April 7, 1871.] 13 [Cope. 
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE VERTEBRATA DISCOVERED 
IN THE PORT KENNEDY BONE CAVE. 
‘ By Pror. E. D. Copz. 
(Read before the American Philosophical Society April 7, 1871.) 
My friend, Charles M. Wheatley, has already given an account of the 
discovery of a fissure in the Potsdam limestone of Chester Co., Pennsyl- 
vania, containing the remains of numerous animals and plants of the 
Postpliocene period (see Amer. Jour. Sci. Arts, 1871, April). Dr. Quick, 
of Phanixville, having brought to his notice mastodon remains exposed 
in quarrying the limestone near Port Kennedy, he visited the spot, and 
determined the existence of the fissure and its contents. In the article 
in question he describes it as situated near the line of junction of the 
Triassic red sandstone. Its depth is nearly fifty feet, and the greatest 
width thirty ; at the summit or surface of the limestone, its width is 
twenty feet. It is filled to a depth of forty feet with the debris of the 
neighboring Triassic strata, of a red color; below this point is a bed of 
tough “black clay eighteen inches in thickness, filled with leaves, stems, 
and seed vessels of post-tertiary plants. Scattered through all this mass 
of vegetable remains, and also in a red tough clay underneath for six to 
eight inches in depth, are found the fossils noticed in this paper.” 
Mr. Wheatley furnishes a list of the species we had identified up to 
the time of writing, viz. ; twenty-seven vertebrata, ten coleoptera, and 
ten plants. These numbers have been considerably increased up to the 
present time, and I look to a much fuller and more complete exposition 
of the Postpliocene vertebrate fauna, in consequence of a more thorough 
examination of the remaining part of the fissure, by my friend, C. M. 
Wheatley. 
As regards the position of the remains, the article above quoted, pro- 
ceeds to state that “the remains of Mylodon, Ursus, and Tapirus have 
been mostly obtained from the tough red clay directly under the plant bed, 
but the remains of rodents, snakes, tortoises, plants, and insects, are 
entirely confined to the plant bed. Neither the bones nor the teeth are 
rolled or water worn, but all are sharp and well defined.’ The appear- 
ance of the specimens corroborates the above statements. I would add 
some exceptions. Thus two of the specimens referred to Arvicola sig- 
modus came from the red bed, and one from the black; one Megalonyx 
wheatleyt, came from the black bed, the others from the red. Milk teeth 
of Mastodon occur in the red bed also. General remarks are deferred to 
the close of the report. 
MercGatonyx, Jefferson. 
The remains of species of this genus found in the fissure are more 
abundant and striking than those of any other. At least fourteen in- 
dividuals are represented by the bones and teeth obtained. These belong 
probably to five species, as described below, four of them different from 
A. P. S.—-VOL. XII-—J 
