MASTODONS, MAMMOTHS AND OTHER PLEISTOCENE MAMMALS 45 



ber of years in the Baltimore Anatomical Museum. 65 The skeleton 

 was disarticulated and purchased in 1848 by Warren who used the 

 bones in his studies of the osteology of the mastodon. 66 



Peak's Philadelphia Skeleton 



55 1 799-1801. Near Newburgh. On the farm of John Masten, 

 bones of the mastodon were found in 1799 and sold to Peale in 

 1 801. The bones recovered at this time consisted of the vertebrae 

 of the neck and most of those of the back and tail ; most of the ribs, 

 both scapulae, both humeri with the radii and ulnae; one femur, a 

 tibia of one leg and a fibula of the other; some fragments of the 

 head and many of the fore and hind foot bones; the pelvis some- 

 what broken and a large piece of a tusk about 5 feet long. Peak's 

 exertions at this locality, which lasted for several weeks, added but 

 a few bones and teeth (Peale, ibid). 



This skeleton was exhibited in London about 1802 but later re- 

 turned to the United States where it remained in Peak's Philadel- 

 phia Museum for about 50 years. Warren 67 states that this speci- 

 men disappeared about 1849 or l %>5° an d that there is no authentic 

 record of its later history. Lucas 68 says it was destroyed by fire 

 together with other material in Peak's museum. 



Two pieces of tusk from Orange county were in the possession 

 of Doctor Mitchill in 1801. Mitchill, one of the proprietors of the 

 Medical Repository, commented editorially on the discovery of the 

 perforation in the upper jaw to receive the tusk and pointed out 

 that this structure evidenced relationship with the elephants. 69 



56-57 1800- 1809. Montgomery (4 miles south). Remains were 

 found between 1800 and 1809 in two localities on the farm of 

 Thomas Booth in the town of Wallkill, 4 miles south of Ward's 

 Bridge. These bones were recovered from a depth of 6 feet below 

 the surface of soil said to consist of (1) black and rich earth, (2) 

 a stratum of blue clay, (3) a layer of white marl and (4) a layer 

 of gray marl. 70 



58 1807- 1 817. Chester. Remains of the mastodon on the farm 

 of Mr. Yelverton at Chester, near Goshen, were first noticed in 

 1807 or I 8o8- On May 28, 1817, Samuel L. Mitchill visited the 

 spot and with the help of several friends succeeded in getting out 



* 5 The Mastodon Giganteus of North America, 1852, p 253, pi. 1. 



""See also Tran. Amer. Phil. Soc. n. s., 1834, 4:321. 



*' The Mastodon Giganteus of ,N. Amer. 1852, p. 252, pi. 1. 



68 Animals of the Past, 4th ed., 1916, p. 206. 



** Medical Repository, 1801, 4:308. 



'" Arnell, Medical Repository, 1809, 6:315-16. 



