Miscellanies. 169 



of the decomposed shells with the contiguous earth) and spreading it 

 on his fields, which have been much benefited by the application. 

 In the course of his operations, several pits have been dug, some of 

 them to the depth of twenty five feet below the surface of the earth, 

 and ten feet below the present surface of the river. In the course of 

 these excavations, a great variety of interesting organic remains have 

 been found, consisting of sea-shells, bones and teeth of fishes, and the 

 bones of land animals of prodigious size. Mr. B. informs me that 

 the following is the order in which these remains have been found : — 

 1st. Shark's teeth, and the fragments of bones of marine fishes, ming- 

 led with sea-shells. 2d. Teeth, horns, hoofs, ribs, vertebrae, &;c. of 

 quadrupeds that inhabited the land, mingled with sea-shells of great 

 varieties. These remains of land animals are found at the depth of 

 from twenty to twenty five feet below the surface of the earth. Among 

 them are recognized with certainty, the teeth of the great mastodon, 

 [Mastodon giganteum of Cuvier,] the hoof, horns, and vertebrae of an 

 elk of great size and the teeth of an animal supposed to be the hyena.* 

 I will now subjoin a more minute account of some of these remark- 

 able remains : — 



I. Shells. 



1. Pholas costata. Length If inches. Breadth 3J inches. 



2. Clam shells, [Venus] one of these in my possession measures 5 

 inches in length and 7 inches in breadth. One which Mr. B. gave 

 to Mr. Nuttall is a third larger than this. 



3. The grooved Conch, [Strombus.] Length 5h inches. A spe- 

 cies supposed to be extinct. 



4. Murex. Abundant and of different sizes. 



5. Cardium, [Cockle.] Not common. 



breadth 4 J inches. 



(( 07 (( 



" 4.] " 



9. Ostrea, [Oyster.] An extinct species ? 



10. Patella fornicata. Length I J inches; breadth ^ inch. 



11. Pectunculus. " H " " 1^ " 



12. Conus, [Key shell.] " 2k " " 1 " 



13. Buccinum. " 21 " " 1 " 



14. Mya, [valves gaping.] " 2k " " 5i " 



* It will require very rigorous observations, to establish this fact, as we have liith- 

 erto no evidence that the hyena ever existed on Ihia continent. — i^d. 



Vol. XXVII.— No. 1. 22 



