August 7, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



201 



rowing of the pipe. In the large reservoir be- 

 low the chimneys only small bones appear, and 

 these were found only in a limited space near 

 the point of union of the lower reservoir and 

 the two chimneys. The distribution of bones 

 shows conclusively that they came from above, 

 and were not carried up from the depths with 

 ascending oil. 



The total number of specimens found in 

 the chimneys was large, and will aggregate 

 several thousand. These bones represent a 

 considerable variety of mammals and birds. 

 They include bear, coyote, a wolf of the timber- 

 wolf type, skunk, weasel, horse, antelope, rab- 

 bit, pocket-gophers, field-mice, eagles, owls, 

 vtiltures, crows, and many other forms. 



The fauna from the two chimneys in pit ten 

 is in general like that of California at the pres- 

 ent time. It differs greatly from that of the 

 pits in which the well-known Eancho La Brea 

 fauna is found through the absence of the 

 great wolf, saber-tooth, sloth, small antelope, 

 camel, and many other mammals and birds 

 abundantly represented in the typical Eancho 

 La Brea deposits. 



The only extinct form certainly recognized 

 in the material from the two chimneys is Tera- 

 iornis, a gigantic condor-like bird, as yet 

 known only from Eancho La Brea, and recog- 

 nized by Dr. L. H. Miller in this collection. 

 Bones of this bird were found in a narrow por- 

 tion of the north chimney at a depth of about 

 four feet, and considerably above some of the 

 human remains. As nearly as one can judge 

 from the evidence at hand, there seems a rea- 

 sonable chance that the giant Teratornis was 

 a contemporary of the human being whose re- 

 mains appear in the north chimney of pit ten. 

 The evidence does not present clear proof 

 in favor of this view, but appears to balance 

 in that direction. 



The extinct California peacock and two 

 other extinct species are doubtfully reported 

 from the north chimney, but there is doubt as 

 to their having been introduced in the same 

 manner as the other bones making up the 

 fauna. 



A small collection found near the upper 

 end of the north chimney contains a number 



of birds, which, according to Dr. Miller, 

 are quite different from those certainly known 

 from the two chimneys. The matrix in 

 which this small collection was found is also 

 different from that in the chimneys. It seems 

 probable that these specimens really represent 

 an older fauna embedded in a relatively an- 

 cient deposit through or near which the north 

 chimney passed. 



A portion of the lower jaw of a young horse 

 found at a depth of about five feet and near 

 the Teratornis in the north chimney is more 

 slender than any lower jaw of the common ex- 

 tinct horse found in the typical Eancho La 

 Brea fauna. The writer has not, however, 

 compared it with fossil specimens of exactly 

 the same individual stage of development. In 

 slenderness it approaches more closely the jaw 

 of the existing domestic horse. The space be- 

 tween the back teeth and front teeth seems 

 shorter than that in the domestic horse, 

 and is of nearly the same length as in the ex- 

 tinct species from Eancho La Brea. A more 

 careful study of immature sjpecimens from 

 Eancho La Brea in comparison with very 

 young modern horses will be necessary before 

 one can speak authoritatively with reference 

 to the specific determination of this specimen. 

 It will be very interesting to know whether 

 this is an extinct species which lived in Cali- 

 fornia until a comparatively recent time and 

 was contemporaneous with man, but became 

 extinct before this country was visited by white 

 men. The alternative hypothesis is that it 

 represents the colt of a modern horse which 

 fell into the pit within the last century and 

 a half. 



The fact that the fauna from the two chim- 

 neys is nearly or quite identical with that of 

 the present day, while the typical Eancho La 

 Brea fauna differs greatly and shows close re- 

 semblance to the life of the earth at a remote 

 time, makes it evident that the fauna repre- 

 sented in the chimneys of pit ten pertains to 

 a period much later than that in which the 

 typical Eancho La Brea animals lived. The 

 collection from the chimneys represents a time 

 so close to the present that the types of life 

 were nearly the same as those in the region at 



