FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 19 



sand filled with fresh-water shells. Above this quicksand was 

 found four feet of black peaty soil, so soft that a fence-rail could 

 easily be pushed down through it. The quicksand had evidently 

 once formed the bottom of a freshwater pond, fed probably by 

 springs, and was the resort of the animals whose bones were 

 found here. 



The first bone met with was one of the tusks, and, supposing 

 it to be a small tree, it was cut in two with an axe before its true 

 character was suspected. The other tusk was taken out whole 

 and measured nine feet in length around the curve and about two 

 feet in circumference where it was inserted in the skull. The lower 

 jaw with the teeth in place arid the teeth of the upper jaw and 

 some of the smaller bones were also found in good state of preser- 

 vation. The depth of the quicksand was not fully ascertained, 

 but it was probed to the depth of two feet or more without reach- 

 ing solid bottom. 



(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V, p. SOS.) 



The tooth of a mammoth was found some years ago, in the 

 bluffs of the Sangamon and near the surface and probably came 

 from beds not older than the loess. 



(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V, p. 308.} 



VERMILION COUNTY. 



Fairmount. Forty-six years ago the remains of a mastodon 

 were found in loess, two miles southeast of Fairmount. The black 

 soil here is from one to two feet thick, and is underlaid by a light 

 brown, tenacious clay filled with calcareous shells of Limnea, 

 Physa, etc. Bones of a mastodon were found lying partly upon, 

 partly imbedded in this marly clay, the tip of one of the tusks 

 being within thirteen inches of the surface. The slough had been 

 mostly drained of late years, the air had permeated the bed and 

 pretty thoroughly decayed the bones, which were doubtless in 

 good state of preservation so long as constantly covered with 

 water. The parts were promiscuously mingled, showing that the 



