3l8 DAVKNPORT ACADKMY OK NATURAL SCIRNCKS. 



of the assumption, had I time. At the Montreal meeting of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of Science I read a i)ai)er on 

 the "Anti<iiiity of Man in North America," in which a strong array of 

 facts was presented in sii|)port of the contemporaneous presence of 

 man and mastodon on the continent. I need not, however, detam 

 you, as these facts have been well stated by Mr. Putnam — suffice it, 

 the evidence is clear and conclusive to any uni)rejudiced person. It 

 may be important, jjerhaps, to state here that the Grant County (Wis- 

 consin) "Kleijhant Mound," which has been questioned, actually exists, 

 and can be seen by any visitor. Anxious to get all the facts bearing 

 on this disputed point, I addressed a letter to the County Surveyor of 

 Crant County, and here is his answer: 



Patch Grass, Grant Cuu.nty, Wis., July 29, 1885. 

 Dr. W. De IIass, Chicago, III.,— 



Dear Sir: ^'ollr favor of the 23d inst., inquiring ahoul tlie elcpliant mound, 

 at hand. Some time Ijctween 1871 and 1875, ^'^ ^'^"^ request of Mr. Jared Warner, 

 I made a measurement of the mound, also a rough sketch. The measurement and 

 sketch Mr. Warner .sent to the Smithsonian Institution. It has since apjieared in 

 one of the reports of that institution. The mound is located on the Mississippi 

 River bottom; soil is sandy, with fine gravel. Head to the south, liack to the 

 west. My recollection of the measurement is, 66 feet from back to feet, 132 feet 

 from head to tail, and about 7 feet elevation along middle of side. At the time I 

 made the measurement the ground had been cultivated three or four years, conse- 

 quently the tail and trunk, which were formerly quite distinct, were rather obscure. 

 At present the mound is rather indistinct, the ground being cultivated every year 

 since it was first broken. In the immediate vicinity there are quite a number of 



other mounds. » ,r i.c 11 



Very respectfully yours, 



J. C. Scott, Surveyor. 



But this is not the only "elephant mound" in Wisconsin. Since 

 coming west my attention has been called to another work near the 

 shore of Green Lake, Wisconsin, and I sent directions to the County 

 Surveyor of Green Lake County to visit and measure the mound 

 referred to. In reply to my note he wrote as follows: "There is an 

 elephant mound on the old Danty farm, at the west end of Green Lake. 

 It is one of a large number of mounds." I have not yet succeeded in 

 getting an accurate description and measurement of this motind, but 

 exi)ect to do so very soon. I may further add that a correspondent 

 in Minnesota communicated the fact that he had found another ele- 

 phant mound near Red Wing; and in this connection I may refer to 

 the announcement, made a day or two since, of the discovery, in this 

 mound, of the rernains of a mastodon. 



Of the tablets, which are also distrusted, I may add that, soon after 

 their discovery, the late Professor Foreman, of the Smithsonian, and 

 myself made a careful investigation and study of them. We could not 

 determine their real character, but we did not doubt their genuineness. 



The point is made against these several discoveries that they are 

 anomalous, therefore not genuine; that, in the case of the pipes, there 

 is no evidence that man and the mastodon existed contem|)oraneously. 

 I have shown how fallacious is this argument as referred to in my 

 l)ai)er before th'i .American Association at Montreal. In the case of 



