276 ASSERTED OCCURRENCE OP MASTODON IN AUSTRALIA. 



stated that it was taken out of a cave further in the interior. 1 

 But the fossil bones of the ossiferous breccias of that valley 

 are covered with a bright coloured ochreous clay, not a trace 

 of which is to be seen on the fossil molar, the matrix of 

 which is of an entirely different character. Settlements have 

 been pushed into the interior since 1843, far beyond Boree 

 and Wellington Valley; while the country has been pene- 

 trated in various directions by exploratory expeditions. 

 Stupendous remains of Diprotodon and Nototherium, in the 

 finest state of preservation, have been discovered, and remains 

 also of the very remarkable form named Thylacoleo ; but 

 during the twenty years which have lapsed, not a trace has 

 been detected, so far at least as published accounts go, of 

 anything confirming the inference of an Australian Mas- 

 todon. Where remains of the Proboscidea occur they are 

 commonly found in abundance ; and the colossal size of the 

 bones has led, in all ages and in all countries, to their 

 attracting lively attention. The absence of direct testimony 

 in the first instance, the conflicting statements regarding the 

 place and conditions of occurrence, the discordance of the 

 matrix, and the failure of subsequent confirmatory evidence, 

 coupled with the fact of the solitary molar having been 

 identified as being of a South American species, lay the 

 authenticity of the specimen open to grave doubts. If an 

 American form, how did this unique morceau get to Australia ? 2 

 If Australian, how has the Mastodon alone, of all the higher 

 placental mammals, broken through the barriers of marsupial 

 isolation, characteristic of the great southern island? Of 

 the alternatives, there are probably few palaeontologists who 

 will be disposed to seek for an explanation in the naive con- 

 jecture of De Blainville, that Australia, to meet the require- 

 ments of the case, was in connection with America within the 

 Pliocene period. 3 It seems more probable that some un- 

 intentional error has got mixed up with the history of this 

 remarkable fossil ; and until further confirmatory evidence is 

 adduced, of an unimpeachable character, faith cannot be 

 reposed in the reality of the asserted Australian Mastodon. 4 



1 ' It is partially mineralized and 

 coated with, the reddish ferruginous 

 earth, characteristic of the Australian 

 fossils discovered in the Wellington 

 ossiferous caves by Sir T. Mitchell.' 

 (Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. 

 xiv. p. 270.) 



2 Prof. Morris authorizes me to say, 

 that when examining the Palaeozoic 

 fossils, brought home by Count Strzlecki, 

 from Australia, of which he gave an 

 account, he found certain specimens 

 accidentally mixed up with a series 



which he suggested could not have been 

 obtained from the same locality, and on 

 his remonstrance to this effect, Count 

 Strzlecki assented to their omission from 

 the described list. Prof. Morris suggested 

 that the exceptional specimens were 

 probably of South-American origin. 



3 The fact that such a hypothesis 

 was advanced shows the responsibility 

 involved in the publication of the data 

 which gave rise to it. 



4 Since the above remarks were written 

 Professor Owen again brought forward 



