Chapter XVII: On the Theory of the Pleistocene Terraces of the Coastal Plain (16)

1. _Stroudsburg, Monroe County._—In Crystal Hill (Hartman’s) Cave, near Stroudsburg, was found a lower jaw containing the last molar, as noted by Leidy (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1880, p. 347; Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania for 1887, p. 5). Mercer (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1894, p. 98), mentions a tooth of the existing bison found in Hartman’s Cave.

2. _Riegelsville, Bucks County._—From a cave near Riegelsville, was sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, more than 70 years ago, a collection of bones, reported on by Leidy in 1880 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1880, p. 349) and in 1889 (Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv., Pennsylvania, 1887, pp. 18–19). In the contribution of 1880, Leidy included _Bison_ among the animals represented, but this is not included in the list of 1887. Why this was omitted is not known. If _Bison_ occurred there, the probability is that it was represented by the existing buffalo.

INDIANA.

(Map 27.)

1. _Jasper County._—The only record known to the writer of the finding of buffalo bones worthy to be regarded as fossil is that of the former State geologist, John Collett (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XII, p. 73), who makes the statement that in Jasper County bones of the buffalo, the beaver, and the bear are common.

ILLINOIS.

(Map 27.)

1. _Sullivan, Moultrie County._—In 1875 (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. VI, p. 186), the geologist George C. Broadhead reported that he had found the skull of a bison on the west bank of Kaskaskia River, about 3 miles southeast of Sullivan, on the land of John Purvis. The locality appears, therefore, to have been somewhere near the south half of the eastern line of township 13 north, range 5 east. The summit of the bluff here is described as rising about 25 feet above the stream. At the height of about 8 feet was a bench approximately 10 feet wide, and the skull was found on this bench, “a few feet from the top.” The surrounding clay was described as being a rich black loam.

Broadhead stated that the skull measured 12 inches across the forehead above the eyes and the same between the roots of the horns. The latter were short, thick, and slightly curved. In the Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Science, volume III, page XXIII, practically the same account is given of the discovery. Here Broadhead expressed the idea that the skull belonged to _Bison latifrons_, and said that the horns were short, thick, and curved upwards and forwards. It is not known where the skull now is. To the writer it appears most probable that the skull was that of _Bison bison_. There is nothing in the description to indicate any of the other known species. As to the age of the deposits, the presumption is reasonable that they belong to the Late Wisconsin or Recent, for the locality is north of the Shelbyville moraine. It is possible that the bench belongs to the Illinoian; but the nature of the material, “a rich black loam,” seems to show that the bench is an alluvial deposit laid down since Wisconsin times.

2. _Homer, Champaign County._—In the collection at the State University of Illinois, at Champaign, are the horn-cores and the rear of the skull of _Bison bison_, reported to have been thrown out of a ditch near Homer. The writer is informed by Professor R. M. Bagg, of Appleton, Wisconsin, that the specimen was found in excavating a ditch, at a depth of 4 feet, according to the report made to him. Homer is situated on a part of the Champaign moraine and the bison in question must be not older than Late Wisconsin. If it was really found at a depth of 4 feet it would seem to date well back in the Recent, if not into the Pleistocene.

3. _Niantic, Macon County._—Professor A. H. Worthen reported (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. V, p. 308) the presence of bones of the buffalo in an old filled-up marsh near Niantic. The situation is more particularly described on page 102. With the bison bones were found those of the mastodon, the elk, and the Virginia deer. The bones of these animals are said to have been found under 4 feet of black muck, partly embedded in a light-gray quicksand filled with shells of _Planorbis_, _Cyclas_, and _Physa_.

Inasmuch as Niantic is situated near the border of the Shelbyville moraine, all these remains probably belong to Late Wisconsin times. It would be useful to know whether the bones of the buffalo, the elk, and the deer were found above those of the mastodons or mingled with them.

4. _East of Whitewillow, Kendall County._—In township 35 north, range 8 east, probably in section 27, on land owned by John Bamford, in clearing out a well in a bog, have been found the bones of mastodons and other species of vertebrates. For a description of the locality and the species found there see page 337. Mr. George Langford, of Joliet, has reported the occurrence of bones of the existing bison there and has sent to the writer a maxilla which contained finely preserved teeth.

Unfortunately, no thorough and systematic examination of the place has yet been made. All of the species and the deposit belong to the Late Wisconsin, that part of it following the withdrawal of the ice. Mr. George Langford informed the author that he found the bison and deer bones mixed up more or less with the mastodon bones. At a depth of about 4 to 5 feet the owner of the place began to strike bones of the bison, which appeared very fresh, retaining considerable animal matter. From about 6 feet down to gravel, about 13 feet, mastodon and other bones were literally packed together.

5. _Batavia, Kane County._—Dr. E. S. Riggs, of the Department of Palæontology, Field Museum of Natural History, wrote to the author that he had picked up some bison bones along a ditch in which mastodon bones had been found; but the depth at which they had been met with could not be determined. At the same time bones of the elk were found. Undoubtedly the mastodon remains belong to Late Wisconsin times; and it is probable that the bison and elk remains are to be referred to the same.

6. _Galena, Jo Daviess County._—In the collection of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia is a lower hindermost molar collected in a lead crevice somewhere near Galena. It was presented to the Academy by Mr. Henry Green, of Elizabeth, a town near Galena. This, with a metacarpal bone of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_, had been found at a depth of 130 feet from the surface. It was described and figured by Leidy (Contributions to Extinct Vert. Fauna, etc., 1873, p. 255, plate XXXVII, fig. 4). Leidy thought that it might have belonged to _Bison bison_, but not improbably to _B. latifrons_. J. A. Allen (The American Bisons, etc., p. 13) concluded that it belonged undoubtedly to the existing American species. The structure of the tooth will apparently not decide this matter. It is probable that most of the animals found in those lead crevices belong to pre-Wisconsin times; and the tooth in question may belong to an extinct species. A list of the species found in the lead region of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin is to be found on page 343.

7. _Mitchell, Madison County._—In “Records of Ancient Races in the Mississippi Valley” (1887), William McAdams, of Alton, Illinois, stated that in a large mound, square in shape, 300 feet on each side and 30 feet high, through which the railroads pass in the American bottom, at Mitchell, had been found, in contact with a number of copper implements and ornaments, a number of teeth of the buffalo. These McAdams had in his possession. While these teeth can not be regarded at all as belonging to Pleistocene times, the fact is of interest in connection with McAdams’s statement that in all his explorations during a period of more than 30 years, in no other case had he been able to find any evidences of the buffalo associated with the remains of the ancient people of this country. In this connection may be considered Shaler’s views on the modern coming of the buffalo east of the Mississippi River. On the other hand, account must be taken of the finding of a skull of a buffalo deep in lake deposits at Syracuse, New York.

WISCONSIN.

(Map 27.)

1. _Bluemounds, Dane County._—In his report, made in 1862, on the geology of the lead region of Wisconsin (Geol. Surv. Wisconsin, vol. I, p. 136), J. D. Whitney recorded the finding of bison bones in a crevice at Bluemounds. From the same crevice were obtained bones and teeth of the mastodon and of a peccary, and bones of a wolf. It was supposed that these remains were found at a depth of about 40 feet and embedded in the red clay commonly found in such crevices. These bones were put into the hands of Jeffries Wyman for identification, who, on page 421, stated that the bison bones were all of the size of the same parts of the existing buffalo and closely resembled them. J. A. Allen (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XI, 1876, p. 47), in referring probably to the same bones, speaks of “an extinct bison,” without, however, giving any reasons for his conclusion. It is nevertheless possible that he was correct.

The writer formerly believed that the fossil vertebrates, collected in the fissures in the lead region, had lived after the close of the Wisconsin glacial stage. It seems now more probable that they belong to a pre-Wisconsin time.

2. _Oshkosh, Winnebago County._—The writer has received from Dr. S. Weidman, State geologist of Wisconsin, a humerus, found in a marsh near Oshkosh, quite evidently that of _Bison bison_. Although stained by iron on the outside, the remainder of the bone is white and full of animal matter. The animal may have lived during the Recent period.

KENTUCKY.

(Map 27.)

1. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—Great numbers of individuals of _Bison bison_ have been found at Bigbone Lick. Cooper (Monthly Amer. Jour. Geol., vol. I, pp. 207, 211) reported numerous bones of buffaloes and even an entire skeleton, but they appear to have been near the surface or even on it. Lyell (“Travels in North America,” Murray’s ed., vol. II, p. 65) stated that he had seen great quantities of remains of the bison in a superficial stratum in the river bank; but he was left in doubt whether or not the animals had been contemporaneous with the mastodon. Shaler (Geol. Surv. Kentucky, n. s., vol. III, p. 197) found abundant remains of the buffalo at this place; but the bones were not found at any great depth, except in the bog about the spring. He regarded it as proven that the musk-ox and the caribou did not come into contact with the recent buffalo, but were extinct before it came. Some of the bison materials collected by Shaler were described by Dr. J. A. Allen, in 1876 (Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. IV; Mem. Geol. Surv. Kentucky, vol. I, pt. 2). It may be difficult to prove that any of the bison bones and teeth found here are of Pleistocene age; but there appears to be no good reason why this species might not have reached that region at the close of the Wisconsin ice-stage. A list of the species of mammals found here is given on page 403.

2. _Bluelick Springs, Nicholas County._—In the mass of materials collected in the spring at Bluelick Springs by Mr. Thomas W. Hunter, were skulls and parts thereof, teeth, limb-bones, and vertebræ. The actual geological age of these remains can not be established; but they were of probably late Wisconsin age.

FINDS OF CASTOROIDES IN PLEISTOCENE OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.

NEW YORK.

(Map 28.)

1. _Clyde, Wayne County._—A skull of the giant beaver was found, about the year 1846, near Clyde, on the farm of Gen. W. H. Adams. The locality and the geological conditions were described by James Hall (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. II, 1846, p. 167; Boston Jour. Nat. Hist., vol. V, p. 385). The region is on the divide between the streams flowing north into Lake Erie and those flowing southward into Clyde River. The actual spot was at the head of a shallow stream which flows into Lake Ontario. At this point the Sodus Canal was cut and ran in a north-and-south direction. The farm was only partly swampy. Hall’s section is as follows from above downward:

1. Vegetable soil, 2 feet or more.

2. Fine sand, with some alternating layers of clay, containing twigs,
leaves, etc., 2 to 3 feet.

3. Muck, or peaty soil, with decayed wood, bark, leaves, and even
trunks of large trees, about 4 feet.

4. Fine sand, with fresh-water shells, 2 to 3 feet.

5. Drift, with boulders; depth unknown.

The skull was found at the bottom of No. 3, at a depth of 8 feet. It is evident that this animal lived here near, or after, the close of the Wisconsin stage, and after the old Lake Iroquois had withdrawn from the region.

2. _Canastota, Madison County._—In 1914, Dr. Burnett Smith, of Syracuse University, reported (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXXVIII, p. 463) the discovery, at this place, of an incisor tooth of the giant beaver. The exact locality is given as about 225 paces northwest from the southeast line of lot 10, town of Lenox, on Cowaselon Creek, otherwise known as the “State ditch.” The tooth was found at a depth of 9 feet, in a sticky blue clay, containing a few fresh-water shells. Just above this, at a depth of 7 feet, is a layer made up principally of shells, with some vegetable matter. This animal could not have lived here until after the withdrawal of Lake Iroquois, and therefore not till near the close of the Wisconsin stage.

PENNSYLVANIA.

(Map 28.)

1. _Stroudsburg, Monroe County._—In 1889, Dr. Joseph Leidy reported (Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania, 1887, p. 14, plate II, figs. 7–20) the discovery of teeth of _Castoroides ohioensis_ in Hartman’s (or Crystal Hill) Cave, about 3 miles southwest of Stroudsburg and 5 miles from Delaware Water Gap. Its elevation is about 800 feet above the level of Delaware River. The species associated with this giant beaver will be listed on page 309. The parts figured by Leidy are a portion of a palate, with the molars and some of the premolars, and both rami of the lower jaw, showing the three temporary molars and the first true molars, with some incisors and the permanent canines.

OHIO.

(Maps 28, 29, 36.)

1. _Nashport, Muskingum County._—In 1836 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. XXXI, pp. 79–83), S. P. Hildreth, in an unsigned article, gave an account of the finding of remains of the type specimen of the giant beaver, in association with remains of mastodon and of a supposed fossil sheep, at a point 2 miles north of Nashport. A canal, now abandoned, was being constructed, which followed two small streams, one of which flowed into Licking River, the other into Wakitomika Creek. The land traversed was flat and swampy. The distance from Nashport to Wakitomika Creek is nearly 4 miles, so that in saying that the spot was on this creek Hildreth spoke in general terms. The bones of the mastodon and the right halves of the lower jaws of two giant beavers were found resting on a bed of gravel at a depth of 14 feet. Foster (2d Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio, 1838, p. 80) stated that a molar and a tusk of an elephant had also been found here. Hildreth concluded that the jaws and teeth were perhaps those of an animal of the beaver family; “or, from the grooved outer surfaces of the incisors, a marine animal of the walrus or seal race, and a borderer of the ancient ocean.” It was afterwards described by J. W. Foster (2d Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio, 1837, p. 80, figs.) under the name of _Castoroides ohioensis_. The remains described consisted of the front end of one side of a lower jaw with its incisor, an upper incisor, and a radius. They showed signs of some attrition; but in a region like that they could not have been transported any considerable distance.

In the mud in which the canal at this point was cut, there were found three skulls of a species of sheep, which Hildreth thought were different from those of the domestic sheep and to which he gave the name of _Ovis mamillaris_. They are said to have been discovered at a depth of 8 feet. It seems quite possible that they had been lying on or near the surface and had made their way to the side of the canal by the flow of the mud, which gave much trouble by filling up the canal during the night. Most, if not all, of the differences thought to separate these skulls from the domestic sheep disappear on comparison. The specimens of both _Castoroides_ and of the sheep have probably been lost. They appear not to be at Zanesville. On page 82 of the article above cited, Hildreth stated that he had received, from some point on Wills Creek, a portion of a tooth similar to the one found at Nashport; the place was said to be about 40 miles east, apparently, of Zanesville. This would seem to be in Noble County. The tooth was described as being embedded in dark-colored carbonate of lime and as having fallen from a calcareous rock which lies near the tops of the hills, 150 feet above the bed of the creek. It is very probable that this was not a tooth of _Castoroides_. It may have been the spine of a palæozoic shark.

2. _Wilmington, Clinton County._—From Professor W. C. Mills, of the Ohio State University, the writer in 1913 obtained information that a fine skull of _Castoroides_, without the lower jaw, had been found on the farm of Mr. J. M. Richardson, on the western border of Wilmington. Nothing more has been learned about the discovery. The locality is north of the Hartwell moraine, and the animal must have lived there after the withdrawal of the ice-sheet from that region.

3. _Germantown, Montgomery County._—One mile east of Germantown, Edward Orton, State geologist of Ohio, found along Twin Creek a large tooth which (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. L, 1870, p. 54) he compared with the tusk of a hog. It was later identified by J. S. Newberry (Proc. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. I, 1870, p. 83) as belonging to _Castoroides_. It was found in a bed of peat which is overlain by from 50 to 100 feet of glacial drift. One might conclude that the animal had lived there at some time between the Illinoian and Wisconsin stages. However, opinions have differed.

The geology along Twin Creek has been studied by Orton, Wright, and Leverett. The last named published his views in 1902 (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., XLI, pp. 363–365, plate XIV, fig. 1). He states (p. 365) that there seem to be good reasons for believing that the peat-bed indicates the lapse of a considerable interval of deglaciation. Whether the interval preceded or followed the formation of the early Wisconsin moraine is yet to be determined. That seems to mean that the interval may be mid-Wisconsin or pre-Wisconsin. Wright thought that but a few hundred years had elapsed between the deposit of the till below the peat and that above. Orton’s description of the locality was published in 1870 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. L, p. 54).

4. _West Sonora, Preble County._—In 1893 (Amer. Geologist, vol. XII, p. 73), Professor Joseph Moore reported that a fragment of an upper incisor of _Castoroides_ had been found at West Sonora. It was associated with remains of a mastodon. West Sonora is on the Englewood moraine.

5. _Greenville, Darke County._—In 1883 (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. VI, p. 238), F. W. Langdon described a tooth of _Castoroides_, found at a depth of 4 feet, in a swampy locality near Greenville. In 1893 (Amer. Geol., vol. XII, p. 73), Joseph Moore stated that this tooth belonged to Dr. J. W. Jay, of Richmond. It may now possibly be in the collection of Earlham College. Moore said that it had been found associated with mastodon.

In the public library at Greenville is a fragment of an upper incisor of _Castoroides_, found in making a ditch along Bridge Creek, in 1889, by Mr. Leo Katzenberger, who writes that the place is in the northwest corner of section 1, township 11, range 2 west, 1.5 miles southwest of Greenville. These animals likewise lived on or near the Sidney moraine.

6 _New Knoxville, Auglaize County._—In C. W. Williamson’s “History of Ohio and Auglaize County,” 1905, on page 338, with a figure, is an account of the finding of a skull of _Castoroides ohioensis_ in section 29 of Washington Township, which is in township 6 south, range 5 east, and near New Knoxville. The discovery had been made that beneath a bed of humus there was a stratum of gravel of a quality for road making. In removing the upper peaty layer, the head of the giant beaver was discovered, near the south margin of the pond. Williamson stated that the house of the animal was uncovered. It was between 3 and 4 feet high and about 8 feet square; the poles of which it was constructed were about 3 indies in diameter and were laid after the manner of the houses of modern beavers. Apparently the beaver died in the house, and it was thought that after the death of the beaver wolves or other carnivorous animals had inhabited the house, since bones of deer and other animals were strewn over the floor. It is to be regretted that the house, if such it was, was not taken up in a way that it might have been accurately reconstructed. Williamson’s account is reproduced in Bulletin 16, Geological Survey of Ohio, 4th series, 1912, page 39.

In Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, the writer has seen a very large skull of _Castoroides_, labeled as found at Wapakoneta, but it is quite certainly the one found at New Knoxville. Both incisors are broken off close to their insertion in the skull. Williamson’s figure represents at least the left one present.

MICHIGAN.

(Map 28.)

1. _Berrien County._—In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is a nearly complete skull with the left ramus of the lower jaw, purchased from Mr. George A. Baker. The exact place in the county where it was found is unknown, and the writer has been unable to get into communication with Mr. Baker.

As to the time in the Pleistocene when this individual lived, we may be sure that it was after the Wisconsin glacial ice-sheet had abandoned this county. How long after this retirement it is impossible to say. It is to be noted that both mastodons and mammoths have been found in this county, in what appear to be deposits of the same age.

2. _Adrian, Lenawee County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a skull of _Castoroides_ (Cat. No. 197), of which the lower jaw is missing. This was received June 10, 1880, from Professor J. Kost, then of Adrian College, Michigan. In his letter Professor Kost wrote as follows:

“Found in fresh-water marsh, 4 feet under, in Adrian, Lenawee Co.,
Michigan. In same place as the Decker mastodon, now in Adrian
College; also of lower jaw of smaller mastodon (sent in this
consignment), with various bones of elk, deer, etc.”

The mastodon jaw referred to is in the U. S. National Museum (No. 188). The present writer has not been able to learn exactly where all these bones were obtained. It would be interesting to know whether all–mastodons, giant beaver, elk, and deer–were found in the same excavation. It is probable that they were at least in nearly the same spot. For remark on the age of the deposits at Adrian see page 81.

3. _Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County._—In the collection of the Department of Geology in the University of Michigan is a skull which lacks the lower jaw and is otherwise slightly injured. A report of this specimen was made in 1914 by Mr. N. A. Wood (Science, n. s., vol. XXXIX, p. 759). This was found several years ago in a peat-bog on the farm of Professor J. B. Steere, 3 miles south of Ann Arbor, at a depth said to have been about 3 feet. Beneath the peat and muck is a gravelly marl. According to the Ann Arbor Folio (No. 155, U. S. Geol. Surv.), there is, running south from the city, a strip of low ground designated as occupied by peat and muck. This borders on the east a part of the Fort Wayne moraine, and must have provided an ideal spot for colonies of these great beavers. Naturally these specimens must be credited to the Late Wisconsin stage.

4. _Attica, Lapeer County._—In the collection of Alma College, Alma, Michigan, is a fragment of an upper incisor, found at a depth of 7 feet, in digging the tail-race of a mill in Attica. The statement was made that at the same place there were often found what appeared to have been beaver dams made of wood. This wood crumbled on coming to the air. In cases like this there is a fine opportunity to determine whether or not the wood had been gnawed by the broad incisors of _Castoroides_ or by the narrower ones of the existing beaver. The wood might easily be prevented from crumbling by replacing the water with a solution of gum arabic or even of glue.

Attica is situated some distance outside of the beaches of old Lake Maumee, and on low ground between morainic tracts left by the Saginaw lobe in its retreat. These gigantic beavers must, therefore, have lived near the close of the Pleistocene.

5. _Owosso, Shiawassee County._—In the collection of the University of Michigan (No. 3109) is the greater part of a lower jaw of a giant beaver, found somewhere near Owosso, in a swamp deposit. An account of this specimen was given in 1914 by Mr. N. A. Wood (Science, n. s., vol. XXXIX, p. 758). It was received from Mr. A. G. Williams in 1892. According to Leverett and Taylor’s glacial map of Michigan, Owosso lies a few miles outside of the beach of old Lake Saginaw. This is supposed to have come into existence about the close of the period of Lake Maumee. The earliest time when this beaver might have existed, leaving out the question of the climate, would coincide closely with the time when the one found at Attica might have lived. It is most probable that both lived at a time when the glacier front was farther away.

INDIANA.

(Maps 28, 30.)

1. _Vanderburg County._—In 1884 (14th Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Indiana, pt. 2, p. 37), in a footnote written probably by John Collett, State geologist, it is stated that remains of _Castoroides ohioensis_ had been found in this county. Inasmuch as this county lies outside of the drift region, and as no details as to place and depth were given, we can arrive at no conclusion as to the stage of the Pleistocene in which the possessor of this tooth lived. The reader may consult page 258.

2. _Richmond, Wayne County._—About 2 miles east of Richmond, where a farmer was scooping out wet earth for a fish-pond, there was found by Joseph Moore (Amer. Geologist, vol. XII, p. 73) a fragment of an upper incisor of this species. With it were sound and decayed teeth of the mastodon. Most probably this fish-pond was being excavated in low ground where a marsh had existed. Richmond is situated just south of the Bloomington moraine, on an area which is undulating and more or less morainic. The animal must have lived at some time after the culmination of the Wisconsin stage.

3. _Greenfield, Hancock County._—In 1893 (Amer. Geologist, vol. XII, p. 73), Joseph Moore mentioned the fact that some remains of _Castoroides_ had been found near Greenfield and that these were in the possession of Dr. M. M. Adams. In 1900 (Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. for 1899, p. 171, plates I, II), Moore presented figures of the skull and made some brief statements regarding it. At that time the skull had come into the possession of Earlham College. If restored this skull would have had a length of 13 inches. Nothing is known as to the exact place where it was found, but it can not be doubted that the animal lived after the Wisconsin ice had retreated further north.

4. _Jamestown, Boone County._—In the State Museum at Indianapolis is a lower jaw of a giant beaver which has all of the molars, but whose incisors are broken off at the border of the bone. This specimen was presented by Mr. A. E. Deatley, of Lizton, Hendricks County, who found it in earth thrown out by a dredging machine, but the exact locality was not stated. Jamestown is situated on Eel River where it crosses the Champaign moraine. The geological age of the animal is therefore Late Wisconsin.

5. _Summitville, Madison County._—In the State Museum at Indianapolis is an upper right incisor of the giant beaver in its premaxilla, labeled as presented by Mr. J. F. Cartwright. Nothing more is known of the history of the specimen.

Summitville is surrounded by plains of Wisconsin drift. It is about 12 miles from the place where was found the fine mounted specimen of _Elephas primigenius_ now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

6. _Union City, Randolph County._—Here was found the nearly complete skeleton of _Castoroides ohioensis_ at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana. This was secured by Professor Joseph Moore, who described and figured it. It was discovered on the farm of John M. Turner, about 8 miles nearly east of Winchester. Mr. Turner has informed the writer that the farm is a part of section 15, township 17, range 1.

The bones occurred in a layer of fine-grained marly silt from 2 to 3 feet thick, overlain by from 3 to 4 feet of dark loose mold abounding in fragments of shrubby stems and vines in various stages of decay. Under the silt containing the bones were coarser and finer drift gravels which formed the bottom of the ditch. In the silts were found fresh-water gasteropods and bivalve shells. Along the same ditch, within a distance of 30 rods, other fragments were found which were supposed to indicate 9 individuals of _Castoroides_. As this region is covered by Wisconsin drift, the animal evidently lived after the Wisconsin ice-sheet had retired from the Union City moraine, possibly a long time thereafter.

7. _Fairmount, Grant County._—Near Fairmount were found some limb-bones and other parts (but no skull) of the giant beaver. These were obtained not far from where the large specimen of _Elephas primigenius_ was discovered which is mounted in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The remains of this _Castoroides_ are in the Field Museum of Natural History. No details regarding the find have been published. It was stated that near the bones were parts of trees, as though a dam had been built there; but this interesting matter appears not to have been investigated.

The elephant mentioned above was found on the farm of Dora C. Hitt, in the southeast quarter of section 23, township 23 north, range 8 east.

8. _Carroll County._—In 1884 (14th Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Indiana, pt. 2, p. 37) the State geologist, John Collett, wrote that _Castoroides_ had been found in this county; but nothing was added to this statement. On the map the number is placed arbitrarily.

9. _Logansport, Cass County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a fine skull of _Castoroides_, without lower jaw, which, according to the newspaper report accompanying it (dated January 30, 1894), was found 2 or 3 miles north of Logansport, by Mr. S. L. McFadin, who sold it to the National Museum. It lay at a depth of 7 feet on a fine sand, above which was a foot of solid gravel, then 3 feet of solid clay, and at the top 3 feet of alluvium. According to Leverett and Taylor’s map of the region (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., vol. LIII, plate VI), this place would be on the moraine which lies north of the Wabash River, the meeting-place of the ice-lobes coming from Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Saginaw Bay.

10. _Macy, Miami County._—From Mr. C. F. Fite, Denver, Indiana, the writer received a photograph of a tooth of _Castoroides_, apparently the lower right incisor. This was found in Allen Township. Mr. Fite gives as the exact locality section 23, township 29, range 3 east. This would be not far from Macy. It lies, therefore, on or near the northern border of the great moraine which extends from Delphi, Indiana, to the northeastern corner of the State.

11. _Kosciusko County._—As in the case of Cass County, we depend for our knowledge of the discovery of _Castoroides_ in Kosciusko County on the statement made by John Collett, in the place there cited.

12. _Grovertown, Starke County._—From Dr. E. S. Riggs, of Field Museum of Natural History, the information has been received that there is at that museum a fine skull, with the right half pf the mandible, of a giant beaver which was found 1.5 miles west of Grovertown, in making an excavation for the abutment of a bridge, 6 feet below the surface in township 34 north, range 1 west. This is within the region of the Pleistocene Lake Kankakee.

ILLINOIS.

(Maps 28, 38.)

1. _Shawneetown, Gallatin County._—In the collection of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia are a part of one incisor, two molars, and two petrous bones which were many years ago obtained by a Dr. Feuchtwanger, from a well at a depth of 40 feet. These were mentioned by Le Conte in 1852 (Proc. Acad. Phila., vol. VI, p. 53). Leidy has figured the incisor (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina,” 1860, plate XXII, fig. 5; Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania, 1887, plate II, fig. 10). Leverett (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., vol. XXXVIII, p. 65) states that at Shawneetown a boring for gas and oil penetrated 112 feet of alluvial and other deposits before reaching rock. His map (plate VI) indicates that here the valley of the Ohio is composed of sand and gravel plains of Wisconsin age. Under the conditions it seems impossible to form any certain conclusions regarding the geological age of this specimen. It belongs possibly to the later half of the Pleistocene.

2. _Alton, Madison County._—In the McAdams collection, described on page 338, is a part of a large upper incisor, in two pieces, of a specimen of _Castoroides_, with McAdams’s Nos. 209, 210, and a small fragment of another incisor. All three specimens are more or less enveloped in nodules of hard materials. In 1883 (Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., vol. IV, p. LXXX) McAdams stated that he had seen, both in true and modified drift, remains of rodents large and small, but one, an extinct beaver, was of monstrous size.

For conclusions as to the age of the fauna secured by McAdams see page 339.

3. _Charleston, Coles County._—In 1867 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 97), Leidy briefly described a skull of _Castoroides_, sent to him for examination by Professor A. H. Worthen. It lacked both zygomatic arches and the incisor teeth. The length of the skull was 10.5 inches. This skull had been found by someone while he was plowing in a field near Charleston. The region about Charleston is covered by the Shelbyville lobe of the early Wisconsin drift. The animal must have lived at some time after the deposition of that drift.

4. _Naperville, DuPage County._—H. M. Bannister (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. IV, p. 113) reported a skull and other parts of the skeleton of _Castoroides_, found by a farmer in a slough not far from Naperville. The skull went to Colonel Wood’s Museum in Chicago, and it was probably destroyed in the great fire of 1871. This animal quite certainly lived after the retirement of the Wisconsin ice-sheet.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

(Map 28.)

1. _Charleston, Charleston County._—In 1860, Dr. Joseph Leidy (Holmes’s Post-Pl. Foss. South Carolina, p. 114, plate XX, figs. 6–8) recorded the fact that fragments of the teeth of the giant beaver had been found in the Pleistocene deposit of Ashley River.

In the Pinckney collection is an upper cheek-tooth, the fourth premolar. The height of the tooth is 37 mm., the length is 16 mm., the width 11.5 mm. It was found in the vicinity of Charleston.

In the Scanlan collection, the property of Yale University, and made in the vicinity of Charleston, are five more or less injured teeth. One is a left upper molar, either the second or the third. The length of the grinding-surface is 12 mm., the width 13 mm. Two fragments of upper right incisors are interesting. One of these, 140 mm. long, bears the oblique excavated surface worn by the lower incisors. Each diameter of the tooth is 25 mm. The other fragment is 123 mm. long and comes from the middle of the tooth. The two diameters of this tooth are, as in the other one, 25 mm. Both of these teeth appear to be more strongly curved than the teeth of more northern specimens. Also, the striation on the outer face of the tooth is finer, finally becoming hair-like lines as the rear face is approached. More of the larger ridges in the front of the tooth are directed obliquely and terminate along a front groove than in specimens hitherto observed. It is possible that an undescribed species is indicated. The two teeth present some differences between themselves. Another fragment, 103 mm. long, has a diameter of 20 mm. At the base is seen a part of the pulp-cavity.

GEORGIA.

(Map 28.)

1. _Brunswick, Glynn County._—In a small collection of vertebrate fossils made during dredging operations at Brunswick not many years ago, and which now belongs to the Geological Survey of Georgia, Gidley found a fragment of an incisor tooth of _Castoroides ohioensis_. The accompanying species will be recorded on page 370. Gidley’s list is found on page 436 of Bulletin No. 26 of the Geological Survey of Georgia.

MISSISSIPPI.

(Map 28.)

1. _Natchez, Adams County._—James Hall, in 1846 (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. II, p. 168; Jour. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. V, p. 380), announced that remains of this animal had been found in the neighborhood of Natchez. The exact locality is unknown and likewise the conditions under which the specimens were discovered. This species is not included by Leidy in his list of fossil mammals found in Pleistocene deposits in Mississippi up to 1854 (Wailles, Agri. Geol. Mississippi, p. 196).

A list of the species found in the vicinity of Natchez is presented on page 392.

TENNESSEE.

(Map 28. Figure 23.)

1. _Memphis, Shelby County._—In 1850, Dr. Jeffries Wyman reported (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. III, p. 281) that a part of a lower jaw of _Castoroides_ had been found at Memphis. With it were a toe-bone of _Megalonyx_, a tooth of a young mastodon, and a part of the lower jaw of a beaver. It was thought that these remains had been buried in the deposits laid down by Mississippi River. It is to be regretted that the locality and the height above the river were not more exactly specified. The specimen of _Castoroides_, a right ramus of the lower jaw, is now in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

ON THE PLEISTOCENE GEOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICA AND ITS RELATION TO ITS
FOSSIL VERTEBRATES.

ONTARIO.

For a knowledge of the Pleistocene of Canada, the student ought first to read Dr. J. W. Dawson’s “Canadian Ice Age,” published in 1894. In this will be found references to the earlier literature of the subject. For the results of more recent studies the reports of the Canadian Geological Survey are to be consulted, as well as papers published in the scientific journals. For the more important of these papers the reader may consult the list published by Dr. H. L. Fairchild in 1918 (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. XXIX, pp. 229).

To state the matter briefly, one may say that almost everywhere in Ontario are deposits of glacial drift of Wisconsin age. In a few localities have been discovered beds which belong to earlier glacial and interglacial epochs. On the other hand, around Hudson Bay, around the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, and the Bay of Fundy are marine deposits, laid down after the Wisconsin ice had retired from those localities and while the region which had been occupied by this ice-sheet was depressed so much that the sea could enter the basins named.

The most interesting locality in Canada for the student of vertebrate palæontology is doubtless Toronto, because of the presence there of Pleistocene deposits belonging to more than one stage, and because of the discovery of several species of extinct vertebrates and of many mollusks, insects, and plants. For an understanding of the geology of the region Coleman’s papers must be studied, as well as those of authors cited by him. On the interglacial deposits three of Coleman’s papers may be especially cited (Jour. Geol., vol. IX, 1901, pp. 285–310; 10th Internat. Cong. Geol., 1906, Mexico, pp. 1237–1258; Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. XXVI, 1915, pp. 243–254).

According to Coleman’s figure 1 of the first paper cited, the known interglacial deposits in that region extend from the mouth of Humber River eastward beyond the mouth of Rouge River, a distance of about 22 miles, and away from the lake a distance of about 8 miles. Deposits have been found even 14 miles north of Toronto (Coleman, 1915, p. 246). Coleman’s sketch map of the region, taken from his paper of 1901, is here reproduced (fig. 3).

According to Coleman (paper of 1915, p. 243) there are known at Toronto five well-defined sheets of boulder clay, with four sheets of interglacial sand and clay separating them. So far as the writer knows, only the lowest of these beds have been described with any particularity. These lowest beds constitute the Toronto formation, and it is these which have furnished nearly all the fossil animals and plants discovered in that region. This Toronto formation is divisible into two portions, and these have been designated as the Don beds and the Scarboro beds. They are regarded as having been deposited in the valley of an ancient river running from Georgian Bay to Scarboro. Of these the Don beds are the older. Sections of these are found in Toronto and outside, especially along Don River. They have been laid down usually on a boulder clay, 1 to 9 feet thick, which itself reposes on Hudson River shales. At one point along the Don an interglacial river had cut through both the boulder clay and the shale to a depth of 16 feet. The Don deposits consist of varying layers of sands, gravels, and clays. At one point the section obtained amounted to about 27 feet; but this, combined with another, made up about 44 feet. At one place trunks, 12 or 15 feet long, of trees have been found, which were flattened into the surface of the boulder till; also shells of unios, which are embedded in clay close to the boulder till.

FIG. 3.—Region about Toronto, Ontario, showing location of Toronto and
Scarboro Heights Pleistocene beds. From Coleman.
]

In 1913 (Ontario Bur. Mines. Guide Book No. 6, pp. 15–18), Professor Coleman presented a list of the species found in the Don beds. Of the plants 32 species of trees had been secured, among them the pawpaw, the red cedar, and the osage orange; 41 species of fresh-water mollusks were listed, of which 12 were Unionidæ.

As bearing on the climate, it may be said that there are 12 species of the genus _Unio_ listed, of which 4 species are now known only from localities south of the St. Lawrence drainage; while 3 other species live in Lake Erie, but not in Lake Ontario. The plants are mostly trees; and several species, as the osage orange and the pawpaw, are now found only considerably farther south. One species of maple no longer exists. Penhallow gave it as his opinion that the flora points conclusively to the existence of climatic conditions of a character more nearly like that of the middle United States to-day. The unios now missing from that region give evidence to the same fact. For these reasons the Don deposits are spoken of as the warm-climate beds.

The Scarboro beds are finely displayed at Scarboro heights, a few miles east of Toronto. The thickness of the clay here amounts to about 94 feet. In these deposits have been found possibly mammoth or mastodon and caribou, but there is some uncertainty about these. Only 14 species of plants have been secured and these are trees; but apparently no mollusks have been reported. As an offset there are great numbers of beetles. Of these there have been described 72 species, and all are extinct except 2.

The trees, according to Penhallow, indicate a climate somewhat cooler than that now prevailing in that region. The same conclusion was reached by Scudder from his study of the insects. In his paper of 1901, Coleman took the view that the Toronto formation had been laid down in the interval between the Iowan and the Wisconsin glacial stages, that is, during what is now known as the Peorian. In the address of 1906, page 44, he appears to have been inclined to accept Leverett’s view that at least the Don beds belonged to the Sangamon stage. By 1915 (paper cited, p. 252) he had about concluded that the Toronto beds were as old as the Aftonian stage.

Dr. G. F. Wright, in 1912 (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. XXV, pp. 205–218), accounted for the deposits and fossil animals and plants found at Toronto in a different way. At a certain time in the Pleistocene the region about Toronto was occupied by some species of animals and plants now found only considerably further south. An ice-sheet from the Keewatin center extended thither and laid down the Don beds. Later the Labrador glacier pushed into that region and deposited the Scarboro beds. According to this view the whole succession of events would be much shortened.

The writer is disposed to accept Leverett’s estimate of the geological position of the interglacial beds at Toronto. The presence there of _Elephas primigenius_, _Mammut americanum_, and the probable _Ursus americanus_ hardly counts in the determination of the geological age, for all these animals appear to have continued on from at least the Aftonian interglacial to the close of the Wisconsin. There are no specimens that show that either _Rangifer_ or _Cervalces_ existed during the Aftonian, although one can hardly doubt that they did then exist. In order to show that the Toronto formation belongs to the Aftonian, it would be necessary to produce satisfactory stratigraphical evidence or to find there genera and species of mammals which characterize the Aftonian, such as camels, _Elephas imperator_, and those horses which belong to the early Pleistocene. If the deposits belong to the Sangamon stage, such horses as _Equus complicatus_ and _E. leidyi_ ought in time to be discovered there.

Coleman has discussed the interglacial beds that occur elsewhere in Canada (10th Internat. Geol. Congr. 1906, Mexico, pp. 1237–1258; Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. XXVI, 1915, pp. 243–254). He refers to Chalmers’s account of interglacial deposits along Lake Erie; but so far as the writer has been able to determine, most of the deposits referred to are of Late Wisconsin age. However, as he says, Spencer found interglacial materials near Niagara Falls. Other beds have been discovered along Moose River, south of James Bay; but their geological position has not been definitely determined, and the fossils discovered there, mostly proboscideans, are not referred with certainty to the interglacial deposits.

Most of the vertebrate fossils found in Ontario, excepting many of those found at Toronto, belong to the Late Wisconsin stage; and in studying their geological relations one must, as in the States of New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, take into consideration the history of the Great Lakes after the Wisconsin ice-sheet began to retire. According to Leverett and Taylor’s maps (Monogr. LIII, U. S. Geol. Surv., plate XIV), as early as the time when the glacial ice had just begun to withdraw from Lakes Michigan and Erie, a considerable area of land had become cleared of ice in the peninsula bounded by Georgian Bay, Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario. We can hardly suppose, however, that any mastodons or any elephants, except possibly _Elephas primigenius_, could have made their way to that area. Even the last-mentioned species would have had to travel over many miles of glacial ice. Conditions were hardly more favorable when Lake Whittlesey had come into existence (op. cit., plate XVI). At a later stage (op. cit., plate XVII) the ice-free parts of the peninsula could have been reached only by crossing the lakes or over wide stretches of glacier. It is possible that some of the mastodons and elephants that have been found had crossed over into Ontario at about the stage represented by plate XIX of the work cited, but it is more probable that they lived there at a later time.

Brief mention is here made of the fossil vertebrates found in Ontario and their localities. More detailed statements will be found on the pages cited.

Beginning in the west, a mastodon has been found at Blythewood, Essex County (p. 45). In Elgin County a mastodon has been met with at St. Thomas (p. 45), and a mastodon (p. 45) and an undetermined species of elephant at Highgate (p. 45). A little farther back from the lake, at London, Middlesex County, has been found a mastodon (p. 45). At Marburg, not far from the shore of Lake Erie, Dr. H. M. Ami exhumed a mastodon (p. 45). The writer has not learned how this locality is related to the ancient beaches. At Dunnville, Haldimand County, a mastodon has been secured (p. 46). It could hardly have lived there before the lake had assumed nearly its present level. The same remark will apply to the time when the mastodon (p. 46), _Elephas columbi_ (p. 147), and possibly _E. primigenius_ (p. 166) lived at St. Catharines. From Hamilton, at the extreme western end of Lake Ontario, have been described remains of _Elephas columbi_ (p. 147), _E._ sp. indet. (p. 166), elk, _Cervus canadensis_ (p. 235), and the beaver. _Elephas primigenius_ has been found at Toronto, (p. 130); also _Cervalces_, a bison (p. 256), and a reindeer (p. 244). The same elephant has been discovered at Amaranth, in Dufferin County (p. 130). The elk, _Cervus canadensis_, has been reported from Strathroy, Middlesex County, and Kingston, Frontenac County (p. 235). At Smith’s Falls, Lanark County, the humpback whale, _Megaptera boöps_, has been discovered (p. 17). White whales, _Delphinapterus leucas_ and _D. vermontanus_, have been found at Pakenham, Lanark County (p. 17), at Cornwall, Stormont County (p. 18), Nepean Township (p. 17), Ottawa East, Carleton County, and Williamston, Glengarry County (p. 18). At Ottawa has been discovered an assemblage of species, as listed on page 287.

The geology of the Hamilton locality has been described by Logan (Geol. Canada, 1863, p. 914), by Spencer (Canad. Naturalist, vol. X, 1883, pp. 222–230, 306–308), and by Coleman (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. XV, 1904, p. 351). The remains mentioned were found in deposits forming what is called Burlington Heights. Here Dundas Valley opens into the extreme western end of Lake Ontario. The valley is about a half mile wide. Across this had been formed a bar, interrupted only at its northern end, with a height of 108 feet above the level of the lake and a width varying from a few hundred yards to less than a half mile. Its height is almost that of the Iroquois beach found on the south shore of the lake and continuing on the northern shore. Many years ago a canal was cut through the narrowest part of the bar, and it was in the construction of this that the elephant (p. 166), elk (p. 235), and beaver bones were found. It is evident that the bones were deposited there while the bar was being built and at a time when it lacked 38 feet of being as high as it now is. The elephant jaw is in good condition, and this indicates that the animal died near the spot.

Coleman (op. cit., p. 352) stated that afterwards a railroad cut had been made across the southern end of the bar, exposing 30 feet of coarse stratified gravel, followed below by 2 feet of brown clay (evidently an old soil) and 8 feet of blue till. In the old soil were found quantities of decayed wood, as well as bones of mammoth and other animals. About a mile farther west, pits were opened for clay, sand, and gravel. Coleman gives the following geological section at this place. The column at the right gives the heights above the lake level.