158 JVotices of Big-bone Lick, 



upon their own speculative imaginations; whilst nature, with 

 her inexhaustible pages, remained a sealed book to them. We 

 shall see, by and by, what bounds the human mind took, when 

 the characters of that book began to be understood. 



( To be continued.) 



NOTICES OF BIG-BONE LICK, 



Including the various explorations that have been made there, the animals to which 

 the remains belong, and the quantity that has been found of each ; with a particular 

 account of the great collection of bcTnes discovered in September, 1830. By 

 William Cooper, member of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Zoological Society of 

 London, &c. 



Big-bone Lick, so celebrated for the remains of unknown ani- 

 mals that have been found buried there, is situated in a small 

 valley in Boone county, in the northern part of Kentucky, with- 

 in two miles of the left bank of the Ohio, about half way down ; 

 eighty miles distant, northerly, ffom Lexington, and twenty 

 south-westerly from Cincinnatti, in Ohio. 



By licks are meant, in the western country, springy places, 

 naturally affording salt, in search of which, the various species 

 of herbivorous animals, both wild and domestic, resort to them in 

 great numbers. At Big-bone Lick, the salt is deposited from nu- 

 merous springs, rising through the soil over a surface of several 

 acres. There are likewise several streams of fresh water, that 

 enter the valley from different sides ; and these uniting, form a 

 small river, which, taking a southerly course, discharges itself at 

 the distance of twelve miles, into the Ohio. 



The quantity of fossil bones which appear to have been 

 brought together at this place, and deposited within a very small 

 area, is truly wonderful. An authentic account of all that have 

 been found during the last ninety years, such as might enable us 

 to make some estimate of the number of individuals, at least of 

 the larger animals, whose remains were here intermingled, as well 

 as to form some probable conjecture respecting the circumstances 

 under which they perished, and to which they owe their assem- 

 blage in this spot, would be at this day most desirable to possess. 

 But it is too late to hope for this. Quantities almost exceeding 

 belief, and of which no record has been kept, have within that 

 period been carried off, and dispersed, no one can now tell 

 whither. 



