45 



These reasons apply to the fall of the mega- 

 lonyx ; with this addition, that as he was so 

 terrific and devastating a disturber, the human 

 race might have made his extirpation a com- 

 mon cause; or his numerous and powerful 

 enemies of the forests might liave operated to 

 this effect. There is no question, but that the 

 mammoth was his perpetual rival, and avowed 

 adversary. Wherever they met, they fought; 

 and wherever they fought, one or both fell. 

 Their bones, to this day, are found mingled 

 together on the same surface, or buried deep 

 in the same hole. I hardly know an instance 

 of their being found separately, and where 

 they are so, they have most probably been 

 dragged into such situations by creatures, who 

 dreaded to approach them while alive. But 

 how long the megalonyx has existed, or ceased 

 to exist, in America, we shall perhaps ever 

 remain in ignorance of. No judgment can be 

 formed from the quantity of vegetable soil 

 which has accumulated over his bones. Certain 

 we are, that his species existed in great abun- 

 dance, from the number of their remains. 

 Perhaps they were destroyed by some sudden 

 and powerful cause, — probably one of those 

 changes, or sudden eruptions of the sea, which 



