﻿110 
  TWENTY-FIRST 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STATE 
  CABINET. 
  

  

  factory 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  mode 
  and 
  conditions 
  of 
  distribution 
  

   and 
  inhumation 
  of 
  the 
  Mastodon 
  and 
  Fossil 
  Elephant 
  remains 
  of 
  

   this 
  country. 
  

  

  In 
  advocating 
  this 
  opinion 
  regarding 
  the 
  extermination 
  of 
  the 
  

   Mastodon, 
  I 
  have 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  remains 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  come 
  under 
  

   my 
  own 
  observation, 
  and 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  mean 
  to 
  be 
  understood 
  as 
  oppos- 
  

   ing 
  in 
  toto, 
  the 
  views 
  so 
  generally 
  entertained, 
  that 
  the 
  Mastodon 
  

   has 
  existed 
  during 
  the 
  present 
  epoch 
  ; 
  or, 
  that 
  the 
  opinion 
  held 
  

   by 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  scientists, 
  that 
  the 
  animal 
  may 
  have 
  existed 
  both 
  

   before 
  and 
  since 
  the 
  glacial 
  period, 
  is 
  untenable. 
  I 
  refer 
  only 
  to 
  

   the 
  phenomena 
  usually 
  accompanying 
  these 
  remains, 
  and 
  the 
  con- 
  

   ditions 
  attending 
  those 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  exhumed 
  within 
  the 
  State 
  

   of 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  adjacent 
  parts 
  of 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  and 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  

   in 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  The 
  locality 
  of 
  Big 
  Bone 
  Lick 
  in 
  

   Kentucky, 
  which 
  has 
  furnished 
  the 
  fragmentary 
  parts 
  of 
  so 
  many 
  

   skeletons 
  (and 
  some 
  other 
  western 
  localities) 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  visited 
  ; 
  

   but 
  the 
  evidence 
  already 
  given 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  bones 
  from 
  this 
  

   place, 
  indicates 
  very 
  clearly 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  suffered 
  from 
  glacial 
  

   action, 
  and 
  the 
  animals 
  were, 
  as 
  we 
  infer, 
  of 
  the 
  glacial 
  period. 
  

  

  Returning 
  to 
  the 
  consideration 
  of 
  the 
  geographical 
  and 
  geologi- 
  

   cal 
  surroundings 
  of 
  the 
  Cohoes 
  Mastodon, 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  following 
  

   conditions: 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  river 
  having 
  a 
  generally 
  easterly 
  direc- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  flowing 
  through 
  a 
  broad 
  alluvial 
  valley 
  except 
  for 
  a 
  

   short 
  distance 
  at 
  Little 
  Falls, 
  makes 
  a 
  bend 
  to 
  the 
  northward 
  

   after 
  leaving 
  Schenectady, 
  then 
  gradually 
  curving 
  to 
  the 
  south- 
  

   ward 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  miles, 
  its 
  course 
  is 
  more 
  directly 
  to 
  the 
  northeast 
  

   as 
  far 
  as 
  Crescent, 
  where 
  it 
  turns 
  abruptly 
  to 
  the 
  southeast* 
  

   uniting 
  with 
  the 
  Hudson 
  River 
  below 
  Waterford, 
  and 
  at 
  a 
  point 
  

   ten 
  miles 
  above 
  Albany. 
  The 
  Cohoes 
  Falls 
  is 
  on 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  

   about 
  one 
  mile 
  above 
  its 
  junction 
  with 
  the 
  Hudson 
  River. 
  The 
  

   relative 
  position 
  of 
  these 
  places 
  and 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  

   given 
  on 
  the 
  small 
  accompanying 
  map, 
  Plate 
  I. 
  

  

  The 
  area 
  to 
  the 
  southward, 
  as 
  shown 
  upon 
  this 
  map, 
  is 
  covered 
  by 
  

   drift 
  and 
  estuary 
  deposits 
  in 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  boulder-clay 
  and 
  gravel 
  

   below, 
  above 
  which 
  is 
  an 
  evenly 
  stratified 
  clay, 
  graduating 
  into 
  a 
  

   loam, 
  and 
  finally 
  to 
  a 
  fine 
  yellow 
  sand 
  which 
  covers 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  

   area 
  between 
  Albany 
  and 
  Schenectady 
  along 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  rail- 
  

   road, 
  except 
  where 
  broken 
  by 
  ravines 
  and 
  small 
  water 
  courses. 
  The 
  

   general 
  elevation 
  of 
  this 
  plateau 
  is 
  about 
  200 
  feet 
  above 
  tide 
  water. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  the 
  higher 
  hills 
  to 
  the 
  northeast 
  rise 
  to 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  325 
  

   feet. 
  The 
  relations 
  of 
  the 
  clay 
  and 
  gravel 
  are 
  often 
  seen 
  in 
  exca- 
  

  

  