To Readers and Correspondents. 141 



wu> subject to, and how much restraint he had put himself under, by not noticing .hem 



*'^How he could be so much provoked, as to indulge in those epithets, we now come to 



''^In^lhe twelfth of these geological lectures before alluded to, when on the subject of 

 <,omparatve anatomy, the lectu?er, havuig his table crowded w.h fossds. had to explain 

 Sof them in a rapid manner, in turns. There were two muulated jaw bones oJ the 

 M^todon whi A he had drawn from the collection of the American Philosophical Society, 

 wtere °h;rhad been hitherto unnoticed. These, as thoy difiered from any other jaw 

 bones of the mastodon, having an alveolar process, or socket, tovvards the end of each, he 

 thought I proper to make a fbw slight remarks upon; inasmuch a^ the description of a 

 vouno^^seull of the genus mastodon, under similar circumstances, had been published n 

 [he Transact s of the American Philosophical Society and had been, by a deceased 

 natural" raised lo the rank of a new genus, under the lollowing title : '-DescripUon of a 

 NeTGeLTandNew Species of Extuwl Mammiferous Quadruped. By John D. Godman, 

 iM/)" Is due to truth to say, that when this conformation was proposed as anew spe- 

 des of a ne V <.enus, it was rejected by every naturalist of the city o New-York; and long 

 before Thelecturer had declared his opinion on the subject in public. Dr. Har an of the 

 city of PWladelphia, who is without a rival there in the knowledge of comparative anato- 

 my and zoXgyfhad publicly declared, that the characters relied on for raising the animal 

 S a new S were altogether msufficient; the reasons for whic;h were subsequently 

 ^ublishrd in Ferrusac's Bulletin des Sciences UniVerselles, for 1830. These opinions, vuth- 

 Sut mentioning any names, the lecturer stated he concurred in and believed the genus 

 wouW have to1,e abandoned. Having those jaw bones before him, he could not, w-ithout 

 Zng injustice tohisclass, and to the cause of natural science, pass over one of those erro- 

 neous conclusions, to which all natmalists are subject, and for the treatment of w*,ich as 

 e^neous he had such able support. But he did k with the consideration due to the me- 

 morv of a meritorious naturalist, whoso name never escaped him "pon the occasion. He 

 ffio motive for throwing a shade over his memory, for he never had had any intercourse 

 wkh °h™ late Dr. Godmanr never came into any sort of collision with hira, and beheves 

 he was equally unknown to that gentleman. , • , •.i,„ . „„ 



This the lecturer pledges himself was his conduct upon that occasion and without ap- 

 pealing' to perhaps, the uncertain recollections of his class, he esteems himself fortunate 

 in bein" able lo show, from the best proof the nature of the case will admit, l liat it was so. 

 Two"? three days after the delivery of that lecture, Mr. Chandler, the intelligent editor 

 of the United States Gazette, published, as it had been his custom to do during the course, 

 a fuU report of it. It cannot be imputed to that gentleman, that he had any motive lo misre- 

 nresent what fell from the lecturer upon that occasion ; his talent and accuracy are un- 

 Soubted On turning, then, to the report of Mr. Chandler, in the files of the United Staes 

 Gazette, we find the following passage, which comprehends all that was said on thesut)- 



■'^"'liT took occasion here to state his opinion, and adduced facts to prove its validity, 

 that the new genus Tetracaulodon Mastodontoides, must be abandoned ; as the only dis- 

 tinctive character upon which it rested, was the presence ofmilk tusks m the lower jaw 

 vXch were common to various species of the Mastodon before the ■"'''^'^''^l^. '«•'] 

 reached their full growth." This account, which substantially agrees uuh the private 

 notes of the Lecturer, has been placed beyond all doubt, by an admission made in an 

 anonymous communication which appeared m >he National Gazette on the 24th May 

 1831, a week after the publication of the Report of the Lecture in the Umted States 

 Gazette. And as this anonymous commumcation has a great deal to do with this con- 



'Tftfv' rys'rfti; thfdehvery of this lecture on the 13th May Dr. Isaac Hays at o„e 

 of the stated meetings of the American Philosophical Society, addressed the ™eeting on 

 the structure of the jaws, and dentition of the mastodon, using upon ''"s occasion the 

 two jaws which the lecturer on geology had previously exhibited After vanousre^a- 

 sonings, he made the following declaration: "That perhaps ,f that vvere 'he occasion 

 for him to express his opinion, he would say that this character (the teeth in the rostrated 

 extremity of the lower jaws) was insufficient lo raise the animal to the head of a new 

 Genus." Now Dr. Isaac Hays came to this conclusion.-which was Me idenlical me ex- 

 pressed hi, the lecl.urer-?il\er inspecting the jaws which the lecturer haA premously pre- 

 iental lo his class. It is true. Dr. Isaac Hays, added, that notwithstanding this, he was 

 disposed lo believe it was an animal distinct from any species of mastodon previously de- 

 scribed, and was enutled to be considered a new species. At this meeting the lecturer 

 on geology was present, and was silent: ho perceived that Dr. Isaac Hays had embraced 

 his opinion, :is far a.s he had expressed it concerning the genus, and as to the supposition 

 that it might be a new species, that was a totally different question, which could be here- 

 after decided only by the exaininalion of many similar osteological remains, if fortunately 

 they should ever be discovered. In philosophical zoology, the creation of a new genus 

 is a mailer of some moment. The surliice of the earth is variously constituted, as to 

 climate, inequalities, and productions: but nature animates every part of it, and gives 



