20 THE MASTODON. 



a species of the stag, bison, and horse. The greatest depth 

 of the mud has never been ascertained; it is composed 

 chiefly of clay, with a mixture of calcareous matter and 

 sand, and sulphate of lime with some animal matter. At 

 various depths layers of gravel occur. In speaking of this 

 locality, Sir Charles Lyell says, in his " Travels in North 

 America": "There are two buffalo paths or trails still ex- 

 tant in the woods, and both lead directly to springs : the 

 one which strikes off in a northerly direction from the 

 Gum Lick, may be traced eastward through the forest for 

 several miles. It is three or four yards wide, and only 

 partially overgrown with grass, and sixty years ago was as 

 bare, hard, and well-trodden, as a high road. It is well 

 known that during great drouths in the Pampas of South 

 America, the horses, deer, and cattle throng to the rivers 

 in such numbers that the foremost of the crowd are push- 

 ed into the stream by the pressure of others behind, and 

 are sometimes carried away by thousands., and drowned. 

 In their eagerness to drink the saline waters and lick the 

 salt, the heavy mastodons and elephants seem in like man- 

 ner to have pressed upon each other, and sunk in the soft 

 quagmires of Kentucky.'*' 



V. CONDITION OF THE BONES. 



The bones have been found in various conditions, some 

 being almost perfect and others crumbling on being hand- 

 led. In Europe the bones are more fragmentary and are 

 rarely met with. This is due to their greater antiquity, 

 for it is well established that the American variety con- 

 tinued to flourish long after the European mastodon had 

 become extinct. Many causes have operated in the pre- 

 servation of these remains, among which are the solutions 

 of lime, silex, and iron. The bones of the mastodon gigan- 

 teus are scarcely ever found in a mineralized condition, and 

 the preservation in many instances is due to silex. The 

 preservation is also often due to their immersion in water to 



