206 Notices of Big-hone Lick. 



very old, nor very young, (though examples of both have cocur- 

 red here, and may balance each other,) the fair average number 

 of grinders to be allowed him, is, therefore, eight. 



The whole number of teeth in the Finnell collection with not 

 less than three pairs of points, is, including those in the jaws 

 ninety-four ; which, with twenty-six similar, brought by me from 

 the same place, makes one hundred and twenty. This, divided 

 by eight, gives fifteen as the least number of individuals that 

 could have furnished the teeth, contained in these two collections 

 alone. 



To these are to be added, all that have been removed by 

 Harrison, Goforth, Clarke, Bullock, the citizens of Cincinnati, and 

 very many others ; besides some, that, it is to be presumed, still re- 

 main in the bed.* If six or seven times the number are allowed 

 for all these, it would certainly not exceed the probability. In 

 fact I should be more inclined to say ten or twenty times as many ; 

 and were big -Bone Lick on the top of a mountain, we might be 

 tempted to think, that the whole race had retreated hither, to 

 escape some general inundation. 



The number of individual elephants, might be conjectured in 

 the same manner. They appear to have been to the mastodon, 

 about as one to five. The smaller quadrupeds are probably 

 fewer than might have been obtained, if more care had been 

 used to collect and preserve them. In the following table, which 

 is intended chiefly to show the proportions the several species 

 appear to bear to each other, I have put down no more of these, 

 than are known to have been found. 



SPECIES. NO. OF INDIVIDUALS. 



Mastodon maximuSy 100 



Elephas primigenius, 20 



Megalonyx Jeffersoniif 1 



Bos bombifrons 2 



Pallasii, 1 



Cervus americanus, 2 



It is true that the remains of several other animals besides 

 those just enumerated, occur abundantly at Big-bone Lick ; and 



* Mr. Bullock, however, who has been at much pains and expense to determine 

 this, is of opinion " that all the strata near the Salt Lick of Big Bone, that contain 

 animal remains have been examined." See letter to Mr. Featherstonhaugh. 



