FOSSIL REMAINS IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. 207 
FOSSIL REMAINS IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. 
J. L. LEWIS, BOLIVAR, MO. 
Southwest Missouri is rich in minerals, abounds in wonderful caves and 
springs, and her fossils are worthy of scientific notice. ‘The Missouri School of 
Mines at Rolla is arousing a new interest in our scientific circles, and is doing 
much to develop our natural resources. 
A few years ago Mr. G. C. Broadhead read a paper before the St. Louis 
Academy of Science, in which he refers to the late discovery of the remains of a 
horse at Papinville, Bates county, Mo. Mr. O. P. Ohlinger, in digging a well, 
cut through a bed of thirty feet and ten inches of yellowish clay. Here he 
found a four-inch stratum of bluish clay and gravel, beneath which was a bed of 
sand in which the tooth was found. Under this sand bed was a gravel bed five 
feet deep filled with rounded pebbles, generally hornstone, many of which 
adhered firmly together. Some of the pebbles taken from this bed were of iron 
ore, coal and micaceous sandstone. Some remains of fluviatile shells were also 
found in this gravel bed nearly thirty-two feet below the surface. I have thus 
described this bed for the observation of others in this district. 
The tooth was sent to Prof. Joseph Leidy, of Philadelphia, who, after a most 
critical examination pronounced it to be the last upper molar of a horse, and he 
thought of some extinct species. From a similar gravel bed on the bank of the 
river Marais des Cygnes the fragment of a tusk was found closely resembling that 
of a mammoth. The full length of this tusk was about seven feet and four 
inches. 
Ten miles from Papinville on the bank of the river Marais des Cygnes there 
appears to be the same formation as the one above described. Mr. Broadhead 
considers them to be altered drift, but older than the bluff or Loess. As these 
gravel beds are abundant on the Osage river and its tributaries, it would be well 
for those living in this vicinity to be on the lookout for fossil remains, and care- 
fully preserve all such for scientific investigation. 
A FOSSIE FOREST: 
An interesting discovery has been made at Edgelane Quarry, Oldham, Eng- 
land. The quarrymen, in the course of their excavations, have come upon what 
‘has been described as a fossil forest. The trees number about twelve, and some 
of them are two feet in diameter. They are in good preservation. The roots 
‘can be seen interlacing the rock, and the fronds of the ferns are to be found im- 
printed on every piece of stone. The trees belong to the middle coal measure 
period, although it has been regarded as somewhat remarkable that no coal has 
been discovered near them. The coal is found 250 yards beneath. 
