14 



APPENDIX TO THOMPSON'S VERMONT. 



WHITE SQUIRREL. 



FOSSIL ELEPHANT. 



seed abound. It also enters barns and 

 houses in quest of food and shelter. Two 

 or three have been taken in a trap, in my 

 own cellar, during the past year, and they 

 are frequently brought in by cats, in the 

 village of Burlington. It is found on both 

 sides of the Green Mountains. I lately re- 

 ceived two specimens from my friend, C. S. 

 Paine, ■which were taken in Randolph. It 

 is found in all the northern states, and as 

 f;ir north as Hudson's Bay. 



WHITE SQUIRREL. 

 Sciurus hudsonius, (Albino). — P. I., p. 4C. 

 November 11, 1850, I obtained an indi- 

 vidual of the species commonly called the 

 Red Squirrel, or Chickaree, which was 

 entirely white. It was shot, in the top of 



a large tree, near the railroad bridge, be- 

 tween Burlington and Colchester. There 

 were two of these white squirrels in compa- 

 ny, but only one of them was captured. 

 This one was a male, and, although its 

 form was slender and delicate, it had every 

 appearance of having been healthy and ac- 

 tive. Its entire length, from the nose to 

 the extremity of the hairs of the tail, \'2.i> 

 inches — to the exti'emity of the vertebrae of 

 the tail, 11, to the root of the tail, 6; length 

 of the head 2. Color of the hair entirely 

 of snowy whiteness. Nails white, with a 

 slight carnation tinge. Eyes nearly trans- 

 parent, with a slightly smoky asjDect, but 

 in the dead animal, they exhibited scarcely 

 any of that redness, which is regarded as 

 the characteristic of albinos. 



FOSSIL ELEPHANT. 



Elephas priinogeniusl — BLmiEXBAcn. 



It is a remarkable feet that, in making 

 the Rutland and Burlington Rail Road, ! 

 which extends from Burlington to Bellows 

 Falls, two of the most interesting fossils 

 ever found in New England, were brought ■ 

 to light. These were the remains of'an 

 Elephant and a Whale : the former were 

 found in Mount Holly, in 1848, and the 

 latter in Charlotte, in 1849. 



The Rutland and Burlington Railro;iil ' 

 crosses the ridge of the Green iMountains, I 

 in the township of Mount Holly, at an : 

 elevation of 1415 feet above the level of ' 

 the ocean, and the bones of the fossil ' 

 Elephant were found at that height. In ; 

 order that their true position may be un- I 

 derstood, and a knowledge of it preserved, 

 the accompanying rude miap has been 

 prepared. The map embraces an area 

 of about 85 acres, lying at the summit 

 level of the Green Mountains, over which "_ 

 the railroad passes 



More than half of this area consists of a 

 solid mass of rock, elevated considerably 

 above the ground on each side, and only 

 slightly covered with soil, or earth, except- 

 ing the cavities indicated, which are filled 

 with vegetable muck. The line on the map, 

 marked 5, denotes the ridge, which, previ- 

 ous to making the railroad, divided the 

 waters flowing into Connecticut river from 

 those ftilliug into Lake Champlain. The 

 cut, for the railroad, through this mass of 

 rock, (from 4 to 8 on the map,) is about 180 



muck, consisting of billets of wood, about 

 18 inches long, which had been cut off at 

 both ends, drawn into the water and di- 

 vested of the bark, hj the beavers, for food. 

 When first taken out, the marks of teeth 

 upon the wood were as distinct as if they 

 w'ere the work of yesterday. At 3, the 

 outlet of the basin, the beavers had con- 

 structed a regular dam for the purpose of 

 deepening the waters within. But at the 

 time the excavation for the railroad was 

 made, the basin had become entirely filled 

 atter, which was in parts 

 its surfiice was a swamp, 

 , , , . . ^ , V,.. ,,„.^.. plants, shrubs, and small trees 



appears to have been originally filled with | were growing. The billets of wood, which 

 water, and to have been a favorite resort t the beavers had brought in, were, many of 

 for beaver a large proportion of the mate- [them, three inches in diameter, and were 

 rials which formed the lower part of the | of several kinds, as ash, willow and alder. 



