10 



DESCRIPTION OF THE SKELETON. 



We feel much delicacy in attempting a description of the great American 

 Mastodon, after it has been so well accomplished by Cuvier and De Blain- 

 ville. The only apology, I must repeat, for such an attempt will be found 

 in the perfection of this specimen, and the advantage derived from a com- 

 parison with the skeleton at Cambridge, and the separated bones of the 

 Baltimore Mastodon. Language is insufficient to give an idea of the gran- 

 deur of this skeleton as a whole. Standing as it does in the midst of those 

 of various large animals, — the horse, the cow, &c, and towering above 

 them, its massive limbs make them sink into insignificance. Even the 

 elephant, although nearly as tall, has a frame which might be called delicate 

 when compared with that of the Mastodon. 



"We shall now proceed to give a particular description of the bones, 

 dividing them into those of the head, trunk, and extremities. "We begin 

 with the description of the Head. 



THE CRANIUM. 



The cranium is of a flattened form ; its longitudinal much exceeding 

 the vertical diameter. We shall describe it as having five faces, viz. a 

 superior, inferior, posterior, and two lateral. 



