﻿ALLEN.] 
  FORMER 
  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION. 
  487 
  

  

  rence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  at 
  those 
  localities, 
  since 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  very 
  improbable, 
  

   as 
  will 
  be 
  shown 
  later, 
  that 
  the 
  buffalo 
  formerly 
  ranged 
  along 
  the 
  

   southern 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  to 
  its 
  eastern 
  end. 
  

  

  As 
  previously 
  stated, 
  there 
  is 
  good 
  reason 
  also 
  for 
  assuming 
  that 
  the 
  

   buffalo 
  was 
  not 
  found 
  in 
  New 
  England, 
  nor 
  along 
  the 
  coast. 
  of 
  the 
  Mid- 
  

   dle 
  States, 
  during 
  a 
  long 
  period 
  antedating 
  the 
  exploration 
  of 
  the 
  continent 
  

   hy 
  Europeans^ 
  or 
  during 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  shell 
  

   mounds 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  Atlantic 
  coast, 
  which 
  contain 
  no 
  traces 
  of 
  the 
  re- 
  

   mains 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  as 
  they 
  probably 
  would 
  do 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  existed 
  here 
  at 
  

   the 
  time 
  of 
  their 
  formation, 
  since 
  they 
  do 
  contain 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  

   larger 
  mammals 
  found 
  here 
  by 
  the 
  earliest 
  European 
  travellers. 
  There 
  

   still 
  remains 
  to 
  be 
  examined, 
  however, 
  one 
  supposed 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  ex- 
  

   istence 
  in 
  New 
  England 
  in 
  prehistoric 
  times. 
  

  

  Shortly 
  after 
  the 
  second 
  visit 
  of 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell 
  to 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   some 
  teeth 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  ox 
  tribe 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  clay-bank 
  at 
  

   Gardiner, 
  Maine. 
  The 
  late 
  Mrs. 
  Frederic 
  Allen, 
  of 
  Gardiner, 
  secured 
  

   these 
  teeth 
  for 
  her 
  cabinet, 
  where 
  they 
  were 
  seen 
  by 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell, 
  

   who 
  took 
  with 
  him 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  to 
  England 
  for 
  determination. 
  Ee- 
  

   specting 
  these 
  specimens, 
  and 
  others 
  contained 
  in 
  Mrs. 
  Allen's 
  cabinet. 
  

   Sir 
  Charles 
  speaks 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  "At 
  Mrs. 
  Allen's 
  I 
  examined, 
  with 
  much 
  

   interest, 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  fossil 
  shells 
  and 
  Crustacea, 
  made 
  by 
  Mrs. 
  Allen, 
  

   from 
  the 
  drift, 
  or 
  ' 
  glacial 
  ' 
  deposits 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  age 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  Ports- 
  

   mouth, 
  already 
  described. 
  Among 
  other 
  remains 
  I 
  recognized 
  the 
  tootli 
  

   of 
  a 
  walrus, 
  similar 
  to 
  one 
  procured 
  by 
  me 
  in 
  Martha's 
  Vineyard, 
  and 
  

   other 
  teeth, 
  since 
  determined 
  by 
  Professor 
  Owen 
  as 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  

   buffalo, 
  or 
  American 
  bison. 
  These 
  are, 
  I 
  believe, 
  the 
  first 
  examples 
  of 
  

   laud 
  quadrupeds 
  discovered 
  in 
  beds 
  of 
  this 
  age 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

   The 
  accompanying 
  shells 
  consisted 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  mussel 
  (Mytilus 
  edu- 
  

   lis), 
  Saxicava 
  rligosa, 
  Mya 
  arenaria, 
  Pecten 
  islandicus, 
  and 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  

   genera 
  Astarte, 
  Nucula, 
  etc." 
  * 
  

  

  These 
  specimens 
  of 
  supposed 
  bison's 
  teeth 
  having 
  assumed 
  a 
  consider- 
  

   able 
  degree 
  of 
  importance, 
  I 
  wrote, 
  in 
  January, 
  1873, 
  to 
  Professor 
  Owen, 
  

   to 
  obtain, 
  if 
  possible, 
  further 
  information 
  respecting 
  them. 
  In 
  his 
  reply, 
  

   dated 
  Cairo, 
  Egypt, 
  February 
  6, 
  1873, 
  he 
  says: 
  "I 
  do 
  not 
  recall 
  the 
  cir- 
  

   cumstance 
  to 
  which 
  you 
  refer, 
  and 
  no 
  teeth 
  of 
  ruminants 
  from 
  the 
  local- 
  

   ity 
  you 
  name 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  Palseontological 
  Department 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  

   Museum 
  when 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  my 
  health 
  obliged 
  me 
  to 
  winter 
  here. 
  I 
  

   should 
  be 
  unwilling 
  to 
  accept 
  the 
  responsibility 
  of 
  any 
  determination 
  

   which 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  myself 
  published, 
  after 
  the 
  care 
  requisite 
  for 
  such 
  a 
  

   steD." 
  

  

  Upon 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  Mrs. 
  Frederic 
  Allen, 
  her 
  collection 
  passed 
  into 
  the 
  

   possession 
  of 
  her 
  daughter, 
  Mrs. 
  Romeo 
  Elton, 
  now 
  residing 
  in 
  Dorches- 
  

   ter, 
  Mass. 
  Through 
  Mrs. 
  Elton's 
  kindness 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  obtain 
  

   the 
  full 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  specimens 
  in 
  question, 
  and 
  to 
  examine 
  the 
  three 
  

   teeth 
  still 
  remaining 
  in 
  her 
  collection, 
  and 
  which 
  were 
  figured 
  by 
  Dr. 
  

   A. 
  S. 
  Packard, 
  Jr., 
  in 
  his 
  memoir 
  on 
  the 
  Glacial 
  Phenomena 
  of 
  Labra-_ 
  

   dor 
  and 
  Maine, 
  etc.t 
  There 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  specimen 
  from 
  the 
  original 
  lot 
  of 
  

   four, 
  in 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  presented 
  

   to 
  the 
  Society 
  by 
  Dr. 
  C. 
  T. 
  Jackson, 
  with 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  Maine 
  tertiary 
  

   fossils. 
  

  

  The 
  circumstances 
  of 
  the 
  finding 
  of 
  the 
  teeth 
  are 
  fully 
  set 
  forth 
  m 
  a 
  

   written 
  statement, 
  or 
  deposition, 
  made 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  by 
  the 
  person 
  who 
  

   collected 
  the 
  specimens. 
  Through 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  Mrs. 
  Elton, 
  I 
  have 
  

  

  * 
  Second 
  Visit 
  to 
  the 
  Uuited 
  States 
  of 
  North 
  America, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  pp. 
  43, 
  44, 
  1849. 
  

   tMem. 
  Boston 
  Soc. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  plate 
  vii, 
  fig. 
  18. 
  

  

  