MERRIAM: TITK FACNA OF UANVIIO LA BREA. 203 



locality, the springs being in some cases elevated, by its deposition around them, several feet above 

 the surrounding level. 



Major Hancock presented me with what I found to be a canine tooth of a Machairodus, a 

 great saber-toothed feline. It was found at the depth of fifteen feet in the asphaltum. The tooth 

 is nine and a half inches in length, measured along the curve, and the breadth of the crown at 

 the base is an inch and three-quarters, being larger than any tooth of the European Machairodus, 

 whose measurement I have been able to find. The crown of the tooth is broken, and its entire 

 length could not have been less, I think, than eleven inches. The tooth from the Val d'Arno, in 

 Italy, referred to by Falconer in his Palaeontological memoirs, measures eight and one-half inches 

 in length, and the breadth of the crown at the base is one and one-half inches, while the tooth 

 found by McEnery in Kent's Hole, England, is six inches in length, and one and one-fifth inches 

 in breadth. The California tooth is closely serrulated on both the concave and convex sides. It 

 seems to have been exposed to the action of the elements for a long time, and contains a number 

 of fractures, some of which have been united by the asphaltum in which it was imbedded. 



I obtained a number of teeth of the fossil horse, and bones of the deer, a large bovine animal, 

 the otter, seal, albatross, and other animals. I found near the pit a portion of the right upper 

 jaw of the fossil horse, containing four molar teeth, or three premolars and one true molar. The 

 first premolar is smaller in proportion to the size of the other teeth than those of the recent horse, 

 judging by several with which I have compared it, and smaller than those of the fossil horse of 

 India. It is but one inch in length, and three-quarters of an inch in breadth; but the other three 

 teeth are larger than the average of the recent horse. The Machairodus tooth, with several from 

 the fossil horse, were exhibited. 



Denton considered the asphalt to be derived from petroleum shales of 

 Tertiary age which were known to be exposed at localities near by, and were 

 presumed to lie beneath the asphalt deposits. Evidence of this was found in 

 the presence in this region of hundreds of tar springs from which the tar was 

 still flowing over the surrounding areas, the springs being in some cases elevated 

 to a height of several feet above the normal level of the ground by deposition of 

 bituminous material. 



The first fossil specimen from the asphalt mentioned by Denton is a canine 

 tooth of a large saber-tooth cat, the tooth having been presented to him by 

 Major Hancock. The presumption is therefore that Major Hancock was the 

 first person to take particular notice of the fossil remains in the asphalt. 



The saber-tooth canine was stated to have been found at a depth of fifteen 

 feet in the asphaltum, so tha't no question could arise as to its belonging in the 

 asphalt formation. This tooth was compared with Machairodus of Europe, 

 but seemed to represent a larger animal. 



Denton also obtained bones and teeth of a fossil horse, and bones considered 

 to represent the deer, a large bovine animal, the otter, seal, albatross, and other 

 animals. 



As nearly as can be determined, no other investigator seems to have fol- 

 lowed up the work of Denton, which was quite forgotten ; and for many years 

 past the great quantities of bones scattered about the refuse heaps, and exposed 

 in the old quarries, have been considered as representing nothing more than 



