§23. MASTODONS FROM AVA. 159 



It had a trunk or proboscis, tusks, which curved upward, 

 and four molar teeth in each jaw, but no incisors. 



But another remarkable peculiarity, and which entirely 

 separates the mastodon from the elephant, is that the young 

 animal had a pair of tusks, placed horizontally in the lower 

 jaw, and of these tusks, one only became developed, and that 

 in the adult male ; both were early shed in the female.* 

 In the midst of a collection of mastodon bones imbedded in 

 mud, a mass of small branches, grass, and leaves, in a half 

 bruised state, and a species of reed, common in Virginia, were 

 discovered; the whole appeared to have been enveloped in 

 a sac, probably the stomach of the animal. In another 

 instance, traces of the proboscis were observed. The tusks 

 are composed of ivory, and vary somewhat in the direction 

 and degree of their curvature. The bones of this colossal 

 quadruped are found remarkably fresh and well preserved, 

 and are generally impregnated with iron. No living in- 

 stance of this creature is on record, and there can be 

 no doubt that its race has long since been extinct. The 

 Indians believe that men of equally gigantic proportions 

 were coeval with the mastodon, and that the Great Spirit 

 destroyed both with his thunder, j* There are several 

 species, some of which have been found in North America 

 only, and others in Europe. Baron Humboldt discovered a 

 tooth of the mastodon near the volcano of Imbaburra, at 

 an elevation of 1,200 fathoms. In England, a few teeth 

 have been found in the Norwich Crag ; these belong to a 

 species named Mastodon angustidens (narrow-toothed).^ 



23. Mastodons from Ava. — I have now to call your 

 attention to the fossil remains of several species of mas- 



* Professor Owen. 



f Cuvier. Oss. Foss. 



% The British Museum now contains an unrivalled collection of the 

 fossil remains of mastodons and mammoths from North and South 

 America, and India. 



