Chapter XVII: On the Theory of the Pleistocene Terraces of the Coastal Plain (1)

The writer will discuss briefly the widely accepted theory that along the sea-coast from New Jersey to southwestern Texas there occurs a series of terraces and corresponding escarpments, three or more in number, representing successive emergences of the borders of the continent from the sea. The theory was first proposed by Dr. W. J. McGee (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. XXV, 1888, p. 367; 12th Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv., pt. I, 1891, pp. 353–521). He included in the initial submergence not only the area occupied by the supposed Pleistocene terraces, but also the borders of the coasts to an elevation corresponding to the Lafayette (Appomattox) formation, which he referred provisionally to the late Pliocene. This submergence required a depression of the eastern half of the continent amounting to 500 feet or more. The theory was accepted especially by the geologists of Maryland in their excellent reports (Shattuck, Maryland Geol. Surv., Pliocene and Pleistocene volume, pp. 62–137, with maps). It has likewise been applied to the geology of Virginia (Clark and Miller, Va. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. IV, pp. 48–56, 179–189), North Carolina (Stephenson, N. C. Geol. Econom. Surv., vol. III, 1912, pp. 266–290), Georgia (Veatch, Geol. Surv. Ga., Bull. No. 26, 1911, pp. 35–50), as Okefenokee and Satilla; (Stephenson, ibid., pp. 425–445), Florida (Matson and Clapp, Fla. Geol. Surv., vol. II, 1909), and to Texas (Deussen, Water Supply Pap. U. S. Geol. Surv. 335, pp. 78–83).

_Conspectus of the Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of the Pleistocene._

┌────────────────┬─────────────────────┬─────────────────┬──────────────────┐ │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ │Drift-sheets and│ Representative │Disappearance of │ Characteristic │ │other deposits. │ collections. │ genera and │ genera. │ │ │ │ species. │ │ ├────────────────┼─────────────────────┼─────────────────┼──────────────────┤ │ _Wisconsin │ │ │ │ │ Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Atlantic to │Made in swamps and │Megalonyx, │Existing mammals, │ │ Pacific in │ old lakes on │ Elephas, │ plus those of │ │ Wisconsin, │ Wisconsin drift │ Mammut, │ column 3 │ │ Illinois, │ (Wabash beds) from │ Cervalces, │ │ │ Iowa, Indiana,│ Illinois to │ Symbos, │ │ │ Ohio, New │ Massachusetts and │ Boötherium, │ │ │ York, New │ Cape Breton Island.│ Mylohyus, │ │ │ Jersey (Cape │ Leda clays, Canada.│ Platygonus │ │ │ May, Trenton │ │ Bison │ │ │ gravels), │ │ occidentalis, │ │ │ Ontario, │ │ Castoroides │ │ │ Quebec, etc., │ │ │ │ │ Maine, │ │ │ │ │ Massachusetts.│ │ │ │ │_Peorian Stage._│ │ │ │ │Old soils │Fossil mammals rarely│None certainly │Few recognized. In│ │ between the │ found. │ known. │ general, those │ │ Iowan and the │ │ │ of the │ │ Wisconsin │ │ │ Wisconsin. │ │ drifts where │ │ │ │ │ the former is │ │ │ │ │ present. │ │ │ │ │ Reported by │ │ │ │ │ Leverett (Mon.│ │ │ │ │ U. S. Geol. │ │ │ │ │ Surv., vol. │ │ │ │ │ XXXVIII) from │ │ │ │ │ localities in │ │ │ │ │ Illinois. │ │ │ │ │ Usually hard │ │ │ │ │ to distinguish│ │ │ │ │ from Sangamon.│ │ │ │ │ Abundant loess│ │ │ │ │ in Mississippi│ │ │ │ │ Valley. │ │ │ │ │ _Iowan Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Known certainly │None. │Mylodon, Tapirus,│None known; but in│ │ only from Iowa│ │ Equus, │ general those of│ │ and Wisconsin.│ │ Taurotragus, │ the later │ │ Supposed to be│ │ Sangamona, │ stages. │ │ present along │ │ Bison │ │ │ New England │ │ latifrons, B. │ │ │ coast, Gay │ │ antiquus, │ │ │ Head to Maine.│ │ Ænocyon, │ │ │ │ │ Dinobastis, │ │ │ │ │ Smilodon, │ │ │ │ │ Smilodontopsis.│ │ │ _Sangamon │ │ │ │ │ Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Sangamon River, │Alton, Illinois; │None known to │Mylodon, a few │ │ Illinois. Old │ Kimmswick, │ have become │ horses, tapirs, │ │ soils just │ Missouri; cave in │ extinct during │ peccaries, │ │ above the │ Bexar County, │ this stage. │ Sangamona, │ │ Illinoian │ Texas; bluffs at │ │ Taurotragus, │ │ drift. Some │ Natchez, │ │ Symbos, Bison │ │ loess of this │ Mississippi; salt │ │ latifrons, B. │ │ stage. Cave │ mine at Petite │ │ antiquus, │ │ deposits in │ Anse, Louisiana; │ │ Elephas and │ │ Texas and in │ Cavetown and │ │ Mammut. │ │ the Alleghany │ Corriganville, │ │ │ │ Mountains. │ Maryland; Ivanhoe, │ │ │ │ │ Virginia; │ │ │ │ │ Whitesburg │ │ │ │ │ Tennessee; │ │ │ │ │ interglacial beds │ │ │ │ │ at Toronto, │ │ │ │ │ Ontario. │ │ │ │ _Illinoian │ │ │ │ │ Stage._ │ │ │ │ │In Illinois, │Conard fissure, │May include some │Equus, Mylohyus, │ │ Wisconsin, │ Newton County, │ accredited to │ Symbos, Felis, │ │ eastern Iowa, │ Arkansas. Otherwise│ the Kansan. │ Smilodontopsis, │ │ Indiana, Ohio.│ none recognized. │ │ Dinobastis. │ │ Supposed │ │ │ │ │ glacial drift │ │ │ │ │ from Long │ │ │ │ │ Island to │ │ │ │ │ Massachusetts │ │ │ │ │ (Montauk till,│ │ │ │ │ etc.). │ │ │ │ │ _Yarmouth │ │ │ │ │ Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Interglacial │Few vertebrates yet │Not known. │Few known. │ │ soils and │ recognized. Skunk │ │ Doubtless those │ │ mucks between │ and rabbit at │ │ which became │ │ the Kansan and│ Yarmouth, Iowa. │ │ extinct during │ │ Illinoian in │ │ │ Illinoian and │ │ Iowa and │ │ │ Iowan and later.│ │ Illinois. │ │ │ │ │ Gardner clay │ │ │ │ │ and Sankaty │ │ │ │ │ from Long │ │ │ │ │ Island to │ │ │ │ │ Boston. │ │ │ │ │_Kansan Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Iowa, Missouri, │Fossil vertebrates │Megatherium, │Doubtless those in│ │ Kansas, and │ rarely found. │ Glyptodon, │ the later stages│ │ northwestward.│ │ Stegomastodon, │ of this column │ │ Loess │ │ Anancus, │ and some of │ │ overlying the │ │ Gomphotherium?,│ those of this │ │ drift; │ │ Elephas │ stage in column │ │ Jerseyan │ │ imperator, │ 3. │ │ drift. New │ │ Eschatius, │ │ │ Jersey (may be│ │ Camelops, │ │ │ Nebraskan); │ │ Camelus, │ │ │ Pensauken. │ │ Hydrochœrus │ │ │ Jameco gravels│ │ Aftonius, │ │ │ on Long │ │ Leptochœrus, │ │ │ Island, New │ │ Trucifelis. │ │ │ York, and Cape│ │ │ │ │ Cod, │ │ │ │ │ Massachusetts.│ │ │ │ │ _Aftonian │ │ │ │ │ Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Gravels and │Along Missouri River │None recognized. │Mylodon, │ │ soils between │ in Iowa; Fossil │ Probably some │ Megalonyx, │ │ the Kansan and│ Lake, Oregon; │ of those cited │ Megatherium, │ │ the Nebraskan │ Grayson, Sheridan │ under the │ Glyptodon, │ │ in Iowa, │ County, Nebraska; │ Kansan. │ Chlamytherium, │ │ Missouri, │ La Brea, │ │ Elephas │ │ Nebraska, and │ California; Lake │ │ imperator, │ │ Kansas. Lake │ Lahontan and Walker│ │ Anancus, │ │ and river │ River, Nevada; │ │ Gomphotherium, │ │ deposits in │ Lavaca and │ │ Tapirus, Equus, │ │ Nebraska and │ Galveston Bays, │ │ Hipparion, │ │ Oregon; river │ Texas; Peace Creek,│ │ Camelops, │ │ deposits, │ Caloosahatchee │ │ Camelus, Bison │ │ Pittbridge, │ River, and Vero, │ │ regius, │ │ Texas; asphalt│ Florida; Brunswick │ │ Hydrochœrus. │ │ beds near Los │ and Savannah, │ │ │ │ Angeles, │ Georgia; Beaufort │ │ │ │ California. │ and Ashley River, │ │ │ │ Sands, etc. │ South Carolina; │ │ │ │ bearing │ Neuse River, North │ │ │ │ vertebrate │ Carolina; Fish │ │ │ │ remains at or │ House clay near │ │ │ │ near sea-level│ Camden, New Jersey;│ │ │ │ from mouth of │ Long Branch, New │ │ │ │ the Rio Grande│ Jersey; Port │ │ │ │ to Sandy Hook,│ Kennedy, │ │ │ │ New Jersey. │ Pennsylvania. │ │ │ │ _Nebraskan │ │ │ │ │ Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Drift in Iowa │Collections made in │Gomphotherium │Megatherium, │ │ and Nebraska │ southwestern Idaho;│ floridanum, │ Elephas │ │ beneath more │ “Oregon Desert,” │ Protohippus, │ imperator, │ │ recent drifts;│ Oregon; Anita, │ Parahippus, │ Mammut, │ │ Idaho │ Coconino County, │ Procamelus, │ Gomphotherium │ │ formation, │ Arizona; Ringgold, │ Teleoceras, │ floridanum, │ │ Idaho; New │ Yakima County, │ Aphelops. │ Protohippus, │ │ Jerseyan? and │ Washington. In │ │ Parahippus, │ │ Bridgeton, New│ clays in Alachua │ │ Hipparion, │ │ Jersey; │ and Levy counties; │ │ Equus, Tapirus, │ │ Mannetto │ Dunnellon, Ocala, │ │ Teleoceras, │ │ gravels, New │ Brewster, and │ │ Aphelops, │ │ York. Long │ Mulberry, Florida. │ │ Procamelus, │ │ Island, and │ Horse at Martha’s │ │ Agriotherium, │ │ Cape Cod, │ Vineyard?. │ │ Canis, │ │ Massachusetts;│ │ │ Trucifelis │ │ “First │ │ │ floridanus, │ │ Glacial” at │ │ │ Chasmaporthetes.│ │ Martha’s │ │ │ │ │ Vineyard; │ │ │ │ │ Arcadia marls,│ │ │ │ │ on Peace │ │ │ │ │ Creek; │ │ │ │ │ Alachuan clays│ │ │ │ │ and │ │ │ │ │ phosphates, │ │ │ │ │ and Bone │ │ │ │ │ Valley │ │ │ │ │ phosphates; │ │ │ │ │ marine marl │ │ │ │ │ bed at Vero; │ │ │ │ │ Coquina at St.│ │ │ │ │ Augustine, │ │ │ │ │ Florida; │ │ │ │ │ Quarantine │ │ │ │ │ Station, │ │ │ │ │ Southport, New│ │ │ │ │ Hanover │ │ │ │ │ County, North │ │ │ │ │ Carolina; │ │ │ │ │ Dismal Swamp, │ │ │ │ │ North Carolina│ │ │ │ │ and Virginia. │ │ │ │ ├────────────────┴─────────────────────┴─────────────────┴──────────────────┤ │ UPPER PLIOCENE—BLANCO, TEXAS; THOUSAND CREEK, NEVADA; ETCHEGOIN-TULARE, │ │ CALIF. │ ├────────────────┬─────────────────────┬─────────────────┬──────────────────┤ │_Upper Pliocene │ │ │ │ │ Stage._ │ │ │ │ │Texas, Nevada, │Lists published by J.│Glyptotherium, │Glyptotherium, │ │ and │ C. Merriam in │ Pliohippus, │ Megalonyx, │ │ California. │ Bulletin of │ Tephrocyon, │ Gomphotherium, │ │ │ Department Geology,│ Hyænognathus, │ Pliohippus, │ │ │ University of │ Ilingoceros. │ Hipparion, │ │ │ California, vol. x,│ │ Teleoceras, │ │ │ p. 425 │ │ Platygonus, │ │ │ (Etchegoin-Tulare);│ │ Pliauchenia, │ │ │ p. 425 (Thousand │ │ Procamelus, │ │ │ Creek); p. 434 │ │ Ilingoceros, │ │ │ (Blanco). │ │ Tephrocyon, │ │ │ │ │ Hyænognathus. │ └────────────────┴─────────────────────┴─────────────────┴──────────────────┘

In Maryland and the District of Columbia there have been recognized three Pleistocene terraces (Shattuck, as cited above). The uppermost is the Sunderland, the next the Wicomico, the lowest the Talbot. These are not correlated by Shattuck definitely with glacial divisions of the Pleistocene, but the Sunderland is the oldest, while the Talbot is regarded the most recent, probably about the age of the last glacial stage, the Wisconsin.

When the writer began his study of the Pleistocene he accepted the theory proposed by McGee and the Maryland geologists, and traces of this acceptance may be found in this work; but he is now convinced of its falsity. It is hardly to be believed that the coastal region could have been occupied, even at intervals, since the late Pliocene, when the depression is supposed to have been at least 500 feet, and 200 feet during the Sunderland, down to the end of the Wicomico and even the Talbot, without its having left other traces of marine occupation than the supposed terraces and escarpments. There ought to appear somewhere in the long border from New Jersey to Mexico abundant and extensive deposits of stratified materials, clays, sands, and gravels. Such deposits appear to be relatively rare.

A still more serious objection to the theory of submergence beneath marine waters is the absence of marine fossils. In the materials forming these terraces one might with confidence expect to find at least marine mollusks, mussels, clams, and beds of oysters; probably also remains of fishes, of porpoises, and of whales. Leaving out of consideration the Talbot terrace, which is near sea-level (Shattuck, op. cit., p. 10), the supporters of the theory under consideration admit that not in the Lafayette, nor the Sunderland, nor the Wicomico, have any traces of such fossils been met with. On the other hand, all over these terraces are found remains of land animals and plants. Mastodons, elephants, and horses are by no means rare. Conditions favorable for the preservation of teeth of proboscideans must have been quite as well adapted to preserve shells of oysters. In the Sunderland and Wicomico a few land plants have been secured, an abundance of them in the Talbot. Map No. 39 shows the distribution of Pleistocene mammals, mollusks, and plants on the Coastal Plain of North Carolina.

It seems evident, therefore, that the sea has had nothing to do with the formation of the Lafayette, the Sunderland, and the Wicomico terraces, and little with that of the Talbot. It was natural that the advocates of this theory of the formation of these terraces during the Pleistocene should distribute them somewhat impartially over the time of this epoch, assigning the Talbot to a late interval. On page 11 the writer has called attention to the fact that in many places along the coast from southeastern Texas to New Jersey, at or near sea-level, there are beds which contain a vertebrate fauna of the Aftonian or first interglacial stage. Probably nowhere do these beds have any large amount of later materials overlying them; it is often extremely little. So far as the writer can judge, this means that all the terraces and escarpments were produced before the time of the first interglacial; not since that distant time has there occurred along the Gulf or Atlantic coasts south of New Jersey any considerable elevation or depression of the Coastal Plain.

FINDS OF PLEISTOCENE CETACEANS IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.

(Map 1.)

ONTARIO.

1. _Nepean Township, Carleton County._—In 1914, Mr. L. M. Lambe, of the Canadian Geological Survey, stated (Summ. Rep. for 1913, p. 299) that Walter Billings, of Ottawa, had presented to the Survey a caudal vertebra of _Delphinapterus leucas_, found in Pleistocene gravel on lot 15, concession 5, of Nepean township. The locality is near Jock River, a stream which flows northeasterly and enters Rideau River about 11 miles south of Ottawa. With it was sent the lower end of a femur, supposed to belong to the bison.

2. _Ottawa East, Carleton County._—In 1910, Mr. L. M. Lambe reported (Summ. Rep. Geol. Surv. Can. for 1909, p. 273) that Mr. A. Penfold had presented to the Survey a caudal vertebra of _Delphinapterus leucas_, which he had found at Ottawa East, at a depth of 25 feet, while digging a well.

3. _Smith’s Falls, Lanark County._—In 1883 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. XXV, p. 200) Dr. J. W. Dawson announced the finding of two vertebræ, a part of another, and a fragment of a rib of a large whale, in a ballast pit at Welshe’s, 3 miles north of Smith’s Falls. This whale he identified as _Megaptera longimana_ (_M. boöps_). The bones were found in gravel at a depth of 30 feet and about 50 feet from the original face of the pit. The elevation of the place is given as about 440 feet above sea-level. Dawson stated that this corresponds exactly with the height of one of the sea-terraces on Royal Mountain at Montreal. He added that this animal might have sailed past that mountain, then only a rocky islet, when a wide sea, 400 feet above the lower levels of Montreal, covered all the plain of the lower St. Lawrence. Inasmuch as the highest terrace containing marine fossils at Montreal stands at a height of about 625 feet (Stansfield, Mem. 73, Canad. Geol. Surv., 1915) above sea-level, the region had apparently risen about 160 feet at least above its lowest submergence when the whale was buried. The discovery of this whale is mentioned by Dawson in his “Canadian Ice Age,” 1894, page 268; also by Professor G. H. Perkins in his Report of the State Geologist of Vermont, 1907–8, page 83.

4. _Pakenham, Lanark County._—This locality is about 42 miles north-northwest from Welshe’s, where the whale remains just discussed were found. At Pakenham, in 1906, there were discovered bones, including a nearly perfect skull, of a white whale. The discovery was reported in 1906 and 1907 by Dr. J. F. Whiteaves (Summ. Rep. Geol. Surv. Can. for 1908, p. 171; Ottawa Naturalist, vol. XX, pp. 214–216). The remains were found by a well-digger on a farm (lot 21, 11th concession), and were embedded in blue clay at a depth of 14 feet. Immediately about the bones was a mixture of clay and shells. The animal has been referred to _Delphinapterus leucas_. As one of the ear-bones was secured, the determination of the species would appear to be possible. According to Perkins, the ear-bone in the type of _D. vermontanus_ differs from that of the existing white whale, _D. leucas_. The writer is unable to say more than that the whale found at Pakenham belongs to the Late Wisconsin.

5. _Cornwall, Stormont County._—In 1870 (Canad. Naturalist and Quart. Jour. Sci., vol. V, pp. 438–439), E. Billings gave an account of the discovery of remains of a white whale at Cornwall. Considerable parts of the skull were secured, including the lower jaws. Besides many vertebræ and some other parts, 8 teeth were saved, but the ear-bones were missing. The animal had been about 15 feet long. Whether it belonged to _Delphinapterus leucas_ or _D. vermontanus_ may be regarded as doubtful. Extracts from Billings’s description are to be found in Professor Perkins’s paper (Rep. State Geologist Vermont, 1907–8, pp. 81–82).

6. _Williamstown, Glengarry County._—This place is about 10 miles northeast of Cornwall. In Professor Perkins’s paper just cited it is stated that Edward Ardley, assistant curator at Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, had found here a few bones of a white whale, the hyoid, a few phalanges, and rib fragments. It is impossible from such limited materials to determine whether the animal was _Delphinapterus vermontanus_ or _D. leucas_. From Mr. Ardley, through Mr. Arthur Willey, curator of Redpath Museum, the present writer has learned that these bones were dug up from a depth of 14 feet, in a well sunken in the Leda clay. Under the surface soil was a band of sandy clay containing shells of _Saxicava_ and _Mya_. Beneath this was a stiff blue clay showing stratification and containing shells of _Leda_.

QUEBEC.

7. _Montreal._—In 1863 (Rep. Geol. Surv. Canada, p. 919), W. E. Logan announced the finding of some bones of a whale at the Mile-End quarries, Montreal, on a slight ridge, “where are found stratified sand and gravel holding boulders and shells in the lower part.” In corresponding clays in a neighboring brickyard was found a pelvis of a seal, _Phoca grœndlandica_. In 1895 (Canad. Rec. Sci., vol. VI, p. 351), Dr. J. W. Dawson reported the discovery of a nearly complete skeleton of another white whale at Montreal. This was found in brick clay, near Papineau Road. The locality is said by Dawson to be about 100 feet above the St. Lawrence; the bones were in the clay at a depth of 22 feet. The clay itself was probably deposited at a depth of 50 to 80 fathoms. This is said by Dawson to correspond approximately with a well-marked shore-line at Montreal, found at a height of about 470 feet above the sea and with the old sea-beach at Smith’s Falls as related on page 17. In 1916, Mr. Edward Ardley, assistant curator of Redpath Museum, reported (Canad. Rec. Sci., vol. IX, pp. 490–493) the discovery of a large part of the skeleton of a white whale, supposed to belong to _Delphinapterus leucas_, at Montreal East. The skeleton was buried in Leda clay about 15 feet above St. Lawrence River. It was 10.5 feet long. The cranium and lower jaw were secured, besides parts of the trunk and limbs.

8. _Rivière du Loup, Temiscouata County._—In his work, “Canadian Ice Age,” 1894, on page 268, Dr. J. W. Dawson reported that bones of _Beluga catodon_ (_Delphinapterus leucas_) had been found at the place mentioned. It is not probable that parts sufficient for making a definite determination were secured, nor did Dawson give any details regarding the geological conditions connected with the discovery. Doubtless the remains were found in marine deposits of one of the terraces.

9. _Metis, Rimouski County._—In the work just cited (p. 269), Dawson stated that in the summer of 1891 he secured a large jawbone of a whale which had been found in digging a cellar in the shelly marl of the lower terrace at Metis. He did not identify the species, but appears to imply that it belonged to either the “humpback” (_Megaptera boöps_) or to one of the finner whales (_Balænoptera_).

NEW BRUNSWICK.

10. _Jaquet River, Restigouche County._—In 1874 (Trans. Nova Scotia Inst. Sci., vol. III, pp. 400–404), Dr. J. B. Gilpin gave an account of the discovery of some cetacean bones in a railroad cut at the place named, but did not identify the bones otherwise than as those of a small cetacean. In the same year (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. VII, p. 597), in a short, unsigned communication, this discovery was mentioned and the whale was identified as _Beluga vermontana_. In volume VIII of the same journal (1874, p. 219), Dr. D. Honeyman described the deposit and gave a list of the shells found in it. Dawson (Canad. Ice Age, p. 268) refers the bones to _Beluga catodon_. The locality is a cut of the International Railway, on the north side of the Jaquet River, about 0.25 mile from the sea. Gilpin gives the elevation as 40 feet above the sea; the writer of the unsigned communication just mentioned gives it as 25 feet.

Professor G. H. Perkins (Rep. State Geologist Vermont, 1907–8, pp. 102–112) studied the bones described by Gilpin. They consisted of 18 vertebræ, some fragments of the skull, one of the ear-bones, a part of the lower jaw, some fragments of ribs, and some arm-bones. He identified the animal as belonging to the genus _Monodon_ and probably _M. monoceros_, the existing narwhal.

11. _Mace’s Bay, Charlotte County._—In 1879 (Geol. Survey of Canada, 1877–78, EE, p. 23), Mr. G. F. Matthew reported the discovery of a ramus of the lower jaw of a whale, possibly a species of _Delphinapterus_, at the mouth of the Popologan (or Pocologan) River. It is now in the Mechanics’ Institute at St. John. It had fallen from a bank of Leda clay. It probably belongs to the late Pleistocene.

VERMONT.

12. _Charlotte, Chittenden County._—At this place were discovered considerable parts of a whale, described in 1850 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. IX, pp. 256–263) by Zadock Thompson, under the name _Beluga vermontana_. The animal has by many been regarded as identical with the white whale, _Delphinapterus leucas_, now appearing sometimes as far up as Montreal. A more extended description of it was given in 1853 (Hist. Vermont, Append., p. 15, figs. 1–13). This was reproduced in Edward Hitchcock’s Report on the Geology of Vermont, 1861, page 164, and was followed by remarks on the specimen by Edward Hitchcock jr. In the second volume of the work just cited (p. 938) Hager furnished a figure of the skeleton as mounted. In 1908 (Rep. State Geologist Vermont, 1907–8, pp. 76–112, plates X-XIX), Professor G. H. Perkins gave an extended description of the remains and reached the conclusion that _D. vermontanus_ is distinct from _D. leucas_. Since Perkins’s article gives a full history of the discovery and the literature pertaining to the specimen, this account will be much abridged. The bones were found in making a cut for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad, at the town of Charlotte, about a mile east of the shore of Lake Champlain. The bones were 8 or 9 feet below the surface and “were very completely bedded in fine adhesive blue clay.” The locality is 60 feet above the mean level of the lake and 150 feet above the sea. The deposits were laid down in the marine waters which took possession of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence Valley when the Wisconsin glacial ice had withdrawn north of St. Lawrence River. The geological age of the animal is therefore late Pleistocene.

NORTH CAROLINA.

13. _Below New Bern._—In 1842 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XLIII, p. 143), Richard Harlan reported regarding the species of fossil vertebrates found 16 miles below New Bern. His list, which was long and consisted mainly of vernacular names, included “cetaceans.”

SOUTH CAROLINA.

14. _Charleston._—In 1860 (Holmes’s Post-Pliocene Foss. South Carolina, p. 117, plate XXIV, fig. 9), Leidy described a cetacean tooth which he called _Physeter antiquus_. Later the specific name was changed to _vetus_. At the same time he figured a tooth (fig. 8) found in the Ashley River deposits. He further stated that teeth apparently of the same species had been taken from the Miocene formations of Virginia, but found no characters by which they could be distinguished from those of the recent sperm whale.

GEORGIA.

15. _Brunswick._—In 1911 (Bull. No. 26, Geol. Surv. Georgia, p. 436), Gidley reported from here, among other vertebrates, some teeth which he regarded as those of _Physeter vetus_; but this may not be correct and they may not belong to the Pleistocene.

FLORIDA.

16. _Daytona, Volusia County._—In 1916 (Florida Geol. Surv., vol. VIII, p. 105), Doctor Sellards stated that he had obtained from marl-pits worked at this place for road materials a proboscidean tusk and a rib of a whale, probably of the genus _Balænoptera_. At the same place had been found a tooth of _Elephas columbi_.

17. _De Land, Volusia County._—At this place was obtained the dolphin skull which Sellards described as _Globicephalus bæreckeii_ (Florida Geol. Surv., vol. VIII, p. 107, plate XIV). It was found embedded in sand at a depth of 10 feet. This sand overlies marls which are regarded as Pliocene or Miocene. Sellards believed that the sands belonged to the Pleistocene. It is not improbable that the marls pertain to the Pleistocene of the first glacial time.

FINDS OF PLEISTOCENE PINNIPEDIA IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.

(Map 2.)

GRINNELL LAND.

_Dumbbell Harbor._—In 1877 (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4, vol. XX, p. 488), Fielden published a paper on the Post-Tertiary beds of Grinnell Land and north Greenland. Fielden and De Rance reported on the same subject in 1878 (Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. Lond., vol. XXXIV, p. 566). In beds having an elevation of 400 feet, in latitude 82° 30′, there were obtained meager remains of _Phoca hispida_ and _Ovibos moschatus_. In latitude 82° 25′ were secured remains of _Rangifer tarandus_, _Ovibos moschatus_, and _Phoca barbata_. The invertebrate fauna was found to be identical with that existing there to-day. If the beds are of Pleistocene age, as the elevation appears to indicate, they may be referred to the Late Wisconsin.

NOVA SCOTIA.

1. _Sable Island._—In the collection of the Philadelphia Academy there is a walrus skull which was sent to the Academy from Sable Island about 1871. According to Rhoads (Proc. Phila. Acad., 1898, p. 197), Leidy regarded this skull as that of a recent individual; but Rhoads states that “the specimen is of precisely the same nature in color, texture, and specific gravity as the larger fossil specimen which Leidy described and figured in the Philosophical Transactions and which came from the beach at Long Branch, New Jersey.” He thinks that it had been derived from an ancient raised sea-beach. This does not appear to be at all improbable.

NEW BRUNSWICK.

2. _Fairville, Charlotte County._—In 1879 (Geol. Surv. Canada, Rep. for 1877–8, EE, p. 23), Dr. G. F. Matthew reported the discovery of a skeleton of _Phoca grœnlandica_ near Fairville, at the mouth of St. John River, New Brunswick. The fore limbs and several vertebræ were missing. The skeleton was afterwards destroyed in a fire at St. John. The bones were found at a depth of about 25 feet, in the lower Leda clay.

QUEBEC.

3. _Bic, Rimouski County._—In Le Naturaliste Canadien (vol. XXXVI, 1908, p. 51), the editor, V. A. Huard, in commenting on a letter written to him and announcing the capture of a walrus somewhere on the northern coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, recalled an article contributed in 1869 by the former editor, a priest named Provancher (Le Naturaliste Canad., vol. II, p. 19). This writer stated that some workmen employed in the construction of the International Railway had discovered at Bic, Rimouski County, Quebec, on the southern shore of the St. Lawrence, a complete skeleton of a walrus. This skeleton had a length of 13 feet. It was found at a depth of 14 feet, in a compact clay, and at a height of more than 100 feet above sea-level. The skeleton was deposited in the museum of the Rimouski Seminary, but was destroyed in a fire in 1881.

It is evident that when that animal died and was buried in the clay the land in that region stood at a level at least 100 feet lower than at present.

Through the late Mr. L. M. Lambe, of the Canada Geological Survey, the writer has received from Mr. W. A. Johnston, who made a special study of the Pleistocene, information regarding the age of the clays at Bic. He says that little can be said definitely regarding the age of the clays in which the walrus skeleton was found. Clays belonging to the Champlain submergence stand now at an elevation of 311 feet in that vicinity; and marine shells occur in clays, supposed to belong to the Champlain, at an altitude of 120 feet. There is a possibility that some of the clays in that region are earlier than the time of the Wisconsin. Mr. Johnston cites Guide Book No. 1, part I, pp. 77–78, of the Canada Survey, and Dawson’s Ice Age, 1893, pp. 186–195. The first article was written by J. W. Goldthwait. On page 921 of Logan’s Geology of Canada, 1863, it is stated that bones of whales and of the morse have been found partially embedded in the Leda clay in several places between Bic and Matanne, about 60 miles farther down the river.

4. _Montreal, Quebec._—In 1863, Logan (Geol. Surv. Canada, p. 920) told of the discovery of a skeleton of _Phoca grœndlandica_ near Montreal. The exact locality appears to be about 0.75 mile east of what was then known as the Mile-end quarries. These quarries were about 100 feet above sea-level, and the spot where the skeleton was found was about 40 feet lower down. At a nearby brickyard some bones of a young seal were discovered which belonged probably to the same species. One of the pelvic bones of a seal was found also at the Mile-end quarries. Dr. J. W. Dawson (“Canadian Ice Age,” 1844, p. 267) stated that the skeleton was found in the Leda clay; that it is in the collection of the Geological Survey, at Ottawa; and that detached bones are in the Peter Redpath Museum of McGill University at Montreal. The Leda clay, at least that of the upper portion of the St. Lawrence Valley, is now referred to the Champlain epoch, a time when the sea had invaded this valley and even Lake Ontario.

5. _Tétreauville, Ottawa County._—In 1897 H. M. Ami (Ottawa Naturalist, vol. XI, p. 24) announced that he and Ruggles Wright had found some bones which were probably those of a young harbor seal, _Phoca vitulina_. They were collected in 1888, in a sandy layer about 30 feet below the surface, on a hillside, at Wright’s brick clay pits, on Aylmer Road, Tétreauville, Quebec. This place is about 5 miles west of Hull, and within 10 miles of Ottawa. These bones are in the Victoria Museum at Ottawa. Besides the left half of the lower jaw with teeth, there are both ear-bones, one exoccipital, the greater portion of the backbone, scapula, part of the pelvis, and some of the larger limb-bones. This species is abundant in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and also ascends the larger rivers to a great distance. Doubtless great numbers inhabited the inland sea which, during Champlain times, is believed to have occupied the valley of the St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, and the valley of the Ottawa River nearly as far up as the city of Ottawa.

ONTARIO.

6. _Ottawa._—Remains believed to belong to _Phoca grœnlandica_ have been found near Ottawa, Ontario. In 1856 (Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. VIII, p. 90, plate III), Doctor Leidy described and figured the hinder limbs of a young aquatic animal which he regarded as a seal, but did not more exactly identify. He expressed the opinion that its descendants were yet sporting in the sea-borders of Canada. This specimen was found in Gloucester Township, Carleton County, about 9 miles east of Ottawa. The locality is on Green’s Creek, a tributary of the Ottawa River, the bank of the creek being about 30 feet high and composed of clay. This is regarded as being of Champlain age, the close of the Wisconsin stage. Out of this clay were washed numerous nodules of hardened clay, many of which contained organic remains, such as marine shells and fishes. Among the latter are two species, the capelin (_Mallotus villosus_) and the lump-sucker (_Cyclopterus lumpus_).

Later, at the same locality, a lower jawbone of a young seal was found, which was identified as the harp seal; and it was even thought that it might have belonged with the hinder limbs figured by Leidy. A figure of this jaw, with some of the teeth, was published by Dawson in his “Canadian Ice Age.”

MAINE.

7. _Addison Point, Washington County._—From the curator of the Portland Society of Natural History, Arthur H. Norton, the information is received that some portions of the skeleton of a walrus, several ribs, parts of two limbs, and a phalanx of a digit, had been found at Reef Point, near Addison Point, Maine. These remains are now in the collection of the society just named. They had been collected in 1881 by C. H. Boyd, who published an account of them (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. IV, p. 234). They had washed out of the bank on the eastern side of Pleasant River, about 3 miles below Addison. They had been buried in a stiff blue clay, about 2 feet above high-water. Above them there was 6 feet of the clay, and above this gravel and soil. Mr. Boyd stated that he had seen a tusk, with a part of the socket, which had been washed out at the same place.

8. _Andrews Island, Knox County._—The American Museum Journal for 1912 (vol. XII, pp. 269–270) contains an article which calls attention to a walrus skull preserved in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It is reported as having been found by Sidney Norton, in December 1912, in 50 fathoms of water, near Andrews Island, off Owl’s Head, Penobscot Bay. One of the tusks is complete, the other is gone; also the occiput and zygomatic arches are missing. The bone is said to be quite well petrified, which shows that the skull is not a recent one.

9. _Gardiner, Kennebec County._—In 1845 Charles Lyell visited (“Second Visit to the United States,” vol. I, p. 44) Gardiner, Maine, and examined a collection of fossil shells and crustacea which had been made by Mrs. Frederic Allen from the glacial deposits of that vicinity. He recognized the tooth of a walrus, which he stated was similar to the one procured by him on Martha’s Vineyard. This tooth is said by Packard (Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. I, 1867, p. 246) to have been a tusk; and he was informed that it had been taken by Lyell to London and had been identified by Professor Richard Owen. Inasmuch as Owen regarded the specimen found on Martha’s Vineyard as a species distinct from the one now living on the Atlantic coast, it is to be supposed that the Gardiner specimen also was thought to be different from the latter. Packard, in another communication (Amer. Naturalist, vol. I, 1868, p. 268), states that the tooth of the walrus and some teeth of a supposed bison were discovered in the clay-beds at Gardiner by Lyell, or at least during his visit, but it is evident that they had been collected before his arrival.

In his discussion of the supposed bison teeth found in clay at Gardiner, Dr. J. A. Allen (The American Bisons, 1876, pp. 89, 91) gives us some information about the fate of Mrs. Frederic Allen’s collection. At her death it passed into the possession of her daughter, by whom the greater part of it was presented to Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine. Professor Manton Copeland, of this college, informs the writer that the walrus tusk is in their collection and bears the number FM20. It is badly shattered. The length is about 75 mm.

The important matter concerning the remains of the walrus found at Gardiner is to determine when the animal lived there. It is to be assumed that the tusk had been buried in the Pleistocene clay at that locality. This appears to belong to the closing period of the Wisconsin stage, but there has been some dispute about its age.

Packard (Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. I, pp. 245–246) gives a list of the species which had been found in the clay at Gardiner. These are nearly all invertebrates and indicate a climate somewhat colder than that now existing there. Whether the time when the walrus lived at Gardiner was before or after the culmination of the Wisconsin ice period, it was so long ago that those deposits of clay, made in sea-water of considerable depth, have since been lifted above sea-level to a height of perhaps 200 feet.

10. _Portland, Cumberland County._—In the American Naturalist, volume XII, 1878, page 633, it is recorded that the larger part of the skeleton of a walrus, including the skull, with tusks over 5 inches long, had lately been found in the Quaternary clays at Portland. It had been discovered by workmen excavating for the foundation of the transfer station of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The remains were partially embedded in a layer of blue clay a foot thick, itself overlain by 2 feet 2 inches of a lighter clay. The latter contained casts and shells of 11 species of mollusks. J. A. Allen, in his work already quoted, states that the skeleton was found at a depth of 7 feet. It was placed in the museum of the Portland Society of Natural History, and is still there, as reported by the curator, Arthur H. Norton.

Mr. Norton has sent the writer an extract from the report of the committee which investigated this discovery. The bed of blue clay in which the greater part of the skeleton was buried contained the following species of mollusks: _Mya arenaria_, _Macoma sabulosa (calcarea)_, _Mytilus edulis_, _Cardium (Serripes) grœndlandicum_, _Saxicava distorta_, _Nucula antiqua_, _Leda tenuisulcata_, _L. truncata (Yoldia glacialis)_, _Natica clausa_, _N. pusilla_, and _Astarte striata_. The lighter-colored clay above the blue clay was more sandy and adhered strongly to the bones. This clay contained _Mya arenaria_, _Mytilus edulis_, _Serripes grœndlandicus_, _Astarte striata_, _Macoma calcarea_, _Nucula antiqua_, _Natica_, and _Balanus_.

Above the lighter-colored clay just mentioned was a foot of a clay which contained wood and roots, the unused portion of the brick clay that once existed there, but which had been removed for the manufacture of bricks.

Inasmuch as the clay overlying the bed in which the remains were found contains marine shells, it is certain that since their deposition the land has been considerably elevated.

George N. Stone (Monogr. XXXIV, U. S. Geol. Surv., pp. 286–291) has discussed the age of the glacial deposits at Portland. Professor M. L. Fuller has written to the author that on the Maine coast the chief clay is known as the Leda and is found at Portland and Gardiner, and that it probably antedates the Wisconsin. This is not to be correlated with the Leda clay of the St. Lawrence Valley. It corresponds rather to Clapp’s “high-level clays” (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. XVIII, p. 505, seq.).

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

11. _Jeffries Reef, off Portsmouth._—The specimen from this place consists of the greater part of the left side of the skull of a large individual. The occipital and the exoccipitals are missing. The bone and especially the tusk have suffered some decay. The fragment is labeled as having been dredged from a depth of 50 to 75 fathoms on Eastern Jeffries Reef. The bottom was hard. Jeffries Reef lies 5 or more miles off the southernmost part of the Maine coast and extends from the Isle of Shoals to Boon Island. The skull belonged to an old individual. The length from the rear of the mastoid process to the front of the premaxilla is 360 mm. The exserted part of the tusk measures 225 mm. in length. At its base the diameters are 65 mm. and 42 mm. There are 4 large grinding teeth. There is no reason for supposing that the species represented is not _O. rosmarus_.

MASSACHUSETTS.

12. _Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard._—In his “Travels in North America,” volume I, 1845, page 257, plate V, figure 1, Lyell announced the finding of a part of a skull of a walrus at Gay Head. This he had purchased from a fisherman who lived there and who said it had fallen out of a conglomerate found at that place and which contains bones of cetaceans. The skull retained but a small portion of its animal matter. Richard Owen, to whom the skull was shown, regarded it as belonging to a species distinct from _O. rosmarus_. The upper jaw contained the base of one tusk, the socket for the other, and 3 molar teeth on each side. The reduced number of molars furnishes no distinctive character, for existing individuals sometimes present this number. The base of the tusk has its transverse diameter greater than usual relatively to the fore-and-aft diameter. According to Lyell’s illustration of the specimen, the greater diameter was 70 mm., the shorter 53 mm. The writer has seen no tusk of _O. rosmarus_ as thick as this; but the thickness is variable and may possibly attain to two-thirds of the greater diameter.

Inasmuch as the Tertiary deposits at Gay Head, rising above the sea to a height of about 150 feet, are capped by a sheet of glacial drift and clays, it is probable that the skull in question had fallen from some of these drift deposits. According to Professor J. B. Woodworth (17th Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Surv., pt. I, p. 982), there are at Gay Head deposits of drift which represent some of the older glacial stages as well as the last one, the Wisconsin. It is possible, therefore, that this walrus lived there as far back as the middle of the glacial epoch or even earlier. For additional information on the geology of that island consult Woodworth’s paper, in which the literature is cited; also the important paper by N. S. Shaler (7th Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Surv., 1888, pp. 303–363.)

The hooded seal, _Cystophora cristata_, has probably been found fossil at Gay Head. The only reason for this supposition is found in a statement made by Charles Lyell (Proc. Geol. Soc. London, vol. IV, p. 32; Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XLVI, 1844, p. 319). He says that with other remains on Martha’s Vineyard he found a tooth having the crown fractured. Lyell submitted the tooth to Richard Owen, who pronounced it to be that of a seal which seemed to be nearly allied to the modern _Cystophora proboscidea_ (_C. cristata_). It seems quite probable that this species lived there at the time when the walrus haunted the region. It is of course possible that the remains reported belonged to an animal that lived in that region as far back as the Miocene. The tooth was not described or figured.

NEW JERSEY.

13. _Long Branch._—Portions of several walrus skulls have been found on the beach at Long Branch. Two of these were described and figured by Leidy in 1867 (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XI, p. 83, plate IV, figs. 1, 2, plate V, fig. 1). One skull, lacking the lower jaw, some of the right hinder part of the cranium, and the exserted portion of one tusk, was discovered in 1853. The other specimen, discovered about 1856, furnished the front of the skull as far back as the middle of the palate. Both belonged to old individuals. Leidy concluded that the animals which had possessed these skulls belonged to the existing species _Odobenus rosmarus_. He surmised that they had been floated to the New Jersey coast on fields of ice or perhaps had lived there during the Glacial period. The skull which was found in 1853 is now in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy; the other is in the collection of the New Jersey Geological Survey. Recently, Mr. Samuel N. Rhoads has studied these skulls. He had also for examination the skull from Sable Island, which has been mentioned. He concluded that these skulls belonged to a species distinct from _O. rosmarus_ and which might bear DeKay’s name, _O. virginianus_.

It does not appear to the present writer that Rhoads has successfully maintained his proposition. He did not have at hand a sufficient number of skulls of the existing Atlantic walrus to present all the variations that occur in that species. Of course, the number of fossil specimens was very limited. In discussing Rhoads’s conclusion, it will be of advantage to consider a part of a skull which belongs to the Marsh collection in Yale University. This specimen consists of the anterior half of the skull, without the tusks and without the other teeth. It was found at Kitty Hawk, at the mouth of Albemarle Sound, just north of latitude 36°. It is thoroughly fossilized; and, having been found so far south, it may be safely regarded as having belonged to the species which inhabited the New Jersey coast during the Pleistocene.

For purposes of comparison, such measurements are here given as can be obtained from the skull; likewise the corresponding measurements of a specimen from Sable Island, No. 199528 of the U. S. National Museum, and of another, No. 22014 of the National Museum, brought from Ungava Bay. Unfortunately, the basilar length of the fossil can not be determined, nor the width of the mastoids.

_Measurements of skulls of walruses, in millimeters._

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────┬───────┬───────┐ │ │ Kitty │ Sable │Ungava │ │ │ Hawk. │Island.│ Bay. │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤ │From front of premaxillæ to rear of vomer │ 183│ 167│ 205│ │From front of tusk to optic foramen │ 188│ 177│ 195│ │From oral border of premaxilla to upper │ │ │ │ │ border of nasal opening │ 110│ 96│ 100│ │Greatest width across maxillæ │ 160│ 136│ 177│ │Least width at front of orbits │ 105│ 106│ 146│ │Least width at temporal fossæ │ 75│ 62│ 70│ │Width between the sockets for tusks │ 75│ 75│ 85│ │Length of row of teeth │ 82│ 60│ 83│ │Space between incisors │ 40│ 36│ 32│ │Space between last molars │ 62│ 60│ 53│ │Long diameter of tusk at base │ 34│ 26│ 38│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘

The nasal bones of the fossil are so thoroughly consolidated with each other and with the adjoining bones that their dimensions can not be determined. There is no reason, however, for supposing that the length was greater than 70 mm.

The grinding teeth of the fossil do not show the larger size that we might expect from Rhoads’s determinations and from comparison with Leidy’s illustrations. The second socket was almost exactly the diameter of the same socket in the Sable Island specimen measured. The third socket is larger than that of the skull from Sable Island. The sockets for the first molars are very small and shallow; the socket for the left incisor is still smaller, while that for the right incisor is wholly effaced. The diameter of the socket for the second molar is much shorter than that of the corresponding socket in the Ungava Bay specimen. In the latter, the left incisor is present and large, but the other is missing and the socket is nearly filled up. It is evident that the teeth are extremely variable in both size and the number present.

Rhoads has found that the incisive foramina of the fossil skulls in his hands are placed high above the alveolar borders. In the North Carolina specimen this height is 32 mm.; in the Sable Island specimen in the U. S. National Museum, 30 mm.; in the Ungava Bay specimen, about 22 mm. Nor does the distance between the sockets for the incisors in the fossil from North Carolina agree with that dimension in the two specimens from Long Branch.

Despite the differences shown in the measurements in the table given above, the writer must conclude that there are not as yet sufficient reasons for regarding the Pleistocene walrus of the Atlantic coast as specifically different from the existing form.

Dr. Albert Reid Ledoux, mining engineer, of New York City, when a young man bathing at low tide at Long Branch, found a skull of a walrus. This was given to Professor John S. Newberry and is now probably at either Columbia University or the American Museum of Natural History. At the same time and at the same spot was a heel-bone of _Megatherium_, now in the American Museum (p. 31). It is very improbable that these two animals lived there at the same time.

According to recent publications of the Geological Survey of New Jersey (Salisbury, Report for 1897, p. 19, pl. I; Lewis and Kümmel, Bull. No. 14, p. 120, with Geologic Map of New Jersey, 1910–1912), Long Branch is situated on the Cape May formation. This is regarded by the geologists just quoted as corresponding in age, in great part at least, to the Wisconsin stage. When this deposit was laid down, the New Jersey coast was depressed from 35 to 50 feet below its present level. It seems very probable that at that time the walrus was living there and that the skulls found have been washed out of this deposit by the waves during storms. Nevertheless, the finding of _Megatherium_ at Long Branch shows that there are deposits present which belong probably to early Pleistocene.

Dr. H. B. Kümmel, State Geologist of New Jersey, has informed the writer that a strip 0.25 to 0.75 mile back from the ocean in the region about Long Branch probably belongs to the Recent time. He states that one would be safe in concluding that the skulls of the walrus were found in deposits not older than the Cape May and that they may have occurred in more recent beds. Against the view that the walruses found along this coast lived there during the Recent period is their well-fossilized condition.

14. _Ocean Grove, Monmouth County._—In 1910, after a storm, a part of a skull of a walrus was found on the beach at Ocean Grove, New Jersey. This is still in the possession of the finder, Mr. W. S. Hidden, who furnished the writer with photographs of the specimen. It consists of the front of the skull extending back to the bases of the zygomatic arches, and containing portions of both tusks and most of the teeth. There is no likelihood that this specimen belonged to any other species than _Odobenus rosmarus_, and it was probably washed out of the same deposits as those which furnished the specimen found at Long Branch.

VIRGINIA.

15. _Accomac County._—In the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, volume II, 1828, page 271, Messrs. Mitchill, Smith, and Cooper made a report on a fossil walrus skull found along the Virginia coast somewhere in Accomac County. Only the anterior half of the skull was secured. According to this report, portions of the tusks were preserved, but were much mutilated. There were present also 4 of the grinding teeth. The skull was described as being remarkably hard and heavy and the tusks were almost agatized. The sutures of the skull had mostly closed up; hence the animal was evidently an old one. The specimen bore the marks of having been in salt water, and was said to have been found on the beach.