MASTODONS, MAMMOTHS AND OTHER PLEISTOCENE MAMMALS 55 



the edges. The general shape of the depression is roughly pyramidal, 

 with steeper sides on the north and east than on the south and west. The 

 deepest part is in the northeast angle, where the entire deposit was about 

 25 feet in thickness. All this deposit has been taken out and the sides and 

 bottom of the depression are now exposed to view. 



The first thing which attracted my attention was a number of logs and 

 branches in the upper part of the silt, beginning at a depth of about 5 

 feet from the surface. There was nothing in connection with these to 

 indicate that they were anything more than the remains of a compara- 

 tively recent forest growth. Below this, however, at a depth of about 

 8 feet, were a number of layers, aggregating about 2 feet in thickness, 

 containing a large number of small cones and twigs. There are no coni- 

 ferous trees now growing in the vicinity and no record of any in recent 

 years so that these were manifestly the remains of a forest growth which 

 antedated the one now growing there and a subsequent careful examina- 

 tion and comparison of the cones showed them to belong to the white 

 spruce (Picea canadensis (Mill) B. S. P.) — a tree of northern 

 range, which does not now extend farther south than northern New Eng- 

 land and the Adirondacks — and this fact naturally led to the conclusion 

 that at least the lower portion of the deposit was of Quaternary age. 



On inquiry of the superintendent of the cemetery, Mr N. J. Ostrander, 

 information was subsequently obtained to the effect that " some bones " 

 had been dug out by one of the workmen, at a depth of about 23 feet, and 

 these were very kindly turned over to me. They proved to be the broken 

 pieces of a mastodon's molar and the Quaternary age of the deposit was 

 established beyond question and inasmuch as it was in morainal basin it 

 must all have been post-morainal in age. 



The indications are that a pond was formed in the depression imme- 

 diately after the recession of the ice sheet and that this pond was a 

 receptacle for silt, dust and decayed vegetation ever since; the accumula- 

 tions finally filling it up and converting it into a swamp, with a little pool 

 of casual water remaining in the middle. 



Incidentally it may also be worth recording, that a considerable amount 

 of charcoal and charred wood was found in connection with the cones, 

 near the northeastern side, which fact might indicate the presence of man 

 at the time this portion of the deposit was laid down. 



Another account of this find is published in the Proceedings of 

 the Natural Science Association of Staten Island, volume 7, no. 10,. 

 pages 24 and 25. This description is also by Doctor Hollick and is a 

 similar account to the one above quoted. Further notes on this 

 locality are given in the " Proceedings of the Natural Science Asso- 

 ciation for February 10, 1900." This records a piece of well- 

 lignitized wood in this deposit. The specimen was apparently con- 

 iferous. See also Plant World, December 1900, page 184, for 

 further description of the deposits found in the swamp and its 

 geological history. 



84 1894. Staten Island sound. The following brief notes re- 

 lating to this find have been published : " " Mr L. W. Freeman pre- 

 sented a mastodon's tooth, obtained from Staten Island sound by 

 Mr Seeley Van Pelt, while tonging for oysters. Its value was not 

 understood by the finder, who allowed it to be thrown away, with 



"Nat. Sci. Assoc. Staten Island, Proc. 1894, 4:18, 32. 



