48 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



as dark as ebony, has a brilliant exterior, and requires the full 

 strength of a laboring man to lift it." 



68 1873. Near Newburgh. Among the specimens in the col- 

 lections of the State Museum are parts of two ribs and a sternal 

 bone from the vicinity of Newburgh. These bones form part of a 

 collection made during 1873 ; the entire lot consists of seven sternal 

 bones, five foot bones, four vertebrae and two rib fragments. 81 



The Marsh Skeleton 



69 1872. Otisville. This skeleton, complete except for the bones 

 of the hind legs, was exhumed by Mr A. Mitchell in February 1872 

 on his grounds at Otisville. It was later secured by Prof. O. C 

 Marsh and mounted for the Peabody Museum of Yale University. 

 The following note is from an- unsigned editorial: 82 "The bones 

 were found on and in clay beneath a deep bed of muck, and are 

 in an excellent state of preservation." The skeleton was restored, 

 described and figured by O. C. Marsh. 83 The bones are those of 

 an adult animal with the epiphyses of the vertebrae and limbs firmly 

 ossified, in some cases to the extent of obliterating the sutures. 

 Eight teeth are present in the jaws, well preserved though some, 

 particularly the penultimate molars, are considerably worn. Both 

 tusks of the upper jaw were found but no evidence of the lower 

 ones. 



The Whitfield Skeleton 



70 1879. Little Britain. Before the better preserved and more 

 complete Warren skeleton was purchased for the American Museum 

 of Natural History, a composite skeleton, restored from remains of 

 several individuals but chiefly from the bones found at Little Britain, 

 was exhibited for many years. R. P. Whitfield, 84 onetime curator 

 of geology and palaeontology in the American Museum, gives the 

 following account of the recovery of this specimen : " The bones 

 of the skeleton . . . were found embedded in peaty material 

 on the edge of what was, less than 50 years before, an open pond 

 of considerable size, subsequently drained and brought under culti- 

 vation, situated in the town of Little Britain, about 9 miles south- 

 west of Newburgh, N. Y., and at the time of their discovery, cul- 

 tivated as a potato field." A leg bone was found at a depth of 14 

 inches below the surface by a farmer engaged in ditching. The 



81 N. Y. State Mus. 27th Annual Rept, 1875, p. 24. 



82 American Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1875, 9:483- 

 8S Amer. Jour. Sci. 3d ser., 1892, 44:350. 



81 Guide to Geol. and Paleontological Collections in Amer. Mus. 1892. 



