﻿106 
  TWENTY-FIRST 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STATE 
  CABINET. 
  

  

  certain 
  favorable 
  situations 
  there 
  are 
  meagre 
  representations 
  of 
  

   them 
  having 
  a 
  depth 
  rarely 
  of 
  twenty 
  feet.* 
  

  

  Admitting 
  the 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  subject 
  as 
  presented 
  above, 
  it 
  

   would 
  appear 
  that, 
  during 
  the 
  glaciil 
  period, 
  the 
  surface 
  water 
  

   falling 
  through 
  the 
  crevasses 
  in 
  the 
  vast 
  accumulation 
  of 
  ice, 
  

   eroded 
  these 
  deep 
  cavities 
  in 
  the 
  rock 
  beneath. 
  As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  

   course, 
  the 
  fragments 
  of 
  rock 
  falling 
  in 
  the 
  crevasses, 
  or 
  those 
  

   accumulated 
  beneath 
  the 
  glacier, 
  would 
  aid 
  in 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  

   wearing 
  and 
  thus 
  become 
  smooth 
  and 
  polished 
  pebbles. 
  

   At 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  glacial 
  period 
  or 
  at 
  any 
  time 
  during 
  its 
  

   continuance, 
  the 
  thawing 
  of 
  the 
  ice 
  would 
  release 
  any 
  objects 
  fro- 
  

   zen 
  into 
  the 
  mass, 
  and 
  these 
  would 
  be 
  dropped 
  upon 
  the 
  surface 
  

   or 
  promiscuously 
  distributed. 
  If, 
  by 
  some 
  means, 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  

   a 
  Mastodon 
  had 
  become 
  imbedded 
  in 
  the 
  accumulating 
  glacier-*- 
  

   the 
  expansion 
  and 
  contraction 
  of 
  the 
  ice, 
  the 
  cracking 
  and 
  filling 
  

   of 
  these 
  cracks 
  with 
  water 
  and 
  its 
  subsequent 
  freezing 
  — 
  these 
  com- 
  

   bined 
  agencies 
  might 
  dismember 
  the 
  bones 
  in 
  the 
  remarkable 
  man- 
  

   ner 
  before 
  indicated, 
  causing 
  a 
  separation 
  of 
  attached 
  or 
  adjacent 
  

   portions 
  in 
  a 
  way 
  that 
  no 
  other 
  means 
  could 
  accomplish. 
  Thus, 
  

   while 
  the 
  bones 
  constituting 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  skeleton 
  

   remained 
  in 
  close 
  proximity, 
  and 
  were 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  deep 
  pot- 
  

   hole 
  as 
  found, 
  other 
  portions 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  abruptly 
  separated 
  

   by 
  the 
  expansion 
  due 
  to 
  freezing 
  and 
  thawing, 
  were 
  deposited 
  in 
  

   other 
  places 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  distant. 
  We 
  have 
  in 
  fact 
  an 
  exhibition 
  

   of 
  what 
  we 
  may 
  suppose 
  would 
  take 
  place 
  were 
  the 
  carcase 
  of 
  an 
  

   animal 
  to 
  be 
  frozen 
  into 
  the 
  solid 
  ice, 
  and 
  remain 
  year 
  after 
  year 
  

   subject 
  to 
  the 
  varying 
  conditions 
  which 
  produce 
  cracks 
  and 
  crev- 
  

   asses, 
  the 
  filling 
  of 
  these 
  with 
  water 
  and 
  again 
  freezing, 
  the 
  whole 
  

   mass 
  undergoing 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  a 
  slow 
  movement 
  in 
  one 
  direc- 
  

   tion, 
  until 
  finally 
  the 
  ice 
  is 
  thawed, 
  either 
  by 
  its 
  extension 
  south- 
  

   ward 
  or 
  by 
  the 
  termination 
  of 
  pre-existing 
  conditions, 
  and 
  the 
  

   dismembered 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  skeleton 
  fall 
  to 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  

   water 
  thus 
  produced. 
  

  

  This 
  argument, 
  if 
  accepted 
  in 
  its 
  general 
  conclusions, 
  would 
  place 
  

   the 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  Mastodon 
  existence 
  before 
  the 
  glacial 
  epoch; 
  

   and 
  the 
  facts 
  would 
  indicate 
  its 
  extermination 
  by 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  

   glacial 
  phenomena 
  over 
  those 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  where 
  glaciers 
  

   existed. 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  examples 
  of 
  this 
  kind, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  always 
  possible 
  to 
  decide, 
  whether 
  the 
  pot- 
  

   hole 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  due 
  to 
  some 
  action 
  anterior 
  to 
  the 
  existing 
  stream. 
  

  

  

  