46 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



who caused them to be mounted at the natural history establish- 

 ment of Prof. Henry A. Ward in Rochester, N. Y. The prompt 

 action taken in the matter resulted in the preservation of this 

 valuable relic which was returned to Pike and allowed to remain 

 on exhibition at the Pike Seminary until the completion of the 

 Genesee Valley Museum Building in 1898. In 1904^ the seminary 

 building was destroyed by fire. The measurements of the Pike 

 mastodon are as follows : 



Length of skull, measured in a straight line from back to front.. 43^ inches 



Length of tusks, measured along lower curve 96^2 inches 



Greatest circumference of the tusks 23 inches 



I append here some historically interesting observations on the 

 occurrence of mastodon bones in Amicrica made by Dr Johann 

 David Schoepf in his Reise durch einige der mittlern iind siidlichen 

 vereinigten nordamerikanischen Staaten, nach Ost-Florida iind den 

 Bahama-Inscln, unternommen in den Jahren i/8^ und 1784, 

 volume I, pages 408-15, 1788. This is a work of extraordinary 

 interest which has been quite overlooked by students of Americaii 

 history. Its author was a surgeon in the Hessian forces sent over by 

 George III and remained after the consummation of peace to travel 

 through the country and collect scientific materials. The narrative 

 gives a lively, anecdotal picture of the domestic and community life 

 of the times interspersed with interesting reflections on the new 

 government. Dr Schoepf was the author of other more technical 

 works arising from his American experiences. He wrote a treatise 

 on American Materia Medica, on the Reptiles of the country and 

 was the first man of science to produce a special treatise on the 

 geology of North America. His Beytrdge zur M in eralogis chert 

 Kenntnisse der Ostlichen Theils von Nordanicrika und seiner Ge- 

 biirge published in 1787 is characterized by acute observation and 

 keen interpretations of geological phenomena. Jt was 50 years in 

 advance of the times and wholly ignored by the first American 

 workers in the same field. Of these books only his Materia Medica 

 was translated into English. German was unpopular, it was the 

 language of the hated Hessians and of the Hanoverian house. So 

 these very illuminating and interesting volumes have been buried 

 as deep as Captain Kidd's treasure. 



Among the natural rarities of the Kentucky regions, the many 

 large teeth and bones belonging to an animal no longer existing in 

 all America have long excited the wonder of all travelers. The place 

 where they were first discovered in great heaps is a low hill, on the 

 east side of the Ohio, 2-3 miles from its banks and about 584 miles 

 below Fort Pitt, measured along the course of the river. At the 

 sources of a little brook where there are extensive salt licks, the 



