1847.] Tooth of the Elephas Americanus. 35 



Remarks, — The relics of this extinct species of elephant, pos- 

 sess the highest interest. They are among the last which have 

 perished of the lost races. Their existence in America is ex- 

 tremely important as bearing upon the geological theory of the 

 earth. That the whole and entire race of elephants and masto- 

 dons should have perished on this continent, while the elephant 

 is still preserved in Asia, points to the operation of some cause 

 which was limited in its influence. The period at which the 

 elephant and mastodon appeared upon the earth, was, geolo- 

 gically speaking, recent. This is determined by the place or 

 position their remains occupy among the formations. In New- 

 York, this position is invariably above the dritt of the country. 

 At Scotchtown, in Orange county, the mastodon is found in fresh 

 water marl beds, which contain also dead shells of the lymnea, 

 but the same species is still living and very common in all parts 

 of the country. The section illustrating the deposits here, are 

 first, drift composed of coarse sand, gravel and rolled quartz peb- 

 bles. Second, fresh water marl, with abundance of dead shells 

 of lymnea and planorbis, belonging always to the living species. 

 Third, peat, which covers the land, embracing the remains of the 

 mastodon. Fourth, ordinary soil. The marl, in addition to the 

 animal remains, contains also large sticks of birch, about eigh- 

 teen inches long, upon which the marks of the teeth of the bea- 

 ver are still perfect. The wood is softened, but retains its ori- 

 ginal form perfectly, and all the specific characters of the wood 

 itself. No one therefore, can doubt the recent extinction of the 

 animal in question, when it is considered that the period is limit- 

 ed to the time that wood may be preserved in the earth near the 

 surface. It is proper to remark however, that the wood is placed 

 under favorable circumstances for preservation, being enveloped 

 in a close calcareous deposit, overlaid with about eighteen inches 

 of compact peat. The wood has not undergone a petrifying pro- 

 cess, but is in the progress of slow decay; showing that it is sub- 

 jected to those influences, which would in lime destroy it complete- 

 ly. We possess a tooth or cast of a tooth of the elephant from 

 Seneca lake near Geneva. So also the remains of the same 

 species have been found near Rochester, New York, and in every 

 instance above the drift. Fig. 2, is taken from the tooth of the 

 mastodon. It is given for the purpose of exhibiting the differen- 

 ces in the form of the teeth of the elephant and mastodon, both 

 of which were cotemporaries, and which perished in the same 

 catastrophe, or by like and similar causes, at one and the same 

 period. 



That the food of the elephant and mastodon, leaving out of view 

 the evidence which their teeth afTord, that these extinct animals 

 were vegetable feeders, there is also the direct evidence that the 

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