SKELETAL REMAINS 57 



Air. I'halen's figures indicate thai. except as regards oxide of alii 

 ininiiin. loth the < Kprey -kull ami the North Osprey bones show 

 greater alteration in their inorganic constituents than do the bones 

 of tin- fo-- il ma-todon. 



Tin- ( )>prey r-kull presents a marked diminution of the phosphoric 

 acid that is. the phosphates as well as of oxide of lime, and a pro- 

 nounced increase of -ilica and especially of iron. It is plain that a 

 portion of tin- pho.-phates and calcium compounds have been replaced 

 hy -ilica and iron, and in that decree the bone is a fossil. 



The North ()-prey bone-, -how a somewhat smaller loss of their 

 original inorganic constituents than the Osprey specimen and a eor- 

 re-pondingly smaller gain of iron; but the increase in silica is about 

 the -a me a- in that skull, and there is present a considerable jmrtion 

 of oxide of aluminum, absent from the Osprey cranium. The l>ones 

 an- therefore to be looked on as being slightly less fossilized than the 

 Osprey skull and as fossilized in a different manner. 



The chemical determinations accordingly leave no doubt that the 

 bones in question are fossilized in a considerable degree, a condition 

 which has been very generally regarded as an important indication 

 of antiquity. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 



The Osprey skull (plate vi, a) was thus reported by Leidy : a 



The specimen consists of the base of a skull, the vault broken off nnd lost 

 but retaining part of the face nnd n fragment of the mandible. The alveolar 

 portions of the jaws and teeth are also absent The fossil beneath is embedded 

 In a mass of hard bog ore, while the bottom of the cranial cavity is occupied by 

 fine, coherent, siliceous sand. 



The fossil skull itself is converted into limonite, and the portions where 

 exposed are well preserved and not in the slightest degree eroded or water- 

 worn. The HiNH'imen Indicates a well-proportioned ovoid skull, and closely 

 approximates in shape an ordinary prepared French skull, such as the writer 

 has lying at the side of the fossil. The forehead and contiguous portions of 

 the fa-e accord with the usual condition in a white man's skull. The super- 

 ciliary ridges are but moderately produced and the nasal bones are large and 

 prominent The occiput has the usual appearance, while its muscular markings 

 are not more developed than commonly. Comparative measurements of the 

 fossil with a French skull are as follows: 



Komi I French 



kull skull 



Glabella to occipital protuberance 170mm. 178 mm. 



Breadth above the auditory meatl 131mm. 132mm. 



I'.readth of forehead at the temporal ridges 102mm. 104mm. 



To the above description may be added the following: The speci- 

 men i< a Miiall adult or nearly adult and apparently masculine cra- 



Notice of Some Foiwll Human Bones, by Prof. Joseph I*ldy. Transaction* of th 

 Wayner Free Imtitutc of Science, n. 11-11'. Philadelphia, 1880. 



