SHASTA EOUTE SEATTLE TO SAN FRANCISCO. 



67 



country in 



Kennett, I 



fossils 



kilns may 



t> 



Kennett the train crosses Backbone Creek. Here limo- 



railroad 



behind them. From Kennett 



melters at Coram, Kemiett 



The fumes from the 

 wick have kiUod aU 



vegetation and left bare slopes whose coloring suggests the sun-baked 



hills of the desert, 

 porphyry 



prm 



To the left, across the river, is the 



a-andesite, which contains numerous gold quartz veins 

 he Balakiala copper mine is 3 miles northwest of Coram 

 hiUs^ and the smelter is at South Coram, a mile from thf 



Across 



Sacrament 



Coram. 



Elevation 630 feet. 

 Population G66. 

 Seattle 684 miles. 



», opposite Motion, formerly 

 called Copley, a bench or terrace may be discerned 

 about 200 feet above the rirer. This is cut in rock 

 and is the work of the river at a former period of its 

 history. It 



may 



^ On McCloud Eiver, wliicli flows into 

 the Pit about 6 miles east of Kennett, 

 there are in the McCloud limestone a 

 number of Pleistocene caverns which 

 contain animal remains of considerable 

 ecientific interest, described by J. G. 

 Meniam. In Potter Creek Cave, about 

 2 miles above the mouth of the McCloud, 

 fossil remains of more than 50 species of 

 animals were found in deposits on the 

 floor. Approximately half of the total 

 number of species were extinct. Among 

 the animals represented in this cave 

 were the great extinct cave bear, another 

 bear more nearly related to the living 

 black bear, a large extinct lion, a puma, 

 an extinct wolf, and fragmentary epec- 

 iinena representing the mountain goat, 

 deer, bison, camel, ground sloth, ele- 

 phant, mastodon, an extinct horse, and 

 a peculiar goatlike animal known as 

 Eucerathcrium. 



Samwel Cave, which is about 18 miles 

 from the mouth of the McCloud, is a large 

 cavern with many galleries, in several of 

 which the cave earth contains remains of 

 extinct animals. Among these is another 



as Preptoceras 



animal 



The beautifully coiled and intricately 

 marked fossil shells known as ammonites 

 are especially abundant in the Triassic 

 rocks of this region, and the Upper 

 Triassic Hosselkus limestone of the region 

 contains numerous remains of marine 

 reptiles. Bones have been found repre- 

 senting the ichthyosaurs (fish lizards) 

 and another peculiar marine group, the 

 thalattosaurs (sea lizards) . Numerous 

 fragments have been obtained from these 

 deposits, but the skeletons are nearly all 

 imperfect and do not show the wonderful 

 preservation of the Middle Triassic spec- 

 imens from Nevada. 



The history of the ichthyosaurs found 

 in the Middle and Upper Tria^isic of the 

 western region presents one of the most 

 interesting studies of evolution thus 

 far known in the story of this group. 

 The Middle Triassic forms are much more 

 primitive in every respect than those ol 

 the following Jurassic period and show 

 less advanced specialization of the limbs, 

 tail, eyes, and teeth for life on the high 

 seas. The Upper Tricssic t}-pefl also are 

 relatively primitive but are intermediate 

 between the Middle Triassic and the 

 Jurassic stages of evolution- 



