bear more formi- 

 dable than that of the caves. Like our forefathers, they had to attack and over- 



* Prof. Bainl, in Smithsonian Report for iSSj, in jjivini; an account of the operations of the 

 Bureau of Ethnology, thus notices the mound exjilorutions under Prof. Cyrus Thomas: "The 

 most important results appertain to the mounds and works themselves. The statement in the 

 Smithsoniau Report for iSya in reference to the elephant mound is confirmed ; the .Seltzertown 

 mound is proven to he a myth — at least no sign of it can he found on examination." 



T Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times,'' p. 28S. 



