258 BRUNSWICK CANAL. [CHAP. XIX. 



the great Pampean formation on the borders of the Atlantic in 

 South America, as described by Mr. Darwin. Here and in the 

 Pampas the skeletons of many quadrupeds of the same genera, 

 such as the Megatherium, Megalonyx, Mylodon, Mastodon, 

 and Equm occur. In both cases it has been proved that tlio 

 mammalia, all of which differ specifically, and most of them gener- 

 ically, from those now living, nourished, nevertheless, at a time 

 when the Atlantic was inhabited by the existing species of mol- 

 lusca, and when the climate, therefore, of the ocean at least, 

 could not have varied materially from that now prevailing in 

 these latitudes. 



Through part of the region occupied by the modern deposits 

 above mentioned, a canal was cut in 183839, nine miles in 

 length, called the Brunswick Canal, to unite the navigation of 

 the Altamaha and Turtle rivers ; a rash undertaking of some 

 speculators from the northern states, which, had the work been 

 completed, could not have repaid the outlay. About 200,000/. 

 (900,000 dollars) were expended, a sum which might have gone 

 far toward obtaining geological surveys of many of the southern 

 states, whereas the only good result was the discovery of some 

 valuable fossil remains ; and even these fruits of the enterprise 

 would never have been realized, but for the accidental presence, 

 energy, and scientific knowledge of Mr. Hamilton Couper. Part 

 of the skeleton of a megatherium, dug out in cutting the canal, 

 was so near the surface, that it was penetrated by the roots of a 

 pine-tree. It occurred in clay, apparently a fresh-water deposit, 

 and underneath it were beds of sand, with marine shells of recent 

 species. It was also covered with sand, probably marine, but 

 without shells. So many parts of the same skeleton were found 

 in juxtaposition as to suggest the idea that a whole carcass had 

 been floated by the river to the spot, and even where the bones 

 were slightly scattered they were not injured by being rolled. 

 The remains of other quadrupeds associated with this gigantic 

 sloth, consisted of mylodon, mastodon, elephant, equus, and bos, 

 besides a fossil, to which Mr. Owen has given the name of Har- 

 lanus americanus, a new genus, intermediate between Lophiodon 

 and Toxodon. It had been supposed that the hippopotamus and 



