FOSSIL BONES OF QUADRUPEDS. 
3G7 
bones imbedded in drift are accounted for upon other principles, at least so far as regards the 
western part of New-York. The most probable explanation appears to be, that a marl lake 
has been suddenly drained, and its contents, mixed with gravel, sand and boulders, transported 
to a distance, where the whole was left as a deposit resembling the ordinary drift. 
I might mention two other localities which I have visited; one at Coeymans, and the other 
at Greenville in Greene county, where the bones were imbedded in a freshwater marl, or 
rested upon the clay beneath the marl. There is here no possibility of their having been 
transported ; and the inference of Dr. De Kay, that these animals perished while in search 
of food in swamps, seems substantiated by the position of their bones. 
It has been noticed as a remarkable fact, that the bones of other animals have rarely been 
found with those of the mastodon ; and of this, the circumstances just mentioned may perhaps 
offer some explanation. If the nature of the animal induced it to search for food in such 
situations as we find their bones, those that sunk in the mud, or died there, would be pre¬ 
served ; while other animals, having no inducement to go into those places, would leave no 
evidence of their existence. The bones of other animals, and even those of the mastodon, 
when left in situations exposed to atmospheric influences, and as a prey to smaller gnawing 
animals, would be destroyed, and no vestige of them would remain. This we know to be 
true, from the fact that although the country has been long inhabited by great numbers of 
moose, deer, bears, wolves, and a variety of smaller animals, yet rarely any of their remains 
are found ; it is only in situations favorable to their preservation that they occur ; and the 
same is true of the mastodon. It thus appears probable that the remains of this animal which 
we find are but a moiety of the hundreds and perhaps thousands which died in other situa¬ 
tions, and left no record of their existence.* 
From all the facts observed, it seems not very improbable that the mastodon has lived since 
the continent was inhabited by man. In the earlier condition of the surface, it was probably 
better fitted to sustain these animals; the kinds of food they required grew more abundantly, 
the nature of the surface was adapted to their habits. Subsequently this state of things be¬ 
came changed, and small portions only may have afforded them the required kind of nourish¬ 
ment ; under these circumstances they have become extinct; not suddenly, as has sometimes 
been conjectured, but gradually as the conditions of the surface became incompatible with 
their existence. In this respect doubtless their mode of extermination resembled that of some 
other animals which have disappeared, and are disappearing from the earth. In the latter, the 
influence of man has had a large share in the process; while in the former, we are not aware 
of any such influence, unless we give credit to the aboriginal traditions. 
* Mr. Williams, one of the assistant engineers, has informed me, that at the summit level of the Genesee Valley canal near 
New-Hudson, four miles from Cuba, several deer’s horns and the horn of an elk were found twelve feet below the surface, in a 
muck deposit. In the same situation, a piece of wood, gnawed by beavers, was also found. These are all remains of existing 
animals, but the position is the same as that in which the bones of the mastodon are found. 
