278 
WAS MAN A CONTEMPORARY OF THE MAMMOTH? 
Br JAMES D. DANA. 
T HE evidence of the contemporaneity of Man and various 
extinct Quaternary Mammals in Europe and Great Britain 
is complete : that is, it is beyond reasonable doubt or question ; 
for (1) it has been gathered with great care by the best of 
geological observers ; (2 ) it has been verified through the re- 
examinations of reported cases by other able geologists ; and (3) 
it has been further verified by the special investigations of com- 
mittees of scientific societies. 
The North American facts thus far announced have not, un- 
fortunately, the same broad basis for confidence. 
Among the earlier of the reported discoveries are the two in 
Missouri, brought out by Dr. Koch. The account of them has 
often been cited by writers on the subject; and Mr. J. W. 
Foster, in his “ Pre-Historic Races of the United States of 
America,” prefixes to the citation the remark that Dr. Koch, at 
an interview with him, during the last year of his life, assured 
him, “ in the most solemn and emphatic manner, that his state- 
ment was true.” Mr. Foster also observes that 66 to deny the 
accuracy of his statement is to accuse him of having attempted 
to perpetrate a scientific fraud ” — a decision not sustained by 
the ordinary rules or treatment of evidence ; for science has 
constantly to guard itself against the assertions of men who are 
honest, but are not experienced in scientific investigation, and 
in all such cases rightly asks for corroborating testimony. More- 
over Dr. Koch’s statement of his facts may be true, and still 
his conclusion as to their proving the contemporaneity of Man 
and the Mastodon in North America be wrong. 
The question which American Science should carefully con- 
sider — as carefully and guardedly as has been done for similar 
cases in Europe — is, whether Dr. Koch was a competent ob- 
server, and whether his observations are a sufficient basis for 
the conclusion that has been drawn from them. 
I have before me four pamphlets by Dr. Koch, dated severally 
