BRANDT — MASTODON- IN SOTJTH RUSSIA. 13 



if tins mineral could crystallize from the melted granitic mass at 

 temperatures varjdng considerably, yet always below its own point 

 of fusion, we may conclude with very considerable confidence that 

 the silica deposited under these conditions would not have the specific 

 gravity 2-2, but 2-d, and possess all the properties of quartz. 



[H. C. S.] 



On the Discovery of the Skeleton of a Mastodon near Nikolajew 

 (Nicolaieff), in Southern Eussia. By J. P. Brandt. 



[Vorlaufiger Bericht iiber bedeutende Eeste eines unweit Nikolajew entdeckten 

 Skeletes eines Mastodon ; Bulletin de VAcad. Imp6r. des Sciences de St. Peters- 

 bourg, vol. ii. No. 3, pp. 193-195: Erster Bericht der siidrussischen zoologisch- 

 palaontologischen Expedition ; Bullet, vol. ii. No. 7. pp. 501-507 ; and Einige 

 Worte iiber die nahere Beschaffenheit der im vorstehenden Berichte erwahnten 

 Skelettheile des Mastodon nnd die in ihrer Nahe gefundenen braunkohlartigen 

 Holzreste, ibid. pp. 507-51 1.] 



Early in 1860 the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg 

 received a notice, with drawings and photograph, of the remains of a 

 large Elephantine animal found in the South of Eussia, twelve worst 

 from Nikolajew, to which attention was first called by the army-sur- 

 geon, M. WassiLijew. Erom an examination of the photograph, and 

 from information (from Admiral Butakow) as to the shape of the 

 lower jaw, M. Brandt suggested that the remains may have belonged 

 to Mastodon angustidens, '' The portions of the skeletons of Masto- 

 dons hitherto found, so far as I know,'' says M. Brandt, "in the 

 Middle and Upper Tertiaries of the various countries of Europe, such 

 as Germany, and here and there in Eussia, have been only isolated 

 parts, principally molars, and more rarely fragments of the lower jaw. 

 The Museum of the Academy possesses the half of a lower jaw, fur- 

 nished with two molars, dug up in the Chersonese Government, near 

 the town of Ananjew. Nordmann and Eichwald have described some 

 molars of Mastodon likewise found in Southern Eussia." M. Brandt 

 recommended the acquisition of the Mcolajew specimen for the 

 Academy. 



In June 18 GO M. Brandt sent from Nicolajew to the Academy a 

 report of the proceedings of the expedition to that place, intrusted 

 by the Academy to liis management. After giving an account of 

 the collections inspected at Moscow, Charkow, and elsewhere, he 

 describes the arrival of himself and scientific companions at Nicolajew 

 on the 31st May, and the welcome they received from Admiral von 

 Glasenap, and the cordial cooperation of that gentleman and others 

 in the examination of the bones and in the search for other remains. 



The skeleton of the Mastodon had been found in a ravine (formed 

 by spring-floods) about a werst distant from the village of Waskress- 

 ensk (or Gorochowo), and disappearing on the Ingul, at the place 

 where this river (an affluent of the Bug) makes a bend. The 

 ravine bears at first, from its head, from S. to N., then it takes a 

 N.W. direction. In the upper part of the ravine the rocky strata are 

 denuded, and subsequently they disappear with the change of direc- 

 tion, and alluvial soil only is seen at the entrance of the gully. 



