LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI. 405 



who resided within two miles of Carion Cro, that within 

 a few days before my arrival, some very large bones had 

 been disinterred. I went with Dr. Smith to the spot, 

 ana assisted in digging out of the earth a jaw bone, an- 

 swering exactly to your Plate VIII. Fig. 2. 



I measured the tooth, and found it four inches over 

 the enamel, and about one foot in depth. It contained 

 transverse lines, as represented in your Fig. 2. Plate VI. 

 The fragments of this tooth were sent to Dr. Garret E. 

 Pendergrast, of Natchez, who remitted them to Dr. 

 Wistar, of Philadelphia, in whose possession they now 

 remain. 



It is a curious and interesting fact, that the spot where 

 the savages reported from tradition that the large ani- 

 mal died, was within one mile of the very place where 

 Dr. Smith and myself found the fossil tooth. The surface 

 of the ground was a loose loam, which had been formed 

 by accretion of soil in the lapse of ages. The tooth had 

 been opened to-day by a drain from the Prairie. The 

 enamel was perfectly entire, but the other parts had beea 

 changed to a carbonate of lime. 



Mississippi. 



The earthquakes which shook North America during 

 the years 1811, 12 and 13, were accompanied, among other 

 occurrences, with an ejection of warm water, sand, and 

 coal in the region adjoining New Madrid, near the Mis- 

 sissippi. Some of this volcanic coal was brought to me 

 at Washington City, and in May, 1812, I made some ex- 

 periments upon it, which led me to a belief of its vege- 

 table origin. I found it very inflammable. It consumed 

 with a bright and vivid blaze. A copious smoke was 



