﻿ALLEN] 
  FOSSIL 
  KEMAINS 
  OF 
  THE 
  BISON. 
  457 
  

  

  in 
  plate 
  ix 
  is 
  depicted 
  a 
  collision 
  of 
  a 
  bull 
  and 
  a 
  horse 
  during' 
  a 
  chaste, 
  

   and 
  in 
  plate 
  x 
  a 
  wounded 
  bull 
  is 
  represented. 
  In 
  plate 
  cv 
  is 
  figured 
  a 
  

   berd 
  in 
  the 
  rutting 
  season 
  ; 
  in 
  plate 
  cvi 
  a 
  herd 
  at 
  rest, 
  with 
  an 
  old 
  bull 
  

   wallowing 
  in 
  the 
  foreground 
  ; 
  plates 
  cvii 
  to 
  cxii 
  form 
  a 
  series 
  illustrating 
  

   the 
  hunting 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  by 
  the 
  Indians 
  j 
  plates 
  cxiii 
  and 
  cxiv 
  repre- 
  

   sent 
  buffaloes 
  attacked 
  by 
  wolves. 
  

  

  Besides 
  Audubon's* 
  well-known 
  figures, 
  among 
  those 
  worthy 
  of 
  

   special 
  notice 
  are 
  those 
  in 
  Schoolcraft's 
  great 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  Indians,t 
  in 
  

   which 
  in 
  plate 
  viii 
  is 
  given 
  a 
  comparative 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  bulialo 
  and 
  do- 
  

   mestic 
  cow 
  ; 
  in 
  plate 
  ix, 
  a 
  view 
  of 
  a 
  buffalo 
  chase; 
  in 
  plate 
  x, 
  buffalo 
  

   hunting 
  in 
  winter; 
  in 
  plate 
  xi, 
  a 
  view 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  herd 
  of 
  buffaloes; 
  in 
  

   plate 
  xii, 
  another 
  view 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  herd 
  with 
  an 
  old 
  bull 
  in 
  the 
  foreground 
  ; 
  

   plate 
  xiii, 
  buffalo 
  skinning. 
  

  

  The 
  earlier 
  figures 
  are 
  of 
  course 
  noteworthy 
  only 
  as 
  being 
  the 
  first 
  

   attempts 
  at 
  delineating 
  the 
  American 
  bison. 
  Those 
  by 
  Catlin, 
  on 
  the 
  

   other 
  hand, 
  truthfully 
  and 
  vividly 
  depict 
  scenes 
  which, 
  though 
  formerly 
  

   characteristic 
  of 
  our 
  plains, 
  will 
  soon 
  be 
  known 
  only 
  in 
  history, 
  and 
  are 
  

   well 
  worthy 
  of 
  consultation 
  by 
  any 
  one 
  interested^ 
  in 
  the 
  subjects 
  he 
  

   there 
  delineates. 
  Audubon's 
  illustrations 
  are 
  faithful 
  likenesses, 
  and 
  

   the 
  scenes 
  and 
  figures 
  given 
  in 
  Schoolcraft's 
  work 
  may 
  also 
  be 
  examined 
  

   with 
  profit 
  ; 
  the 
  most 
  accurate 
  figures, 
  however, 
  are 
  those 
  given 
  by 
  Cu- 
  

   vier 
  and 
  Geoii'roy. 
  

  

  Fossil 
  Remains. 
  — 
  The 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  bison 
  in 
  a 
  fossil 
  or 
  

   semifossil 
  condition 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  sparingly 
  over 
  a 
  wide 
  area, 
  but 
  

   no 
  instance 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  known 
  of 
  their 
  discovery 
  beyond 
  the 
  known 
  

   limits 
  of 
  its 
  range 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  explorations 
  of 
  the 
  con- 
  

   tinent. 
  In 
  the 
  JSTational 
  Museum 
  at 
  Washington 
  are 
  semifossil 
  remains 
  

   from 
  Colorado, 
  collected 
  by 
  Major 
  Powell, 
  and 
  from 
  Kansas, 
  collected 
  

   by 
  Dr. 
  Hayden. 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  fossil 
  tooth 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  Central 
  Iowa, 
  

   and 
  have 
  received 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Orestes 
  H. 
  St. 
  John 
  a 
  fossil 
  astragalus 
  from 
  

   the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Big 
  Blue 
  River 
  in 
  Kansas. 
  Professor 
  Wyraan 
  has 
  

   reported 
  its 
  remains 
  from 
  the 
  mounds 
  of 
  the 
  Lead 
  Eegion 
  in 
  Wisconsin 
  

   and 
  Iowa; 
  Dr. 
  Leidy 
  has 
  figured 
  a 
  tooth 
  from 
  the 
  Lead 
  crevices 
  of 
  Jo 
  

   Daviess 
  County, 
  Illinois, 
  and 
  also 
  from 
  the 
  Ashley 
  River, 
  South 
  Caro- 
  

   lina.f 
  Professor 
  Baird 
  has 
  reported 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  its 
  fossil 
  remains 
  

   in 
  the 
  caverns 
  of 
  Central 
  Pennsylvania. 
  The 
  alleged 
  occurrence 
  of 
  its 
  

   remains 
  at 
  Gardiner, 
  Maine, 
  proves, 
  however, 
  to 
  be 
  probably 
  erroneous, 
  

   as 
  will 
  be 
  shown 
  further 
  on.§ 
  

  

  Its 
  bones 
  have 
  also 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  large 
  quantities 
  about 
  the 
  Salt 
  

   Licks 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio 
  Valley, 
  especially 
  at 
  Big-bone 
  Lick, 
  Kentucky. 
  The 
  

   accumulations 
  at 
  the 
  last-named 
  locality 
  date 
  back 
  to 
  remote 
  times, 
  

   since 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  strata 
  of 
  these 
  bone-deposits 
  are 
  found 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  

   Mastodon 
  americanus^ 
  Megalonyx, 
  Elcphas^ 
  an 
  extinct 
  s[)ecies 
  of 
  Uqims, 
  

   and 
  an 
  extinct 
  species 
  of 
  Ovibos, 
  but, 
  according 
  to 
  Professor 
  Shaler, 
  

   the 
  bones 
  of 
  Bison 
  americanus 
  occiir 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  superficial 
  

   strata, 
  which 
  are 
  composed 
  almost 
  solely 
  of 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  this 
  

   animal. 
  These 
  remains 
  differ 
  in 
  no 
  appreciable 
  respect, 
  in 
  form 
  or 
  

   in 
  size, 
  from 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  recent 
  bison 
  of 
  the 
  Plains.!! 
  The 
  onlv 
  

  

  * 
  Quad. 
  North 
  America, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  pis. 
  Ivi, 
  Ivii. 
  

  

  tHist. 
  Frosp. 
  & 
  Coud. 
  Indian 
  Tribes 
  of 
  North 
  America, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  pis. 
  viii-xiii. 
  

  

  X 
  In 
  both 
  insrauces 
  doubtfully 
  referi'ed 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Loidy 
  to 
  Bison 
  latifrons. 
  

  

  v^ 
  See 
  the 
  chapter 
  on 
  the 
  Geographical 
  Distribution 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Bison. 
  

  

  II 
  A 
  skull 
  from 
  Big-bouo 
  Lick 
  (No. 
  2047, 
  M. 
  C. 
  Z.) 
  presents 
  the 
  greatest 
  convexity 
  of 
  

   the 
  forehead 
  of 
  any 
  I 
  have 
  met 
  with, 
  but 
  does 
  not 
  differ 
  in 
  other 
  respects 
  from 
  ordinary 
  

   examples. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  other 
  Big-boue 
  Lick 
  skulls 
  exhibit 
  tbe 
  usual 
  degree 
  

   of 
  flatness. 
  No. 
  205tl 
  has 
  unusually 
  large 
  horn-cores, 
  but 
  is 
  not 
  in 
  other 
  respects 
  dis- 
  

   tinguishable 
  from 
  average 
  recent 
  examples. 
  

  

  