206 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 



phlet, now unfortunately rare, and described 

 in some respects better than has been done by 

 any subsequent writer, since the points of dif- 

 ference between various parts of the mastodon 

 and elephant were clearly pointed out. This 

 skeleton was exhibited in London, and after- 

 wards at Peale's Museum in Philadelphia 

 where, with much other valuable material, it 

 was destroyed by fire. 



Struck by the evident crushing power of the 

 great ridged molars, Peale was led to believe 

 that the mastodon was a creature of carnivor- 

 ous habits, and so described it, but this error 

 is excusable, the more that to this day, when 

 the mastodon is well known, and its description 

 published time and again in the daily papers, 

 finders of the teeth often consider them as be- 

 longing to some huge beast of prey. 



Since the time of Peale several fine speci- 

 mens have been taken from Ulster and Orange 

 Counties, among them the well-known " War- 

 ren Mastodon," and there is not the slightest 

 doubt that many more will be recovered from 

 the meadows, swamps, and pond holes of these 

 two counties. 



