﻿AND 
  AYES 
  OF 
  NORTH 
  AMERICA. 
  191 
  

  

  part 
  of 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  April, 
  1860. 
  They 
  were 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  farm 
  of 
  Geo. 
  W. 
  Crawford, 
  at 
  a 
  place 
  called 
  Nut 
  Swamp, 
  

   three 
  miles 
  South 
  of 
  Middletowu, 
  Monmouth 
  County, 
  N. 
  J. 
  They 
  were 
  first 
  discovered 
  on 
  opening 
  a 
  ditch 
  through 
  

   a 
  meadow 
  in 
  Nut 
  Swamp; 
  G. 
  "W. 
  Crawford 
  being 
  an 
  intelligent 
  farmer, 
  took 
  immediate 
  measures 
  to 
  prevent 
  their 
  

   disturbance 
  or 
  injury, 
  by 
  having 
  them 
  protected 
  until 
  he 
  could 
  inform 
  P. 
  E. 
  Brinckerhoff. 
  

  

  Accordingly, 
  on 
  the 
  last 
  week 
  of 
  April, 
  P. 
  R. 
  Brinckerhoff 
  succeeded 
  in 
  obtaining 
  from 
  this 
  locality 
  the 
  portions 
  

   of 
  bones 
  described. 
  

  

  They 
  were 
  all 
  found 
  at 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  about 
  four 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  surface, 
  and 
  within 
  an 
  area 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  square 
  feet. 
  

   The 
  bones 
  were 
  imbedded 
  in 
  wet 
  marl, 
  which 
  contained 
  an 
  abundance 
  of 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  fossils 
  peculiar 
  to 
  the 
  formation, 
  

   as 
  Gryphaaa, 
  Exogyra, 
  Terebratula, 
  Belemnites, 
  &c. 
  Near 
  this 
  spot, 
  about 
  fifteen 
  years 
  ago, 
  considerable 
  portions 
  

   of 
  the 
  bones, 
  but 
  more 
  particularly 
  the 
  vertebrae 
  of 
  the 
  Mosasaurus, 
  were 
  found 
  by 
  J. 
  M. 
  Smith 
  and 
  Lyell 
  Conover. 
  

   The 
  portions 
  found 
  were 
  so 
  detached 
  and 
  diffused, 
  as 
  to 
  afford 
  no 
  hope 
  of 
  obtaining 
  much 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  skeleton 
  

   without 
  very 
  extensive 
  and 
  expensive 
  excavations, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  with 
  extreme 
  difficulty 
  that 
  P. 
  R. 
  Brinckerhoff, 
  by 
  the 
  

   aid 
  of 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  men, 
  and 
  by 
  one-and-a-half 
  days' 
  labor, 
  succeeded 
  in 
  procuring 
  the 
  present 
  specimens. 
  There 
  was 
  

   a 
  constant 
  influx 
  of 
  water 
  into 
  the 
  trenches, 
  and 
  the 
  bones 
  were 
  very 
  fragile. 
  

  

  The 
  bones 
  obtained, 
  consist 
  of 
  large 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  inferior 
  maxillaries, 
  with 
  twenty, 
  more 
  or 
  less, 
  perfect 
  speci- 
  

   mens 
  of 
  full 
  grown 
  teeth, 
  and 
  several 
  successional 
  teeth, 
  — 
  with 
  a 
  posterior 
  dorsal 
  vertebra. 
  

   Drawings 
  were 
  made 
  directly 
  from 
  the 
  specimens. 
  

  

  The 
  largest 
  fragment 
  found 
  is 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  left 
  inferior 
  maxilla. 
  It 
  measures 
  twenty 
  and 
  three-fourths 
  inches 
  

   in 
  length; 
  at 
  the 
  broadest 
  extremity 
  it 
  is 
  about 
  seven 
  inches 
  deep, 
  at 
  the 
  small 
  extremity 
  it 
  is 
  five 
  inches; 
  the 
  upper 
  

   or 
  alveolar 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  jaw 
  is 
  generally 
  about 
  three 
  and 
  one-quarter 
  inches 
  thick; 
  the 
  lower 
  margin 
  is 
  quite 
  uni- 
  

   formly 
  two 
  inches 
  thick. 
  This 
  mass 
  was 
  considerably 
  fractured 
  in 
  removing 
  it 
  from 
  its 
  bed, 
  as 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  plate. 
  

   It 
  contains 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  three 
  teeth, 
  two 
  of 
  which 
  have 
  most 
  of 
  their 
  enamelled 
  crowns 
  attached. 
  The 
  space 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  the 
  first 
  and 
  second 
  tooth 
  is 
  three 
  inches. 
  The 
  space 
  between 
  the 
  second 
  and 
  third 
  teeth 
  is 
  two 
  and 
  three- 
  

   fourths 
  inches. 
  

  

  The 
  roots 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  teeth 
  are 
  somewhat 
  compressed 
  laterally; 
  the 
  longest 
  diameter 
  of 
  the 
  root 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  tooth 
  

   is 
  two 
  inches; 
  of 
  the 
  second, 
  two 
  and 
  one-fourth; 
  of 
  the 
  third, 
  two 
  inches. 
  

  

  The 
  lateral 
  plates 
  of 
  the 
  dentary 
  bone, 
  come 
  in 
  contact 
  a 
  few 
  inches 
  behind 
  the 
  first 
  tooth. 
  

  

  In 
  another 
  fragment 
  of 
  the 
  jaw, 
  containing 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  teeth, 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  roots 
  placed 
  in 
  actual 
  contact 
  throughout; 
  

   and 
  knowing 
  the 
  law 
  of 
  their 
  arrangement, 
  we 
  can 
  readily 
  estimate 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  jaw. 
  

  

  The 
  combined 
  length 
  of 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  fragments 
  collected 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  jaw, 
  measures 
  four 
  feet, 
  and 
  includes 
  fourteen 
  

   teeth, 
  which 
  is 
  the 
  full 
  number 
  said 
  to 
  belong 
  to 
  each 
  side 
  in 
  M. 
  giganteus. 
  The 
  series 
  completed 
  would 
  no 
  doubt 
  

   contain 
  eighteen 
  teeth. 
  As 
  the 
  coronoid 
  and 
  angular 
  processes 
  and 
  the 
  distal 
  extremity 
  are 
  not 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  above 
  

   measurements, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  safe 
  to 
  calculate 
  the 
  lower 
  jaw 
  of 
  this 
  specimen 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  six 
  feet 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  long. 
  The 
  

   cranium 
  measured 
  nearly 
  the 
  same, 
  and 
  would 
  indicate 
  a 
  larger 
  animal 
  than 
  any 
  Mosasaurus 
  yet 
  discovered. 
  

  

  The 
  greater 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  coronoid 
  element 
  of 
  the 
  left 
  inferior 
  maxilla, 
  is 
  nine 
  inches 
  in 
  length; 
  in 
  the 
  broadest 
  

   part 
  it 
  measures 
  four 
  and 
  three-fourths 
  inches 
  in 
  width. 
  The 
  border 
  is 
  concave 
  and 
  regularly 
  rounded. 
  This 
  border 
  

   is 
  quite 
  uniformly 
  two 
  inches 
  thick, 
  while 
  the 
  remaining 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  fragment 
  is 
  thinner. 
  Another 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  

   left 
  lower 
  jaw 
  contains 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  three 
  teeth 
  placed 
  in 
  contiguity. 
  The 
  crowns 
  or 
  apices 
  of 
  the 
  teeth 
  have 
  been 
  

   broken 
  away. 
  This 
  fragment 
  is 
  seven 
  inches 
  long, 
  four 
  and 
  one-quarter 
  inches 
  deep, 
  and 
  three 
  and 
  one-quarter 
  thick. 
  

   Three 
  large 
  foramina 
  are 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  external 
  surface, 
  which 
  communicate 
  with 
  the 
  dental 
  canal. 
  

   This 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  jaw 
  is 
  well 
  preserved, 
  and 
  like 
  all 
  the 
  fragments 
  found, 
  is 
  entirely 
  black, 
  and 
  extremely 
  heavy; 
  

   the 
  high 
  specific 
  gravity 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  color, 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  their 
  impregnation 
  with 
  iron; 
  the 
  pulp 
  cavities 
  of 
  the 
  teefii, 
  as 
  

   well 
  as 
  the 
  concentric 
  laminae 
  of 
  the 
  apices, 
  are 
  incrusted 
  with 
  deposit 
  of 
  exceedingly 
  minute 
  crystals 
  of 
  iron 
  pyrites. 
  

   In 
  other 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  bones 
  a 
  deposit 
  of 
  vivianite 
  is 
  occasionally 
  seen. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  teeth 
  belonging 
  to 
  this 
  species 
  of 
  Mosasaurus, 
  the 
  root 
  is 
  large, 
  the 
  lower 
  extremity 
  inclining 
  backwards; 
  

   it 
  contains 
  a 
  minute 
  cavity, 
  being 
  nearly 
  solid, 
  and 
  apparently 
  composed 
  of 
  simple 
  osseous 
  tissue. 
  The 
  apex 
  or 
  crown 
  

   of 
  tlie 
  tooth 
  arises 
  from 
  a 
  somewhat 
  conical 
  base, 
  which 
  corresponds 
  with 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  alveolar 
  cavity; 
  it 
  tapers 
  

   rapidly 
  to 
  a 
  point; 
  the 
  teeth 
  are 
  recurved 
  and 
  divided 
  into 
  two 
  faces, 
  one 
  looking 
  forwards 
  and 
  outwards, 
  the 
  other 
  

   presenting 
  backward 
  and 
  inward; 
  the 
  dividing 
  line 
  between 
  the 
  anterior 
  and 
  posterior 
  faces 
  is 
  very 
  distinct, 
  consist- 
  

  

  