Chapter XVII: On the Theory of the Pleistocene Terraces of the Coastal Plain (15)

1. _Manchester, Washtenaw County._—In No. 13 of the Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, pages 1–3, plates I, II, issued by the University of Michigan, November 12, 1915, Dr. E. C. Case reported the finding of a fine skull of _Symbos cavifrons_ at a place near Manchester. This was given by Case as being about 3 miles northeast of Manchester, but Mr. Schlicht, owner of the farm, has sent the writer a description and plat of the section which show that the spot is situated about 0.5 mile northwest of the town. It is near the center of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 1, township 4 south, range 3 east. A drain was being made in a swampy tract and the skull was found at a depth of 4 feet, lying on a bed of clay. This was covered by a black muck filled with plant remains and interrupted by a few thin layers of fine gravel.

The skull was in fine condition, but lacked the lower jaw. The spade of a workman struck the nose and injured the bones so that some parts were lost. The teeth were almost perfectly preserved.

The locality which furnished this skull is in the valley of the Raisin River. According to Leverett’s glacial map of Michigan (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., LIII, plate VII), this valley crosses, at this point, the northern end of the Fort Wayne moraine. It is not improbable that this musk-ox lived when the foot of the ice-sheet was not far removed. Even in case the skull had gotten into a drainage channel it could not, because of its fine state of preservation, have been moved far from where the animal died. The circumstances appear to indicate that the skull had been left on the clayey bottom of a shallow pond of a tundra and become covered by the muck of a milder epoch.

2. _Moorland, Muskegon County._—In 1908 (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. XXXIV, p. 683, plate LXXIX), J. W. Gidley described, as belonging to a new species, _Boötherium sargenti_, a skull of a musk-ox found on the farm of Mr. Charles McKay, reported to be near Grand Rapids. Further inquiry showed that the farm is located near Moorland, in the northeast quarter of section 16, township 10 north, range 14 west. The skull was found in a marsh at a depth of 2 or 3 feet and lying beneath the pelvis of a mastodon. It and the mastodon are now preserved in the Kent Scientific Museum, at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In 1915 (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. XLVIII, p. 525, plate XXXI), the writer redescribed the specimen. Dr. J. A. Allen, in 1913 (Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. I, pp. 214, 215), referred to this skull and concluded that it had belonged to the female of _Symbos cavifrons_. The writer does not accept this opinion. He has examined more than 25 skulls of _S. cavifrons_, some of which must have been females. In none did the rough surfaces for the horns fail to meet at the midline as it does fail in the Moorland specimen.

The Moorland marsh is surrounded by what Leverett has called the Lake Border moraines. It is probable that this musk-ox existed there after, but not long after, the ice had withdrawn into Lake Michigan. From what is known about the habits of musk-oxen in general, we must conclude that the climate was yet cold.

The fact that the mastodon remains were so closely associated with the musk-ox skull does not prove that the animals lived there together. Near Alma, in Gratiot County, the late Charles A. Davis found mastodon bones in a peat-bog within a few inches of the surface. If by chance the pelvis of a modern horse or cow had fallen on that spot, it might easily have been pressed down into contact with those bones.

INDIANA.

(Map 25.)

1. _Wailesboro, Bartholomew County._—In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is a portion of a skull of a musk-ox which the writer identifies as _Symbos cavifrons_. It is labeled as found along the East Fork of White River, in 1904, near Wailesboro, Bartholomew County, Indiana. This locality is about 45 miles east of south of Indianapolis. The skull is reported to have been washed out of a bank composed of alluvium which overlies from 10 to 20 feet of glacial gravel. It is also said that out of the same gravel a tooth of _Elephas primigenius_ had been secured. It seems to be implied that the musk-ox skull came from the gravel; but the record is not clear. It was presented to the museum in New York by Dr. J. J. Edwards, of Columbus, Indiana. He is said to have been interested to some extent in collecting palæontological materials. It is likely that he depended on others for his knowledge of the origin of the skull.

The specimen presents the brain-case to the rear of the orbits, including the basioccipital bone and the bases of the horn-cores. It has been rolled somewhat and many ridges and processes have been eroded off. Measurements were given by the writer in his paper on the “Pleistocene Period in Indiana and its Vertebrata” (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXXVI, pp. 638–639). Dr. J. A. Allen (Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. I, p. 201) has examined this skull and concluded that it is not specifically determinable, but the writer, after re-examining the specimen, sees no reason for changing his original conclusion.

This skull was found within the area of Illinoian drift; but the border of the Wisconsin forms the high ground just east of the river. According to Leverett’s glacial map of Indiana (Monogr. LII, U. S. Geol. Surv., plate VI), the valley of the river is filled with sands and gravels resulting from glacial drainage, and this came mostly, if not all, from the Wisconsin ice. Most probably the animal which possessed this skull lived there at some time when the Wisconsin glacial ice was not far away.

2. _Richmond, Wayne County._—In the collection at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, is the brain-case of a skull identified as that of _Ovibos moschatus_. This fragment was described and figured by the writer in 1912 (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXXVI, p. 641, plate IX, fig. 2). The skull was unearthed by some workmen in the vicinity of Richmond and put into the hands of Professor D. W. Dennis, who loaned it to the writer. It is referred to _Ovibos moschatus_, the species now existing in the Arctic region of North America. Possibly if we had more complete remains specific differences might be found.

This animal probably lived in the region about Richmond at a time when the Wisconsin moraine was yet lingering in Indiana and when the climate was yet severe.

3. _Randolph County._—In the collection belonging to Earlham College is the rear portion of the skull of a musk-ox, identified as belonging to _Symbos cavifrons_. At what place in Randolph County it was found is not known. It had been somewhat eroded and injured. Measurements approximately correct were given by the writer in 1912 (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXXVI, p. 638). We may suppose that the animal lived in that region at some time during the last half of the Wisconsin stage.

4. _Beaver Lake, Newton County._—In 1870, F. H. Bradley (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. IV, p. 229), reported that upon the bottom of Beaver Lake, just east of the State line, since the lake had been partially drained, skeletons of _Mastodon_ and _Boötherium_ had been found by Dr. H. M. Keyzer, of Momence, Illinois, and others. Unfortunately, we do not know what became of these valuable materials. Probably the “_Boötherium_” was the animal now known as _Symbos cavifrons_, inasmuch as it is far more abundant than any other species of musk-ox. If any parts of the skeleton of this musk-ox were really found the loss is great, inasmuch as very few bones have ever been discovered.

The time when the mastodon and the musk-ox lived about Beaver Lake must have been after the withdrawal of the Wisconsin glacial sheet beyond that region. For remarks on this locality see page 96. The name Beaver Lake has disappeared from the maps, but it was in township 30 north, range 9 west.

5. _Hebron, Porter County._—In the American Museum of Natural History is a nearly complete skull of the musk-ox known as _Symbos cavifrons_, collected about 6 miles east of Hebron. It was found by workmen while making excavations for a railroad bridge. The exact location is given as section 16, township 33 north, range 6 west, in the marshy lands just north of Kankakee River. The depth was about 7 feet and the deposit was described as a mixture of sand and clay. Doubtless the animal died near the spot where its skull was found, inasmuch as this had undergone little injury.

This skull was described and figured by the writer in 1912 (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXXVI, pp. 635–638, figs. 49, 50) and in 1914 (Iowa Geol. Surv., vol. XXIII, pp. 299–302, figs. 98, 99); also by Dr. J. A. Allen (Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. I, p. 214, plates XVII, XVIII).

On Leverett’s glacial map of Indiana this region is represented as being occupied by sand and gravel deposits resulting from glacial drainage. The musk-ox must have lived after the foot of the glacier had withdrawn nearly to the end of Lake Michigan.

ILLINOIS.

(Map 25.)

1. _Bondville, Champaign County._—In the collection of the University of Illinois, at Champaign, is the rear portion of the skull with the horn-cores of a specimen of _Symbos cavifrons_. It is reported as found on the farm of John Busey, southwest of Champaign and 4 miles from Bondville. Professor S. A. Forbes informed the writer that the locality is in section 31, township 19 north, range 8 east. No details are known regarding the conditions under which the skull was found. The region is occupied by the Champaign moraine and it was after the retirement of the ice from this moraine that the animal lived. It may, however, have been not long after that time.

2. _Manito, Mason County._—Mr. John Wiedmer, of St. Louis, presented to the U. S. National Museum (No. 7800) the rear half of the skull of a specimen of _Symbos cavifrons_ found near Manito, at a depth of 5 feet, by workmen who were cutting out peat. A tooth of a mastodon, _Mammut americanum_, sent with the skull, is said to have been embedded in the upper part of the sand which underlies the peat. The skull was reported as found at about the same depth, but it was quite certainly not in the sand.

The exact location of the skull was in section 22, township 23 north, range 6 east, within the area of the Illinoian drift-sheet, but the Wisconsin drift is not far away. The valley of the Illinois River in this county is mapped by Leverett as occupied by sands and gravels of Wisconsin age. Probably the animal lived when the Wisconsin ice-sheet was not far distant.

The skull described apparently belonged to a rather small, perhaps not fully grown individual. For purposes of comparison with other skulls, as the one found at St. Louis, Missouri, and the one found at Hebron, Indiana (p. 252), the following measurements have been taken of this skull:

_mm._
From tip to tip of horn-cores 437
Height of rear of skull from bottom of condyles 168
Width across the mastoid region 183
Width between hinder ends of temporal fossæ 117
Width at space between bases of horn-cores and orbits 127
Width at the rear border of orbits 231
Length of rough surface of forehead, at midline 200
Fore-and-aft width of base of horn-core 98
Vertical thickness of base of horn-core 78
From front of foramen magnum to rear of nasal bones 260

The exostosis between the bases of the horn-cores is longitudinally deeply excavated, the excavation being 50 mm. wide and 27 mm. deep. The tips of the horn-cores come forward only even with the rear border of the orbits. In some other cases the horn-cores come forward to the front, or even in advance of the front border of the orbits. It is possible that this Manito skull was that of a cow.

3. _Alton, Madison County._—In a collection of fossil mammals made at Alton by William McAdams and now in the U. S. National Museum is a single tooth, a lower left second molar, referred with some doubt to _Symbos promptus_. The crown is 34 mm. long and 25 mm. wide at the base. The tooth has been described briefly by the writer (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, p. 115). A list of the species accompanying it will be found on page 339.

WEST VIRGINIA.

(Map 25.)

1. _Mahan, Brooke County._—In 1902 (Science, n. s., vol. XVI, pp. 707–709, fig.), J. B. Hatcher reported the finding of a part of a skull of _Symbos cavifrons_ at a point in Brooke County, somewhat over a mile below Steubenville, Ohio. The locality is further defined as being the sand-pit of the Steubenville Sand Company, on the Thomas Mahan farm, on the east side of the Wheeling branch of the “Panhandle” Railroad. The details regarding the locality were furnished by Mr. Sam Huston. The sand-pit was located in the glacial terrace which rises about 70 feet above low-water mark and from about 35 to 40 feet above high-water. The river has never been known to rise as high as to the spot where the skull was found. It had doubtless been brought down by the waters which built up the terrace. These waters probably came from the Wisconsin ice-sheet. The skull is now in the Carnegie Museum at Pittsburgh.

The interesting geology of this region is described on page 355.

MISSISSIPPI.

(Map 25.)

1. _Natchez._—The first notice of the occurrence of any species of the Ovibovinæ at Natchez seems to be the inclusion of _Symbos (Boötherium) cavifrons_ in Leidy’s list of fossil Mammalia found in the State of Mississippi (Wailles’s Rep. Agric. Geol. Mississippi, 1854, p. 269), but the locality is not mentioned. The occurrence of the species in the State was not mentioned by Leidy in 1853 in his “Memoir on Extinct Species of Fossil Ox” (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. V, art. 3). Leidy’s list mentioned above was quoted by Hilgard in 1860 (Agric. Geol. Mississippi, p. 196). In neither place was any statement made regarding the part preserved. In his “Memoir on the Extinct Sloth Tribe of North America,” published in 1855 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, art. 5, p. 6), Leidy stated that _Boötherium_ had been found at Natchez. Five years later (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1870, p. 73) Leidy reported that an isolated tooth, a last lower molar not yet protruded from the jaw, had been received from Natchez and was preserved in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy. On comparison with a last molar in a jaw of a supposed _Ovibos cavifrons_ received at the Smithsonian Institution and found near Woodbine, Iowa, Leidy concluded that the Natchez tooth belonged to the same species. Probably he had already based on this tooth the announcement of the presence of this species at Natchez. At least, the writer knows of no other parts of _Symbos cavifrons_ found at Natchez, and he has seen neither the tooth from Natchez nor the jaw from Woodbine, Iowa.

Leidy stated that the tooth in question had a height of 2.25 inches, a length antero-posteriorly of 2 inches.

KENTUCKY.

(Map 25.)

1. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—In his account of Bigbone Lick and the collections made there (Monthly Amer. Jour. Geol., vol. I, pp. 158–174, 205–217), William Cooper included in his list of species both _Bos bombifrons_ (_Boötherium bombifrons_) and _Bos pallasii_ (_Symbos cavifrons_). Already in 1818 Wistar (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., ser. 2, vol. I, p. 379, plate XI, figs. 10, 11) had described, without systematic name, the skull which later was made the type of _Bos bombifrons_ by Harlan (Fauna Amer., p. 271). This skull was a part of the collection made at Bigbone Lick by Governor William Clark for President Thomas Jefferson. In the account presented by Cooper (p. 173) he stated that in the Finnell (sometimes spelled Phinnell) collection, made in 1830, he had found a second head of the species, but what became of it is not known. Harlan, as cited (p. 272), stated that in the collection of fossils made at Bigbone Lick by Major Long were teeth which probably belonged to the musk-ox. They differed little from those of the bison, but were thicker at the crown, more deeply grooved at the sides, and altogether more robust. In 1870 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 97), Dr. Leidy mentioned that in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, in Cambridge, he had seen a skull of _Symbos cavifrons_ which Professor Shaler had collected at Bigbone Lick. The present writer has seen this skull. A list of the species found at this locality is recorded on page 403.

2. _Bluelick Springs?, Nicholas County._—In the collection at Yale University is the hinder part of a skull of _Symbos cavifrons_, bought in 1876 from Henry Ward, Rochester, and labeled as found in the Bluelick region. The locality is not more definitely known.

3. _Winchester, Clark County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a part of the rear of the skull of _Symbos cavifrons_ labeled as found at Winchester. It is credited to J. W. Fitch. It shows well the condyles, some of the base of the skull, and the base of the right horn-core.

Besides the remains above described a part of a cranium of _Symbos cavifrons_ from Kentucky is preserved in the Boston Society of Natural History. Leidy (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. V, art. 3, p. 16) stated that it had been found in the alluvium of Kentucky River.

FINDS OF EXTINCT BISONS IN THE PLEISTOCENE OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.

ONTARIO.

(Map 26.)

1. _Toronto, York County._—Through the kindness of Professor B. A. Bensley, of the University of Toronto, the writer has had the opportunity to examine a malar bone of a bison found in the Don interglacial beds at Toronto. It is slightly water-worn and the edges are somewhat injured. The bone has been compared with the corresponding one of a large specimen of _Bison bison_, No. 22374 of the U. S. National Museum, and with a complete skull of _Bison alleni_ from Alaska. The Toronto bone is about one-third larger than that of the _Bison bison_ and about one-tenth larger than that of _B. alleni_. The projecting outer plate, immediately below the orbit, narrows little if any from behind forward, while in both the other species referred to it becomes much narrower toward the front. The bone quite certainly belonged to an extinct species, but without the horn-cores it is impossible to determine to which one.

In 1901 (Jour. Geol., vol. IX, p. 301), Coleman stated that a large atlas vertebra of a bison which he thought might belong to _B. americanus_ had been found in interglacial beds in Toronto. It is more probable, however, that it belonged to one of the extinct species. It is uncertain whether the deposits belonged to the Don series or the Scarboro.

The geology of this region is treated on pages 281 to 283.

PENNSYLVANIA.

(Map 26.)

1. _Pittston, Luzerne County._—In 1873 (Contrib. Ext. Fauna West. Terrs., p. 255, plate XXVIII, fig. 8), Leidy described and figured a tooth as that of _Bison latifrons_. This has been referred here to an undetermined species of _Symbos_. In a paper on the distribution of the American bison in Pennsylvania, Mr. S. N. Rhoads (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1895, p. 245) concluded that this tooth belonged to the existing bison. He stated also that the Academy had two other teeth, lower molars, from the same place, which Leidy had labeled as “_Bison americanus_” and regarded as more recent than the figured tooth. Rhoads thought the identification correct, but that they belonged to the same individual as did the tooth figured by Leidy. The writer has not seen these lower teeth and admits them here only provisionally. They were found along Susquehanna River, in association with remains of _Mammut americanum_ and _Equus complicatus?_ (“_E. major_”). If any of the bovine teeth belong to Bison the species belonged to early or middle Pleistocene and is now extinct.

2. _Port Kennedy, Montgomery County._—The presence of Bison in the famous cave at this place was announced by Wheatley in 1871 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. I, p. 384). Cope, in his account of 1899 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. XI), does not mention the genus; but Mercer, on page 280 of the same volume, credits Wheatley with having found remains of three individuals of one undetermined species. He used the generic name _Bos_.

A description of the Port Kennedy Cave and its contents and remarks on the geological age of the fossils will be given on pages 311 to 320.

OHIO.

(Map 26.)

1. _Fincastle, Brown County._—In 1887 (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. X, p. 20), Horace P. Smith, curator of the society, described a fine pair of horn-cores of _Bison latifrons_ found in Brown County and which had come into the possession of the society. They were discovered at a depth of 18 feet, in making excavations for the piers of a bridge across Brush Creek. Inasmuch as nearly the whole of the course of this stream is in Adams County, the locality must have been in the northeastern corner of Brown County, near Fincastle, where the creek has its source, and within the area of the Illinoian drift. Smith thought that the horn-cores were in the drift; but, if so, the overlying materials must have been washed down over them after their burial. It is improbable that they were ever beneath or in the glacier. The animal probably lived during the Sangamon interglacial stage; quite certainly before the Wisconsin.

2. _North Fairfield, Huron County._—In the Norwalk Museum, at Norwalk, are some skull-bones of a bison found at some point not known to the writer, about 7 miles from North Fairfield, while search was being made for bones of the megalonyx which belongs partly to the museum at Norwalk, partly to the Niver family at North Fairfield. These bison bones served as the type of _Bison sylvestris_, described by the writer in 1915 (Proc. U. S. Nat. Museum, vol. XLVIII, p. 515, plate XXX). This is the only species of extinct bison known that lived after the close of the Wisconsin stage.

INDIANA.

(Map 26.)

1. _Evansville, Vanderburg County._—Many years ago Dr. Leidy (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1854, pp. 199–200) described a collection of mammalian remains made on the banks of Ohio River at the mouth of Pigeon Creek, a short distance below Evansville. Among these materials was a fragment of a cervical vertebra of a species of _Bison_, which Leidy identified with doubt as _Bison americanus_, the existing bison, now known as _Bison bison_. It would be impossible to determine to which of our several species of the genus _Bison_ this bone belonged; but it probably did not belong to B. bison. This species is not known from times preceding the Wisconsin drift and the bone-bed at Pigeon Creek is undoubtedly older. On page 32 is a discussion of the probable age of the bone-bed. It may be as old as the Aftonian stage, but more probably it belonged to the Sangamon.

The other species found at the locality named are _Megalonyx jeffersonii_, the Virginia deer, the extinct horse known as _Equus complicatus_, _Tapirus haysii_, and the extinct wolf _Ænocyon dirus_. At Bigbone Lick, midway between Louisville and Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side, have been found two extinct species of _Bison_, _B. antiquus_ and _B. latifrons_. At the same place has been found _Equus complicatus_. The beds there overlie the Illinoian drift and belong, in part at least, to the Sangamon.

Under this number may be included mention of a bone of a species of Bison which Cope reported in 1878 (Amer. Naturalist, vol. XII, p. 189) from Vanderburg County. Cope stated that John Collett, then State geologist of Indiana, had discovered in a late Pleistocene deposit a number of fossils. One of these was the ulno-radius of a _Bos_ (now to be referred to _Bison_); another was a part of the mandible of the deer _Odocoileus dolichopsis_. In 1884 (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol XIV, p. 22), Cope and Workman, inaccurately quoting Cope’s original description of the deer _Odocoileus dolichopsis_, state that this deer and the bison bones were found in Harrison County.

By consulting the Patoka Folio, No. 105, of the U. S. Geological Survey, it will be seen that the northern part of Vanderburg County, four townships, Nos. 4 and 5 south, ranges 10 and 11 west, are included. The two northern townships are largely occupied by lacustrine deposits which the geologists Fuller and Clapp regarded as having been laid down in lakes produced by the damming of the drainage by the Illinoian ice-sheet. Farther south, along the streams emptying into Pigeon Creek, are wide areas which are covered by “fine silts, mainly of pre-Wisconsin age, but including some of more recent age.” Whether or not the bison bone and the jaw of _Odocoileus dolichopsis_ were found in any of these deposits we are unfortunately left in the dark. It is most probable that the bison and the deer lived there after the Illinoian stage and before the Wisconsin.

2. _Vincennes, Knox County._—In the geological collection of Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, is preserved the greater part of the skull of a bison which belonged to the species known as _Bison antiquus_. This skull was first described and figured by Mr. W. G. Middleton and Professor Joseph Moore (Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. for 1899, pp. 178–181, with a plate); afterwards by the writer (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXXVI, p. 651, figs. 50, 51).

This fine skull is said to have been found in 1896 by a Mr. Brower, a few miles from Vincennes, in a ditch, at a depth of 6 feet. Beyond this the writer has not been able to learn. It would be of value to know exactly where this place was, for then some conclusion might be reached as to the geological age of the animal. The greater part of the county is occupied by drift of Illinoian age, which appears in some places to have on it some loess, and doubtless its surface has been much modified since the materials were laid down. Even in this area there may be some deposits of later times, interglacial and glacial.

According to Leverett’s glacial map of the region, there are along Wabash River sand and gravel terraces of Wisconsin age; while along White River there are said to be alluvial terraces older than Wisconsin.

At present one can arrive at a conclusion only from general knowledge. The writer knows of no extinct bison (except one rather peculiar species) which lived after the Wisconsin glacial stage. It appears most probable that the skull at Earlham College came from some interglacial deposits laid down about the middle of the Pleistocene, most likely during the Sangamon stage.

The writer has been informed that another skull of a buffalo was for years on exhibition in a business house conducted by Mr. T. L. Cheney, but it seems to have disappeared. Mr. J. Gimble, of Vincennes, informs the writer that it was found in the bed of Wabash River, near St. Francisville, Illinois, about 10 miles below Vincennes.

ILLINOIS.

(Map 26.)

1. _Alton, Madison County._—In the U. S. National Museum are four teeth of an undetermined species of _Bison_ found somewhere in the vicinity of Alton. They are part of a collection made many years ago by Mr. William McAdams, and afterwards passed into the hands of Professor O. C. Marsh, then vertebrate palæontologist of the U. S. Geological Survey. It now belongs to the U. S. National Museum. Nearly all of these fossils were originally inclosed, wholly or partially, in nodules of fine sand, cemented together with carbonate of calcium. Where the teeth are exposed to view they are shown in a beautifully white condition; but the remaining matrix is so hard and adheres so strongly that it is practically impossible to remove it without greatly damaging the teeth. A list of the species found at Alton will be given on page 339; also a discussion of their geologic age.

The bison teeth consist of four upper molars and the hinder half or more of the left hindermost molar. They were described by the writer (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, p. 115). They are somewhat larger than any belonging to the existing buffalo measured. They are larger, too, than those of the commonest extinct species, _B. occidentalis_. It is impossible to say at present to which extinct species they belonged. One naturally thinks of _Bison latifrons_, the bearer of the immense horns, but teeth have not yet been found associated with the horn-cores of that species.

WISCONSIN.

(Map 26.)

1. _Coon Valley, Vernon County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a well-fossilized tooth of a species of bison which was sent, in 1899, by Rev. P. Moe, of Coon Valley. This tooth has been regarded as belonging to _Bison bison_, but its fossilization seems to indicate that it antedates the time of this species. It was found in section 26, township 14 north, range 6 west. This would be between the towns of Coon Valley and Chaseburg. This locality lies within the “driftless area,” and it would probably be difficult for the geologist, even on the ground, to determine the age of the deposit, especially as no details were furnished regarding the depth at which the tooth was found or the nature of the inclosing materials.

MARYLAND.

(Map 26.)

1. _Chesapeake Beach, Calvert County._—Mr. William Palmer, of the U. S. National Museum, collected at this place, in 1912, a fragment of a lower last molar which apparently belonged to some species of _Bison_. A few other remains have later been secured.

VIRGINIA.

(Map 26.)

1. _Saltville, Smyth County._—In the U. S. National Museum is an upper second molar of a species of _Bison_, found at Saltville. It was sent in 1904 by Mr. H. D. Mount, of Saltville, with remains of _Elephas primigenius_ and _Mammut americanum_. It is understood that all were found in excavating for the water reservoir of the town. The bison tooth is little worn, the height being still 46 mm. At the summit the crown is 34 mm. long, at the base 23 mm. long and 29 mm. wide. It resembles closely that of _Bison bison_, but is slightly larger than the same tooth in a large specimen of the existing species. The base of the skull is present, with the occipital condyles. The latter are slightly larger than in the specimen of _B. bison_ just mentioned. The species can not be determined, but it probably was not _B. bison_. A list of the associated species found at this locality is presented on page 352.

2. _Ivanhoe, Wythe County._—In 1869 (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XI, p. 176), Professor Cope stated that he had found molar teeth of a bison which he identified with doubt as _Bison antiquus_. The animal may quite as well have belonged to any one of four or five other extinct species.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

(Map 26.)

1. _Charleston, Charleston County._—In 1860, Leidy (Holmes’s Post-Pl. Foss. South Carolina, p. 110, plate XVII, figs. 15, 16) described briefly and figured a tooth of a bovine animal found in the Pleistocene of Ashley River. This he suspected belonged to _Bison latifrons_, but he added that it presented nothing to distinguish it from that of the existing bison. Numerous teeth resembling those of the domestic ox and the bison have been found on Ashley River and have been regarded as those of the domestic animal. (See letter of Agassiz to Professor F. S. Holmes in the Introduction to Holmes’s work cited above.) While the teeth of our cattle may have been picked up along the shores of Ashley River, it is highly probable that the great majority of similar teeth belonged to some extinct species of _Bison_. Probably only the discovery of horn-cores will lead to the determination of the species. Leidy probably used the name _Bison latifrons_ in a very wide sense. In the collection at Amherst College the writer has seen an upper molar of a bison, apparently the second molar, which is 38 mm. long on the outer face. This length is too great for B. bison and the tooth probably belongs to _B. latifrons_. It was probably found in the region about Charleston.

In the Charleston Museum the writer has seen an anterior cannon-bone of _Bison_ which had quite certainly been found somewhere about Charleston. The following measurements were secured, and corresponding measurements of _B. bison_ are added for comparison:

_Measurements of anterior cannon-bones of bisons, in millimeters._

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐ │ │Fossil bison.│ B. bison. │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │Length along the outer border │ 242│ 206│ │Width of upper articular surface │ 90│ │ │Side-to-side diameter at middle of length│ 64│ 52│ │Fore-and-aft diameter at middle of length│ 39│ 33│ │Width of lower articular surface │ 96│ 91│ └─────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

Other measurements may be found in J. A. Allen’s work, “The American Bisons,” page 45. Apparently the bison which possessed the bone described above had a height about one-eighth greater than the large individual of the existing bison compared with it. Fossil remains found elsewhere show that at least one large species of _Bison_ formerly inhabited this country. _B. latifrons_ was a species with very large horns, and its body may also have been larger than that of the existing bison. To this species may have belonged the large cannon-bone described above.

GEORGIA.

(Map 26.)

1. _Brunswick, Glynn County._—Remains of an undetermined species of Bison were found at the time of excavating the Brunswick Canal, south of Darien, in 1838–39. In a communication to the Academy of Natural Sciences (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. I, pp. 216–217), Mr. J. Hamilton Couper gave an account of the geology of the locality and mentioned the fact that remains of _Megatherium_, _Elephas primigenius_, _Mastodon giganteus_, _Hippopotamus_, horse, _Bos_, and _Sus americana_ had been secured. As was later determined by Owen (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1848, p. 93), the supposed hippopotamus incisor was a lower tusk of a mastodon. _Sus americana_ was referred by Owen to his genus _Harlanus_; but was afterwards found to belong to _Bison_. Owen (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ser. 2, vol. I, p. 20, plate VI) described and furnished an excellent figure of the jaw. The jaw is now in the collection of the Academy of Sciences at Philadelphia. Measurements show that it is larger than the jaw of _Bison bison_, corresponding well with the other bones of _Bison_ found at the same place. Leidy regarded it as belonging to _B. latifrons_; but he used this name in a very wide sense. In the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia is a part of the right ramus of the lower jaw labeled “_Bison latifrons_, Darien canal, Ga.” The teeth are badly worn. The jaw itself is larger than that of _Bison bison_. The following measurements were taken:

_Measurements of bison jaws, in millimeters._

┌────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┐ │ │B. latifrons.│ B. bison. │ ├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤ │Height of jaw just behind third molar │91 │83 │ │Thickness of jaw just behind third molar│36 │32.5 │ │Height of jaw in front of third molar │63 │52 │ │Thickness of jaw in front of third molar│31 │29 │ └────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

The jaw has the appearance of being much more massive than that of _B. bison_.

In his work on the “Extinct Species of American Ox” (Smiths. Contrib. Knowl., vol. V, p. 11), Leidy stated that Couper had presented to the Academy in Philadelphia a tibia and a part of a humerus of _Bison_, which bones he reported were larger than those of the existing American bison, and he referred them to the species _Bison latifrons_. The tibia was 456 mm. long and 87 mm. wide at the lower end; in a large _Bison bison_ in the U. S. National Museum the tibia is 412 mm. long and 78 mm. wide below.

Couper presented to the Boston Society of Natural History an atlas and a metatarsus from the same locality. The atlas had a width of 247 mm.; that of the existing bison just referred to is 220 mm. wide. The metatarsal is said to have been 272 mm. long; that of the living bison mentioned is 255 mm. A front cannon-bone at Harvard is 256 mm. long. In a collection determined by J. W. Gidley (Bull. No. 26, Geol. Surv. Georgia, p. 436) some bison remains, probably a tooth or teeth, were referred with doubt to _Bison bison_. It is far more probable that they belonged to an extinct species, and that _B. latifrons_.

2. _Skidaway Island, near Savannah, Chatham County._—On page 29 of Joseph Habersham’s Memorandum, forming a part of William B. Hodgson’s “Memoir on the Megatherium,” published in 1846, a portion of the humerus of a _Bos_ is listed among the fossils found at Skidaway Island. This bone is to be assigned to an undetermined species of _Bison_. The width across the condyles is given as 4.5 inches, which is not greater than in _B. bison_; but it is not probable that it was this species. Lyell (Second Visit, etc., ed. 3, vol. I, p. 348) includes “a species of the ox-tribe” among the fossils found at this locality.

For further remarks on the species of vertebrates found at Brunswick, the reader may consult page 371, where also the geology of the locality is discussed.

FLORIDA.

(Map 26.)

1. _Wade, Alachua County._—In the collection of the Florida Geological Survey is an upper left last molar of _Bison_, found in the Buttgenbach river mine, in Santa Fe River, 6 miles north from Wade. Although this tooth was found in a phosphate mine, it certainly belongs to Pleistocene time. The tooth is but little worn and is well fossilized. Its height is 45 mm., the length on the outer face 30 mm., the length at the middle of the width 27 mm., the width at the base of the first lobe 24 mm.

There is another tooth in the collection, apparently the second upper molar of the left side, from the same place and fossilized in the same way. For a list of the species found at this locality and the writer’s view regarding their geological age, the reader is referred to page 376.

2. _Pablo Beach, Duval County._—In the collection just mentioned there are, from near Pablo Beach, three bones which apparently belonged to some extinct species of _Bison_. No. 4444 is the left fibular bone; No. 4443 the left third cuneiform of the hinder foot; and No. 4442, a first phalange of a hinder foot. These were found along the Inland Waterway Canal, about 20 miles north of St. Augustine. The locality appears to be about 5 miles south of Pablo Beach. At the same place have been found _Mammut americanum_, _Elephas columbi_, and remains of a species of _Odocoileus_.

3. _Ocala, Marion County._—Sellards (op. cit., p. 103) reported remains of an undetermined species of _Bison_ found in a fissure in limestone rock near Ocala.

4. _Dunnellon?, Marion County._—Sellards (op. cit., p. 104) presented a list of Pleistocene vertebrates, found in or along Withlacoochee River, but the exact localities are not given. Among these is an undetermined species of _Bison_. Lucas (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. XXI, 1898, p. 767) stated that there is in the U. S. National Museum an imperfect skull of _Bison latifrons_, obtained from Withlacoochee River. The writer has not seen this skull. On page 376 the other species found here are listed and their geological age discussed.

5. _Tampa, Manatee County._—In the Jarman collection, now in Vanderbilt University, and made in the region about Tampa, is a right lower third molar of _Bison_. It is well fossilized, but structurally does not appear to differ from a tooth of the existing American bison. It belonged, however, quite certainly to an extinct species. In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is a well-worn lower left last molar of a bison, dredged up in Alafia River. With it were a mastodon tooth, teeth of two or three extinct horses, and various extinct tortoises. The reader is referred to page 379.

6. _Palmetto, Manatee County._—Mr. Ernest Leitzel, of Palmetto, sent from that place to the U. S. National Museum some teeth for determination. Teeth of the horses are described on page 379. With these was a part of a lower right molar, possibly the last molar, of _Bison_.

From Palma Sola, on the south side of Manatee River and about 10 miles below Palmetto, there has been sent to the U. S. National Museum, by Mr. Charles T. Earle, the distal end of a metacarpal bone. This has a width of 93 mm. It may have belonged to _Bison latifrons_. With it came teeth of _Equus complicatus_, _E. littoralis_, and _E. leidyi_, a part of an antler of a deer (_Odocoileus_), a part of a beak of a platanistid porpoise, and a tooth of _Elephas columbi_. Probably the porpoise and teeth of sharks came from Miocene deposits somewhere in the neighborhood.

7. _Grove City, Charlotte County._—Leidy, in 1889 (Trans. Wagner Free Inst., vol. II, p. 12), stated that Mr. Joseph Willcox had found, on Rocky Creek, 30 miles north of Sarasota Bay, some remains of the great extinct _Bison latifrons_. Sellards (8th Rep., pp. 103, 112) learned that the locality was really Stump Pass, near Grove City. The horn-core was lost by accident, but Leidy speaks of it as being huge. With it was the proximal part of a radius whose upper end measured transversely 1.4 times that of an existing bison.

In a letter to the author, Mr. Willcox writes that, as nearly as he can recollect, the diameter of the horn-core was about 5 or 6 inches.

8. _Vero, St. Lucie County._—Sellards (8th Rep., Florida Geol. Surv., p. 150) stated that an extinct bison is represented in the collection of the Florida Geological Survey by a number of teeth, the distal end of a humerus, and some foot-bones. They were supposed to have been derived from stratum No. 2.

When in Vero in 1916, the writer secured a much-worn upper left premolar 3 of _Bison_ from the base of the muck layer No. 3. It is in some respects different from the corresponding tooth of the existing bison. For lists of the species found at Vero and for a discussion of the geological age the reader may consult pages 381 to 383.

9. _Arcadia, De Soto County._—In the U. S. National Museum are some teeth of _Bison_, obtained at or near Arcadia, on Peace Creek. In general, these resemble closely the corresponding teeth of _B. bison_. Leidy (Trans. Wagner Free Inst., vol. II, p. 22) mentioned a tooth and a first phalanx of _Bison_ from Peace Creek. These are probably in the collection of the Wagner Free Institute.

In the U. S. National Museum (No. 1989) is a hinder cannon-bone from Arcadia. It resembles the corresponding bone in _B. bison_, but doubtless belonged to a species now extinct. Lucas (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. XXI, p. 767) referred the teeth and the metacarpal to _B. latifrons_.

In the same museum is a calcaneum labeled as collected on Peace Creek by J. F. Le Barron. The reader may consult page 381 for further information.

10. _Labelle, Lee County._—Remains of _Bison_ apparently have been found at Labelle, or near there. Leidy, in Dall’s report (Bull. No. 84, U. S. Geol. Surv., p. 129) referred this to _B. latifrons_. The bison, _Elephas columbi_, _Equus fraternus_, and a mylodon were supposed to have been buried in Pliocene deposits, but this opinion appears to be erroneous. Sellards (8th Rep., p. 102) has shown that the elephant and probably the horse were in Pleistocene marls. As shown on page 384, the elephant is _Elephas imperator_.

11. _Palm Beach, Palm Beach County._—In his eighth report, Sellards (p. 105) stated that a femur of an undetermined species of _Bison_ was found near this place, in the Palm Beach Drainage Canal. In the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard University, are a front cannon-bone, lacking the epiphyses, and the proximal end of a humerus. The size of these indicates that they belong to _B. latifrons_. The glenoid cavity measures 80 mm. by 60 mm. The neck of the humerus is 100 mm. wide.

ALABAMA.

(Map 26.)

1. _Newbern, Hale County._—In August 1914, there was received at the U. S. National Museum, from Mr. J. W. White, of Newbern, a lower right last molar of a species of bison reported found in a creek, and an incisor tooth of a horse, which appear to be fossilized. The bison tooth had just begun to wear. The fore-and-aft length of the crown is 37 mm. The locality is somewhat outside of the range of _Bison bison_ as given by Allen on his map (“American Bisons, Living and Extinct”). The fossil may well belong to some extinct species and have lived in that region in middle Pleistocene times.

MISSISSIPPI.

(Map 26.)

1. _Natchez, Adams County._—In Dr. M. W. Dickeson’s account of a collection of bones and teeth made near Natchez (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1846, p. 106) he included remains of the genus _Bos_. To-day these would be referred to the genus _Bison_.

In 1854 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. V, art. III, p. 9, plate II, figs. 2–7), Leidy described and figured bovine teeth from Natchez, which he referred to _Bison latifrons_. Two of these teeth had been found, as Leidy stated, by M. W. Dickeson, in association with remains of _Mastodon (Mammut), Equus_, _Ursus_, _Cervus (Odocoileus)_, _Megalonyx_, and _Mylodon_. Three others had been presented by W. H. Huntington, who discovered them in association with remains of _Mammut americanum_, _Equus complicatus_, and _Felix atrox_. Three of the teeth were upper molars, the others, lower molars. Leidy gave the measurements of most of these. The following measurements are those of an upper second and an upper third molar:

_Measurements of bovine teeth, in
millimeters._

┌────────────┬───────┬───────┬───────┐
│ Tooth. │Height.│Length.│Width. │
├────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│Second molar│ 67│ 37.5│ 27│
│Third molar │ 75│ 42.5│ 29│
└────────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘

These teeth are considerably larger than those of _Bison bison_ and _B. occidentalis_ (Geol. Surv. Iowa, vol. XXIII, p. 320).

KENTUCKY.

(Map 26.)

1. _Woolper Creek?, Boone County._—The type of _Bison latifrons_ is usually regarded as having been found at Bigbone Lick, but Leidy (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VII, p. 372) stated it had been found a dozen miles or more north of Bigbone Lick, in the bed of a creek that enters into the Ohio River. It seems probable that this creek is the one named above.

2. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—It was at this place that was found the horn-core and attached part of skull which forms the type of _Bison antiquus_. It was a part of the Jefferson collection and was described by Leidy (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vol. VI, 1852, p. 117). Richard Lydekker (Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus., pt. 2, p. 27) wrote that there is in that museum a fragment of a right mandible, probably belonging to _Bison latifrons_. However, the identification is hardly to be relied on. Shaler (Geol. Surv. Kentucky, n. s., vol. III, p. 197) reported the finding of bones of _Bison latifrons_, but it is doubtful in what sense he used this name; and he did not indicate how these bones differed from those of other bisons. He probably had in mind _B. antiquus_. Hence the presence of the species with the widely spread horns at Bigbone Lick is doubtful.

A list of the species of mammals collected at this place will be found on page 403.

FINDS OF BISON BISON IN THE PLEISTOCENE OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.

ONTARIO.

(Map 27.)

1. _North Bay, Nipissing County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a horn-sheath, found at this place. It was sent by Dr. Charles E. Cook, of Lockport, New York, who himself saw it thrown out of a ditch, about 5 feet deep, which was being made from the shore of the lake. The horn was found at a distance of 600 feet from the lake and in front of the Hotel Queen’s. It certainly belongs to the existing species, _Bison bison_. Whether the presence of the horn at that spot is due to the former existence of the American buffalo there or to its introduction by man it is impossible to say at present.

MASSACHUSETTS.

(Map 27.)

1. _Orleans, Cape Cod._—In 1920 (Jour. Mamm., vol. I, pp. 161–164, figs. 1–3), Dr. G. M. Allen presented an account of the discovery of a maxilla containing the penultimate and the hindermost milk teeth of a calf of _Bison bison_, at Orleans, Cape Cod. This specimen had been collected about 20 years previously by Dr. A. W. Grabau and presented by him to the Boston Society of Natural History. The bone and teeth were found “wholly embedded in till about halfway up on a section of a glacial moraine, situated on Town Cove and about 70 or 80 feet high.” With the specimen were associated many fragments of the shells of the mollusk _Venus_. Dr. Allen suggested that this bison calf had either come to its end while wandering on the moraine or had more likely lived and died during the preceding Peoria interglacial stage. It might be questioned whether bones which had been buried and thereby become softened would have endured the rough treatment of a glacial mill.

NEW YORK.

(Map 27.)

1. _Albany, Albany County._—Dr. John M. Clarke, State geologist of New York, sent the writer some teeth of a species of _Bison_, probably _B. bison_, for which he gives the assurance that they were found somewhere in the vicinity of Albany, and in the “Albany clays.” These clays are supposed to belong to the Champlain stage. While this is somewhat further east than the bison has extended within historical times, it is entirely reasonable to suppose that at some time in the not distant past its range went to the Hudson. Indeed, Dr. G. M. Allen has recently shown (Jour. Mamm., vol. I, pp. 161–164) that at some time during the late Pleistocene a bison lived in the region of Cape Cod. The specimens sent by Dr. Clarke must have occupied eastern New York late in the Wisconsin stage.

2. _Syracuse, Onondaga County._—In 1890 (Amer. Naturalist, vol. XXIV, p. 953), Professor Lucien Underwood reported the discovery of a skull of a bison in Syracuse, while a sewer was being excavated. Underwood stated that it was found at a depth of 10 feet, in a black muck. Professor E. D. Cope identified the skull as that of _Bison bison_. The present writer, in 1914, examined the skull at Syracuse University. He also talked with Mr. John Cunningham, who bought the skull from the finder, a laborer, paying him one dollar. Mr. Cunningham stated that he went to the spot and measured the depth from the surface, and found it to be 17 feet. Above the muck that inclosed the skull was what he regarded as clay. Dr. Burnett Smith has examined the deposits in a cellar dug within a few rods of the spot where the skull was found. The upper 7 or 8 feet was a mixture of shells and clay, and had been used to make a kind of cement. This discovery appears to make it certain that the bison lived in New York shortly after the Wisconsin ice had retired from the Finger Lake region.

3. _Jamestown, Chautauqua County._—In the American Journal of Science, volume XXVII, 1835, page 166, is an account, by Knight, of the discovery, at Jamestown, of what were probably two teeth of a bison in a fragment of the jaw. These were encountered by John Hazeltine, in digging for a foundation of a building at the outlet of Chautauqua Lake, and at a depth of 10 feet. The soil was mostly gravel, but the jaw was said to have been lying in black muck. It was sent to Yale College, but was not recognized as belonging to _Bison_. Reasons were suggested why it did not belong to a young mastodon. The measurements given of the teeth agree well with the upper molars of an American buffalo. Joseph Leidy (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vol. VII, 1869, p. 371) quoted Knight’s account as indicating a buffalo. The discovery is interesting, taken in connection with the finding of the specimen at Syracuse.

NEW JERSEY.

(Map 27.)

1. _Trenton, Mercer County._—Mr. Ernest Volk (Papers Peabody Mus., vol. V, 1911, p. 209, plate CXX) reported the discovery of a part of a femur of _Bison_ (probably _B. bison_) in the “yellow drift,” at Trenton, 2.5 feet from the surface. A first right upper molar, identified as that of _Bison_, was found in another sand-pit at a depth of 9 feet (op. cit., p. 136). This appears to have belonged in the Trenton gravel, but at that point the materials were apparently a mixture of sand and loam. The reader is referred to page 304, where the geology of this locality is described and a list of the species is given.

PENNSYLVANIA.

(Map 27.)