68 VOTES AND 



of the thigh bone ; the teeth and ribs were in a very sound state ; but the oilier 

 were considerably decayed, and an exposure to the air had such an affect upon 

 thenft as to render their preservation useless. Subsequent to that time several 

 scattered remains of skeletons of the same animal have been discovered ; but 

 from carelessness, or other causes, these have been lost. The speculations of 

 persons who saw these phenomena were various, and, in some ii^tances, ridicu- 

 lous, affording no rational improvement to the naturalist. The advancement in 

 agriculture, which began to show itself in the counties of Orange and Ulster at 

 this period, while it enriched the husbandman, and beautified the country, was 

 the cause of other discoveries of this nature j drew the subject before the 

 public, attracted the immediate attention of literary men, and led to the exer- 

 tions of the enterprising inr. Peale of Philadelphia who procured two skeletons 

 of these non-descript animals nearly entire j by the ingenuity and enterprise qf 

 that gentleman, these hidden treasures of natural history were brought to public 

 view to astonish and delight the sons of science. At the time of this discovery 

 it was my lot to be in the vicinity, and to contribute my exertions in taking them 

 from their hidden depositories. The parts of these fossils heretofore discovered 

 had excited an interest far short of their importance. The numbers being now 

 increased, and a spirit of inquiry set on foot, excited a high degree of pub- 

 lic interest. The big banes (as they were called) were exposed for show, and 

 persons, from various motives, in great numbers, flocked to behold this hereto- 

 fore hidden wonder. Having had an agency in prosecuting this research, and of 

 bringing the fossils to light, I wrote to dr. Mitchell a short account of their 

 magnitude ; the place of their discovery ; the nature of the earth ; &c. &c. which 

 that gentleman, with his learned co-editors of the Medical Repository, thought 

 worthy of a place in that excellent register of discoveries and of science. By a 

 reference to that document the magnitude of the particular parts of the skeleton 

 will be found. It is, however, unnecessary to insert them here as you have other 

 sources of information which will lead to a more accurate and general result. 



The nature and formation of this mammoth country, as well as the particular 

 places where those animals were found, may possibly be interesting; and to this 

 object I shall devote a few general remarks. 



The only fossils of this skeleton which have been discovered, have been found 

 in wet and miry lands, in the towns of Montgomery and Shawangunk. The 

 former in Orange, and the latter in Ulster county, in this state : about eighty 

 miles distant from this city, and from six to twelve miles from Newburgh, on the 

 Hudson river. 



In a western direction? from the Hudson for some five or six miles, the 

 ground rises gradually, but perceptibly, until you come to the confines of Colden- 

 hara ; the waters running easterly until you arrive here, aow take the contrary 



