4 



Notices of Big-bo7ie Lick. 213 



scribed, but were, notwithstanding, on a level with those pre- 

 viously obtained in the low grounds to the north of them. 



On the Theory of Big-bone Lick. 



It is natural, at the first view, to suppose that the herds of ele- 

 phants and mastodons were attracted hither by the salt, which 

 they probably found as agreeable a condiment as the modern 

 herbivorous animals; and that, like many of these, they died at 

 the spot where their remains have been discovered. Such is the 

 opinion of the present inhabitants, as well as of most persons who 

 visit the place ; the sound condition of the bones, being naturally 

 attributed to the antiseptic properties of the water of the adja- 

 cent springs. There can be no doubt of the conservative quality 

 of these; and it is highly probable that without it, the bones would 

 scarcely have remained till now so free from decay as we find 

 them. But they might easily have been preserved, at least for 

 a considerable period, like those of which so many instances have 

 occurred both in Europe and America, without this aid. More- 

 over, it may be well doubted whether these gait springs formerly 

 existed here. Bones are not always found at salt licks, even in 

 Kentucky. There have been other instances besides this ; but 

 the exceptions are, I believe, much more numerous. In New 

 York I have never heard of fossil bones being discovered at 

 Onondaga, or any other of the numerous salines of this state ; 

 although not at too great a distance from the Wallkill, where 

 these relics abound, to have been beyond the range of the same 

 animals.* 



At the same time, however, I can readily admit, that they in- 

 habited the neighbouring country, and that a few, perhaps, were 

 at the spot, or dispersed through the surrounding woods and 

 marshes, when the catastrophe occurred, which seems to have 

 extinguished their race. 



Some of the appearances which the bones exhibit, have been 

 alluded to in the course of our previous descriptions ; very few, 

 indeed, if any, even of the smallest, were found without some 

 mark of their having been subjected to violent action. Unlike 

 those of which so many have been discovered in New York and 



* Part of an elephant's tooth, preserved in the Museum of the Albany Institute, 

 and said to have been found somewhere along the hne of the Erie canal, is the only 

 instance within my knowledge of fossil remains of these animals from that part of our 

 state. 



