320 On the Geological Position of the 



Mollusca. — 1. Casts of a Tellina allied to T. biplicata, a meiocene 

 fossil, and of another near T. lusoria. 2. Cast of a Cytherea resem- 

 bling C. Say ana, Conrad. 3. Three casts of a Mya, one of which bears 

 close resemblance to Mya truncala. 



Mr. Lyell concludes, from the various evidence here given, that the 

 strata of Martha's Vineyard are meiocene. The numerous remains of 

 Cetacea of the genera Balana and Hyperoodon are adverse to the sup- 

 position of their being eocene, while such fossils abound in the meiocene 

 beds of America. The other fossils all point to a similar conclusion. 





Art. XIII. — On the Geological Position of the Mastodon giganteum 

 and associated Fossil Remains at Bigbone Lick, Kentucky, and other 

 localities in the United States and Canada; by Charles Lyell, Esq. 

 V. P. G. S. &c* 



With a view to ascertain the relations of the soil in which the bones of 

 the Mastodon are found, to the drift or boulder formation, whether any 

 important geographical or geological changes had taken place since they 

 were imbedded, and what species of shells are associated with them, 

 Mr. Lyell visited a number of places where they had been obtained. 

 In this paper he gives the result of his researches. 



The most celebrated locality visited was Bigbone Lick, in the north- 

 ern part of Kentucky, distant about twenty five miles to the southwest of 

 Cincinnati, situated on a small tributary of the river Ohio called Bigbone 

 Creek, which winds for about seven miles below the Lick before joining 

 the Ohio. A "lick" is a place where saline springs break out, gener- 

 ally among marshes and bogs, to which deer, buffaloes, and other wild 

 animals resort to drink the brackish water and lick the salt in summer. 

 The country around Bigbone Lick, and for a considerable distance on 

 both banks of the Ohio, above and below it, is composed of blue argilla- 

 ceous limestone and marl, constituting one of the oldest members of the 

 transition or Silurian system. The strata are nearly horizontal and 

 form flat table-lands intersected by numerous valleys in which alluvial 

 gravel and silt occur; but there is no covering of drift in this region. 

 The drift is abundant in the northern parts of Ohio and Indiana, but dis- 

 appears almost entirely before we reach the Ohio. 



Until lately herds of buffaloes were in the habit of frequenting the 

 springs, and the paths made by them are still to be seen. Numbers of 

 these animals have been mired in the bogs, and horses and cows have 

 perished in like manner. Along with their remains are found innumer- 



* From the Proceedings of the London Geological Society, Vol. IV, No. 92. 



