MAMMOTHS AND MASTODONS 123 



grew so luxuriantly that they made good feeding 

 grounds for all of the plant-eating animals. 



The Mastodons thrived wonderfully on this diet; 

 for, although they lived in all parts of the world, it 

 was in America that they reached their greatest 

 size and were the most numerous. They were 

 scattered from one end of the continent to the other, 

 and nowadays their bones are frequently found 

 by farmers as they plow, and by laborers as they 

 dig ditches or foundations for buildings. Often 

 these bones are mistaken for logs. And then again 

 they are so well preserved that whoever discovers 

 them immediately knows he has brought part of a 

 gigantic animal to light. 



In Missouri, about twenty miles south of St. 

 Louis, hundreds of Mastodons have been found 

 together within a small space. Among them are 

 great big ones which had probably lived to a good 

 old age, little baby ones, and middle-sized ones. 

 Michigan, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, 

 and Florida have also yielded up remarkable skele- 

 tons of these creatures. But those discovered in 

 New York are the best preserved, and the reason 



