Skeleton of the Mastodon. 143 



Account of the discovery of a Skeleton of the Mastodon Gi- 

 ganteum. Extracted from a Report made to the Lyceum 

 of Natural History, by Messrs. Dekay, Van Rensselaer, 

 and Cooper. Read May 10th, 1824. 



Mr. Wm. Moore having presented to the Society a molar 

 tooth of a Mastodon, accompanied with the information that 

 the skeleton, to which it belonged, lay buried near the place 

 where the tooth was found, we were induced to proceed to the 

 spot, in order to verify the truth of this statement, and to at- 

 tempt the recovery of the bones. 



We found it situated three miles S. W. from Long Branch, 

 in the county of Monmouth, state of New-Jersey, and about 

 forty miles in a southerly direction from the city of New-York, 

 on a farm called " Poplar," belonging to Jacob Croxson, Esq. 

 of Eaton-town. Here we were hospitably received by Mr. W. H. 

 Croxson, son of the proprietor. Having informed him of the ob- 

 ject of our visit, he stated to us the manner in which he had 

 himself made the discovery of the bones in the month of 

 March 1823, fourteen months previous. Walking over a 

 reclaimed marsh on his farm, about that time, his attention 

 was caught by something sticking out of the turf. He struck 

 it loose with his foot, and, picking it up, found it be a large 

 grinder. He afterwards dug up two other teeth, with some 

 fragments of. the skull, the spine, the humeri and other bones. 

 Most of these were still in his possession, and he accordingly 

 showed them to us. The sight of these increased our impa- 

 tience to examine the spot where they were found. Mr. Crox- 

 son therefore immediately conducted us thither. 



Poplar Farm ' about two miles from the sea-beach. The 

 face of the country in the vicinity is generally level ; but be- 

 tween this farm and the sea it swells gently into a low and 

 broad ridge, running for some distance parallel with the sea- 

 ror.r.t. At Poplar this elevated tract slopes down very gradu- 



