Professor Buckland on the Bones of Mastodon, 8^0. from Ava. 381 



perfect fragments^ either with species that now inhabit the rivers of that 

 country^ or with the fossil tortoises which extend through nearly all tertiary 

 and secondary strata ; occurring in the tertiary sand-rock of Brussels, and in 

 our London and plastic clay, in our Hastings-sand and Purbeck limestone, as 

 well as in the Kimmeridge clay and Stonesfield oolite, in the lias of Gloster- 

 shire, and transition slate of Glarus. In the modern rivers of India there are 

 tortoises which attain a considerable size, and are cherished and fed by the 

 natives. 



It cannot but occur to us in this stage of our inquiry as remarkable, that 

 not one fragment is found in all this collection either of the elephant, tiger, 

 or hyjena, which now abound so much in India ; whilst the mastodon, whose 

 living analogue exists not upon earth, must probably at one time have swarmed 

 in the districts bordering on the Irawadi. The same analogy which em- 

 boldened me in my first paper on the Cave of Kirkdale, to anticipate the dis- 

 covery which was speedily made of hyasna's bones in the diluvium of England, 

 arguing on the fact of their existence in the diluvium of the European conti- 

 nent, at the present moment encourages me also to anticipate the future dis- 

 covery of the elephant, tiger and hyaena in the diluvium of Asia, I would 

 also argue, on the same grounds, that it is highly probable we shall hereafter 

 find the mastodon in our own diluvium and most recent tertiary strata. 



The state of preservation of all these bones from Ava is remarkably perfect, 

 from the circumstance of their being almost entirely penetrated with hydrate 

 of iron, to a degree that has converted many of them to a rich mass of iron 

 ore, and has given them a hardness which caused them, at first, to be consi- 

 dered as silicified ; and they have been erroneously so described in some 

 printed notices on this subject in the Calcutta Gazette, March 21st, 1827, and 

 in other publications. Such, however, is not the case with any specimen 

 I have seen in the whole collection ; the cancelli of the bones are filled either 

 with hydrate of iron or carbonate of lime, and their weight and strength 

 thereby increased, but no other kind of change or injury to their external 

 form has been produced. 



It is in fact to the strength and indestructibility resulting from the mineral 

 impregnation above mentioned, that we owe the discovery of these remains 

 on the shores of the Irawadi. An accident that delayed for some days the 

 steam-boat in which Mr. Crawfurd was descending this river, allowed him 

 to land, accompanied by Dr. Wallich, and to investigate the structure of the 

 country for some miles on the N.E. of Wetmasut. The accident arose 

 from the shallowness of the water when the steam-boat was descending, which, 

 fortunately for geology, caused it to run aground near the wells of petroleum. 



