INTRODUCTION. XI 



as undisputed. How does it happen, that horses, sheep, bulls and hogs, not distinguishable from our domestic 

 species, existed upon this continent, together with the deer, the musk-rat, the beaver, the hare, the opossum, 

 the tapir, which in our days are peculiar to this continent, and not found in the countries where our domestica- 

 ted animals originated? The whole matter might seem to admit of an easy solution by supposing that the 

 native American horse, sheep, bull, and hog were different species from those of the old world, even though the 

 parts preserved show no specific differences; but this would be a mere theoretical solution of a difficulty which 

 seems to me to have far deeper meaning, and to bear directly upon the question of the first origin of organized 

 beings. 



The circumstances under which these remains are found, admit of no doubt but the animals from which they 

 are derived, existed in North America long before this continent was settled by the white race of men together 

 with animals which to this day are common in the same localities, such as the deer, the musk-rat, the opossum, 

 and others only now found in South America, such as the tapir. This shows beyond the possibility of a contro- 

 versy, that animals which cannot be distinguished from one another, may originate independently in different 

 fauna, and I take it that the facts you have brought together, are a satisfactory proof that horses, sheep, bulls, 

 and hogs, not distinguishable at present from the domesticated species, were called into existence upon the con- 

 tinent of North America prior to the coming of the white race to these parts, and that they had already disap- 

 peared here when the new comers set foot upon this continent; but the presence of tapir teeth among the rest 

 show also that a genus peculiar to South America and the Sunda Islands, existed also in North America in those 

 days, and that its representative of that period is not distinguishable from the South American species. 



It would be desirable in this stage of the enquiry to compare your tapir teeth with those of the species from 

 Central America, which is considered distinct from the Brazilian species. This circumstance leads naturally 

 to the question of the specific identity of all these animals with those now living in the same locality, and with 

 the domesticated species. And here I confess the difficulty to be almost insuperable, or at least hardly 

 approachable in the present state of our science, when the views of naturalists are so divided as to what are 

 species among the genera bos, ovis, capra. For myself, I entertain doubt respecting the unity of origin of the 

 domesticated horses. But whatever be the final result of this enquiry, this much is already established by the 

 fossils you have collected, that horses, hogs, bulls and sheep were among the native animals of North America, 

 as early as the common American deer, the opossum, the beaver, the musk-rat, etc. What remains to be settled 

 respecting their specific identity, is involved in the controversy now carried on between naturalists, who admit 

 specific distinctions upon a very wide range of differences, and those who limit them within narrow boundaries. 

 But the final solution of this point can in no way lessen the interest of your discoveries. 



Should you publish anything upon this subject, let me have your notice, for I am deeply interested in the 

 subject, as I always shall be, in everything you do. Ever truly your friend, 



L. AGASSIZ. 



The result of the whole seems to be, that of the animals found fossil in the Post-Pleio- 

 cene beds, all the mollusca of the present day are undoubtedly a perpetuation of the same 

 species; that of the higher order of vertebrata, the tapir, peccary, raccoon, opossum, deer, 

 elk, and musk-rat are equally entitled to be considered the descendants of this ancient 

 race. And if the claims of the mollusca to this distinction rests upon a secure basis, 

 because they are peculiar to this country and not obnoxious to suspicion of foreign immi- 

 gration, it must be recollected that this is equally true of the above named animals. 



