THE EXTINCT PECCARY OF NORTH AMERICA. 99 
Remarks on the discovery of remains, and distinctive characters of the extinct Peccary.—Re- 
mains of the Peccary have been discovered in Illinois, Kentucky, Lowa, Missouri, and Vir- 
ginia. The most important specimen yet obtained of these remains, is a nearly perfect 
skull, completely unchanged in original texture, which was found in a saltpetre cave in 
Kentucky, and was presented by Dr. Samuel Brown, in 1805, to the American Philosophical 
Society, in the cabinet of which it remained for nearly halfa century with the impression 
of all who examined it, that it was the skull of arecent Peccary. More accurate infor- . 
mation of the exact locality in which the specimen was found I have not obtained. 
The first remains of the extinct Peccary of North America were described by Dr. John 
L. Le Conte, from specimens obtained by Mr. Snyder, of Galena, Illinois, in the vicinity 
of that city. These remains consisted of a number of bones and teeth, with fragments of 
others, and were found in association with remains of an extinct species of Procyon and a 
tooth of an extinct genus to which Dr. Le Conte gave the name of Anomodon. 
In a recent visit to Galena, Illinois, through the aid of Dr. E. D. Kittoe, and Dr. Hemp- 
stead, of that city, [had an opportunity of examining the localities in which fossil remains of 
the Peccary are found; and Dr. Kittoe gave me a number of additional specimens. The 
localities referred to, occur in the cliff limestone,* which is widely extended through Wis- 
consin and portions of Ilinois and fowa, is full of irregular fissures containing lead ore, 
and is remarkable for the singular weather-worn and castellated appearance it presents in 
exposed situations. Within the lead-bearing crevices, in the vicinity of Galena, bones 
have frequently been found, and they may also have been discovered even more frequently 
in similar positions in Wisconsin, but as yet, I have seen no evidence of such discovery. 
The bones are generally exceedingly friable, often chalk white and resembling recent ones 
calcined; and they are enveloped in a loose or more or less compact matrix of brown fer- 
ruginous sand. Occasionally, the remains are found in abundance, and in one instance a 
miner informed Dr. Kittoe that for several days together he had been engaged in removing 
bones from a lead crevice, but not knowing they were of any value, they were thrown 
among other rubbish removed from the mine, where from their very great friability, they 
were soon destroyed through the action of the weather. At my instigation, Dr. Kittoe 
employed two miners to enter a deserted lead crevice, in which it was stated bones had 
been found; and after some trouble in removing rubbish that had fallen in from above, 
they obtained about a quarter of a peck of bones and fragments of the extinct peccary, 
together with a few fragments of bones and numerous incisor and a few molar teeth of 
four rodents. These latter may, on subsequent investigation, prove to be extinct species, 
* An appropriate name given to it by Dr. D. D. Owen, who says this rock is a subdivision of the mountain lime: 
stone group. 
