6 AMi:in( .i.\ MUSEUM (.riDE LKAFLKTS 



oil llic iii;i>(()(l()ii (|ii()l«'^ all iiitcfc^t iiiii conH'spoiKlciicc hctuccii the Icai'iicd 

 ("olloii Mallici* and ( ioNciiioi" I)inll('y of New ^()^k, coiiccriiiii;^ the dis- 

 (•()\(M-y ot" siicli holies on tlic hanks of the Hudson near N('\sl)ii!-^h. French 

 e\|)lor('rs on Ihc Olilo disco\('n'(l ^rcal (|nantiti('s of leeth and l)on('s of 

 inaslodoiis and niainniot lis al tlic (ircal SaH IJck in lY'iitiickv, and clsc- 

 wliere alon^' tlie rixcr, and sonic of these were sent to I^'raiice and >tiidied 

 hy Cinier and other scientists. 



Diirinu the last century many fossil skeleton^ and skiilU and iiiiiuiner- 

 al)le teetli and hones have heen found in all parts of the Inited States, in 

 Alaska, Canada and Mexico and are preserNcd in \arious nuiseuins throu<j;li- 

 out the country. 



Scientific notices of the fo.s.sil reinain.s in America he<;in ahout 17.)(). 

 'Hiey are mentioned hy Tliomas Jefferson in his Notes on \'ir^inia, llH'-i, 

 and noticed at more or less len<>th })y many other less distin<>uished authors, 

 usuall\' under the luime of mannnoth or ele|)hant l)ones. Numerous descrij)- 

 lions and fi<!,ures of the mastodon ap|)ear duriii*> the first half of the last 

 century, culminatin<>' in the <>reat memoir of John (\ Warren 18.)''2. Descrip- 

 tions and notices of mammoths or other fossil elej)hants are hardly less 

 nunuM'ous in American scientific literature of the last century, hut no 

 adeciuate treatise dealing' with them has yet l)een puhlished, nor is there 

 any <i(Mieral treatise on the fossil j)rol)osci(leans of the world, idle literature 

 is scattered and the suhject nuich coid'used. 



11. THE EXTINCT ELEPHANTS. 



(ienera, Elephas, Loxodon, Stegodon. 



TIIP2RE are at least ten or twelve sj)ecies of extinct elei)liaiits known 

 in different i)arts of the world. Some are nearest to the modern 

 Indian elej)hant {Eiep/ia.s), others to the African si)eeies {Liwodou), 

 wliile others (Stegodon) are intermediate between these and the older mas- 

 todons. Three species are found in North America, three or more in 

 Kuro})e and northern Asia, the remainder are chiefly known from India and 

 the Mediterranean region. Probaf)ly there will be more when the world 

 lias l)(HMi more thoroughly explored. 



The Mammoth. The })est known of all the (^xtinct ])rol>oscideans is 

 the mammoth, Elephas primigenius. It was a near relati\-e of the Indian 

 elephant, l)ut a<lai)ted to \'\\v in cold climates, and coNcrcd with a lieavy 

 coat of long coarse black hair with thick brown underwool. The most 

 abundant and perfect remains of this animal have been found in Siberia, 

 and it is often called the Siberian mammoth, but it ranged through all the 

 countries of the north in Europe as far south as Si)ain and Italy, in North 

 America as far south as North Carolina and California. It was able to 

 endure tlie most se\ere cold, for its remains are found in ureatest abundance 



