Bernains of a Mammoth. 21 



of comparatively rare occurrence* in this country, an account 

 of the circumstances under which they occur, must I conceive 

 in every instance be worthy of record ; as we can only expect 

 by very extensive observations and comparisons to derive any 

 satisfactory helps, for ascertaining the order of the Geological 

 Epochs connected with the state of existence and extinction of 

 that animal. 



When such remains are found in the alluvium of a river 

 within reach of its present floods, a great uncertainty must 

 attach to the time and mode of deposition. The animal may 

 have lived and died on the spot where the remains are found, 

 it may have been brought from a considerable distance by floods 

 in a recent state, or the remains may have been washed out from 

 older strata by the same floods, and carried down in a fossil 

 state to their present site. 



When such remains are found considerably under the surface, 

 in a bed of gravel, and situated above the reach of any present 

 tides, we may conclude the animal did not live or die in that 

 spot, but was transported either in a recent or fossil state, by 

 the same action that accumulated the gravel, and when the 

 entire skeleton is found in one spot, we may presume that the 

 animal either died or was conveyed there in a recent state ; while, 

 on the contrary, if the fragments are much dispersed, it is to be' 

 inferred they are not in their original repository. 



With respect to the remains, the more immediate subject of 

 this notice, the first view of the question would appear to coun- 

 tenance the most recent period and mode of deposition, viz., 

 that the animal inhabited this island under the same natural 

 condition as at present, or in fact might have lived and died 

 near the spot where the remains are found so late as 2,000 

 years ago, and subsequent to the last deluge or debacle,' for 

 these remains were found above the influence of any pre'sent 

 floods, and only four feet under the surface covered with a 



• As the remains of a huge animal of this sort scattered over a consi- 

 derable extent of ground, and found at various times, may often lead to 

 the belief that they are abundant, when a singlo individual only occurs 

 It w necessary to be guarded against such a source of deception. ' 



