﻿488 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  before 
  me 
  the 
  original 
  dociiraent, 
  which 
  represents 
  the 
  teeth 
  as 
  occur- 
  

   ring 
  in 
  a 
  solid 
  clay-bank, 
  fifteen 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  surface.* 
  In 
  respect 
  to 
  

   the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  locality, 
  and 
  its 
  present 
  condition, 
  I 
  have 
  the 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  additional 
  information 
  from 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  S. 
  Packard, 
  Jr., 
  in 
  answer 
  to 
  

   special 
  inquiries 
  on 
  this 
  point. 
  In 
  a 
  letter 
  dated 
  Salem, 
  Mass,, 
  Decem- 
  

   ber 
  31, 
  1872, 
  Dr. 
  Packard 
  writes 
  : 
  " 
  In 
  answer 
  to 
  your 
  other 
  query, 
  I 
  

   have 
  examined 
  hastily 
  the 
  locality, 
  but 
  many 
  years 
  after 
  Lyell 
  visited 
  

   this 
  country, 
  — 
  about 
  twenty, 
  — 
  and 
  great 
  changes 
  may 
  have 
  occurred 
  in 
  

   the 
  locality, 
  as 
  when 
  I 
  was 
  there 
  the 
  high 
  clay-bank 
  was 
  being 
  dug 
  away 
  

   to 
  supply 
  a 
  brickyard."t 
  Eeferring 
  to 
  a 
  suspicion 
  I 
  had 
  communicated 
  

   to 
  him 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  probably 
  prove 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  teeth 
  of 
  a 
  domestic 
  ox, 
  

   he 
  adds 
  further: 
  "The 
  teeth 
  in 
  question 
  may 
  have 
  fallen 
  over 
  the 
  em- 
  

   bankment 
  and 
  got 
  mixed 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  beds. 
  The 
  beds 
  containing 
  the 
  

   shells 
  lie 
  below, 
  in 
  a 
  vertical 
  section, 
  where 
  the 
  beds 
  containing 
  the 
  sup- 
  

   posed 
  bison's 
  teeth 
  would 
  have 
  been, 
  but 
  the 
  shell-bearing 
  beds 
  gradu- 
  

   ate 
  into 
  those 
  situated 
  fifteen 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  surface." 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  teeth 
  

   remaining 
  in 
  Mrs. 
  Elton's 
  collection 
  was, 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  I 
  saw 
  it, 
  still 
  firmly 
  

   imbedded 
  in 
  its 
  original 
  matrix 
  of 
  blue 
  clay, 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  character 
  as 
  

   that 
  enclosing 
  the 
  shells. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  above 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  teeth 
  were 
  not 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  

   clay-beds 
  by 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell, 
  as 
  some 
  have 
  supposed, 
  nor 
  by 
  either 
  a 
  

   geologist 
  or 
  a 
  scientific 
  collector 
  ; 
  that 
  they 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  asso- 
  

   ciated 
  with 
  the 
  fossil 
  shells, 
  but 
  came 
  from 
  beds 
  considerably 
  above 
  

   them 
  ; 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  improbable 
  that 
  they 
  rolled 
  down 
  from 
  

   the 
  surface, 
  and 
  became 
  firmly 
  imbedded 
  in 
  the 
  clay. 
  Furthermore, 
  

   the 
  teeth 
  are 
  in 
  a 
  remarkably 
  perfect 
  state 
  of 
  preservation, 
  looking 
  as 
  

   fresh 
  and 
  recent 
  as 
  a 
  tooth 
  would 
  which 
  had 
  had 
  but 
  a 
  short 
  period 
  of 
  

   exposure 
  to 
  atmospheric 
  or 
  any 
  other 
  decomposing 
  influences, 
  having 
  

   undergone, 
  indeed, 
  scarcely 
  any 
  perceptible 
  change. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  structural 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  teeth 
  themselves 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  

   that 
  positively 
  settles 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  their 
  identity, 
  though 
  the 
  evi- 
  

   dence 
  favors 
  the 
  assumption 
  of 
  their 
  being 
  the 
  teeth 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  

   ox. 
  My 
  first 
  comparison 
  of 
  them 
  with 
  the 
  teeth 
  of 
  the 
  bufl'alo 
  and 
  of 
  

   the 
  common 
  ox 
  seemed 
  to 
  leave 
  no 
  doubt 
  of 
  their 
  identity 
  with 
  the 
  lat- 
  

   ter, 
  as 
  I 
  had 
  no 
  difficulty 
  in 
  exactly 
  matching 
  them 
  in 
  every 
  particular, 
  

   and 
  especially 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  folds 
  of 
  the 
  enamel 
  

   with 
  teeth 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  ox, 
  while 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  constant 
  variation 
  in 
  

   several 
  points 
  from 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo. 
  Later 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  so 
  much 
  

   variation 
  in 
  the 
  teeth, 
  not 
  only 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  species 
  but 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  

   buffalo, 
  that 
  this 
  test 
  of 
  their 
  identity 
  fails 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  valid 
  one, 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  

   also 
  found 
  buffalo 
  teeth 
  that 
  closely 
  resemble 
  those 
  from 
  Gardiner. 
  

   The 
  weight 
  of 
  evidence 
  on 
  this 
  ground, 
  however, 
  is 
  decidedly 
  in 
  favor 
  

   of 
  their 
  identity 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  ox.l|] 
  

  

  Upon 
  the 
  settlement 
  of 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  identity 
  or 
  nonidentity 
  of 
  

   these 
  teeth 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  bison 
  hinges 
  the 
  validity 
  of 
  the 
  only 
  sup- 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  following 
  is 
  a 
  literal 
  transcription 
  of 
  the 
  document 
  : 
  "The 
  teeth 
  that 
  I 
  dug 
  

   out 
  of 
  the 
  clay-bank 
  about 
  fifteen 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  surface; 
  was 
  a 
  solid 
  bank 
  of 
  blue 
  

   clay, 
  so 
  firm 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  impossible 
  for 
  anything 
  to 
  have 
  got 
  in 
  there, 
  there 
  were 
  no 
  

   cracks 
  or 
  fissures 
  that 
  it 
  could 
  have 
  fallen 
  into 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  perfectly 
  solid 
  ; 
  there 
  were 
  

   four 
  lying 
  very 
  nearly 
  together 
  in 
  the 
  solid 
  clay 
  and 
  required 
  such 
  exertion 
  to 
  get 
  them 
  

   out 
  that 
  they 
  could 
  not 
  at 
  such 
  a 
  depth 
  have 
  got 
  in 
  by 
  ordinary 
  means. 
  

  

  " 
  George 
  Soule 
  of 
  Avon. 
  1837." 
  

  

  tMrs. 
  Elton 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  now 
  the 
  original 
  bank 
  has 
  been 
  wholly 
  removed. 
  

  

  t 
  [A 
  re-esamiuation 
  of 
  the 
  subject, 
  in 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  a 
  larger 
  series 
  of 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  

   teeth 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  ox, 
  confirms 
  my 
  conviction 
  of 
  the 
  identity 
  of 
  the 
  supjoosed 
  bison 
  

   teeth 
  from 
  Gardiner, 
  Me., 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  ox. 
  — 
  J. 
  A. 
  A.] 
  

  

  