﻿102 
  TWENTY-FIRST 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STATE 
  CABINET. 
  

  

  epiphysis 
  and 
  other 
  characteristics. 
  Moreover, 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  dupli- 
  

   cate 
  of 
  any 
  bone 
  found, 
  and 
  many 
  important 
  ones 
  still 
  remain 
  

   undiscovered. 
  The 
  facts 
  all 
  prove 
  that 
  a 
  single 
  skeleton 
  of 
  

   Mastodon 
  was 
  dismembered, 
  and 
  while 
  a 
  large 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  

   bones 
  remained 
  in 
  juxtaposition, 
  others 
  were 
  widely 
  scattered, 
  

   and 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  perhaps 
  were 
  carried 
  beyond 
  the 
  area 
  examined. 
  

  

  From 
  these 
  facts, 
  it 
  was 
  natural 
  to 
  infer 
  that 
  a 
  Mastodon 
  had 
  

   floated 
  down 
  the 
  ancient 
  Mohawk, 
  when 
  its 
  level 
  was 
  more 
  

   than 
  a 
  hundred 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  present 
  bed 
  below 
  the 
  falls 
  ; 
  

   and 
  that 
  lodging 
  upon 
  the 
  rocks, 
  it 
  had 
  gradually 
  become 
  

   dismembered, 
  and 
  its 
  parts 
  transported 
  to 
  different 
  points 
  and 
  

   deposited 
  in 
  the 
  depressions 
  adjacent. 
  But 
  to 
  sustain 
  this 
  view 
  it 
  

   was 
  necessary 
  for 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  Mastodon 
  to 
  have 
  lodged 
  upon 
  

   the 
  rock 
  at, 
  or 
  about, 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  period 
  when 
  the 
  tumultuous 
  

   waters 
  had 
  ceased 
  to 
  wear 
  the 
  pot-holes, 
  and 
  before 
  the 
  deposit 
  

   of 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  finer 
  materials, 
  such 
  as 
  river 
  ooze 
  and 
  peaty 
  matter 
  

   had 
  accumulated, 
  for 
  the 
  bones 
  were 
  lying 
  directly 
  upon 
  the 
  clay 
  

   and 
  broken 
  slate, 
  and 
  above 
  the 
  water-worn 
  pebbles. 
  

  

  When, 
  however, 
  we 
  began 
  to 
  look 
  at 
  the 
  manner 
  of 
  dismember- 
  

   ment 
  and 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  parts, 
  new 
  difficulties 
  arose. 
  While 
  

   the 
  skull 
  with 
  the 
  cervical 
  vertebras, 
  from 
  the 
  second 
  to 
  the 
  seventh 
  

   inclusive, 
  were 
  essentially 
  in 
  their 
  natural 
  relations, 
  the 
  atlas 
  was 
  

   missing, 
  and 
  not 
  found 
  at 
  all. 
  The 
  lateral 
  processes 
  of 
  the 
  

   second 
  and 
  third, 
  and 
  the 
  spines 
  of 
  the 
  fifth 
  and 
  sixth 
  vertebras 
  

   were 
  broken 
  off. 
  Of 
  the 
  dorsal 
  vertebras, 
  the 
  first 
  four, 
  the 
  

   eighth, 
  twelfth, 
  and 
  the 
  last 
  five 
  remained, 
  while 
  the 
  other 
  nine 
  

   were 
  absent. 
  Similar 
  conditions 
  existed 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  other 
  bones. 
  

   In 
  the 
  right 
  foreleg, 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  humerus 
  alone 
  remained 
  in 
  that 
  

   connection, 
  while 
  the 
  radius 
  and 
  ulna, 
  and 
  some 
  foot 
  bones 
  had 
  been 
  

   removed 
  to 
  the 
  distance 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  sixty 
  feet 
  to 
  the 
  southwest 
  

   (at/), 
  and 
  at 
  a 
  level 
  twenty 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  principal 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   skeleton. 
  It 
  is 
  scarcely 
  possible 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  

   parts 
  in 
  this 
  manner, 
  if 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  water 
  alone, 
  and 
  for 
  

   their 
  separation 
  if 
  resulting 
  from 
  the 
  decomposition 
  of 
  their 
  

   connecting 
  ligaments. 
  The 
  removal 
  of 
  the 
  atlas, 
  while 
  the 
  adja- 
  

   cent 
  parts 
  preserved 
  their 
  relations, 
  presents, 
  as 
  I 
  conceive, 
  an 
  

   insurmountable 
  difficulty 
  to 
  the 
  theory, 
  that 
  the 
  body 
  was 
  macer- 
  

   ated 
  in 
  water 
  and 
  its 
  parts 
  distributed 
  as 
  decay 
  and 
  decomposition 
  

   of 
  the 
  muscular 
  integuments 
  supervened. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  question 
  regarding 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  distii- 
  

  

  