56 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



year since, communicated to the Lyceum of Natural 

 History of New York, some observations on the denti- 

 tion of that animal. 



The conclusion to which Mr. Cooper arrived after 

 the fullest and most complete investigation of the most 

 extensive collections of the Mastodon bones, in this 

 country, of the famous " Tetracaulodon" inclusive, will 

 be found in the following paragraph, and needs no com- 

 ment. 66 The • Tetracaulodort of the late justly la- 

 mented Dr. Godman, appears to me, after a careful ex- 

 amination of his specimen, to be another young indi- 

 vidual, also of the common Mastodon, but older than 

 mine ; I have stated my reasons for this opinion, in a 

 paper on the dentary system of the Mastodon, which I 

 read to the Lyceum of Natural History, in April 1830. 

 It appears, however, from recent observations, that 

 the lower tusks which I supposed all the species to have 

 possessed in their youth, were in some instances per- 

 manent during the advanced age of the animal. But 

 whether this was a sexual characteristic, or merely an 

 individual case of anomaly, of which I have seen other 

 curious examples, I cannot recognize more than one 

 species of Mastodon among the great quantity of their 

 remains found in the United States, which have come 

 under my observation, those just alluded to included.'" 

 Vid. "Notices of Big-bone-lick, by Wm. Cooper," 

 Monthly Am. Journ. of Geology and Natural Science, 

 conducted by G. W. Featherstonhaugh, vol. i. p. 158. 



* Ut supra. p ? 336, 



