THE MASTODON IN RECENT TIMES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVII, Issue 6509, 6 January 1882, Page 6

THE MASTODON IN RECENT TIMES.

Professor John Collett, Ph.D., Stat* Geologist of Indium, gives some statistic* in relation to the mastodon that dispels the notion that these animals do not live in modern times. ArchsMlogists who argue the great antiquity of man upon tiris planet, based upon the fact that his remains hate been found with those cf the mastodon, will be compelled to seek other lines of proof for their theory. Professor Collett says : "Of the thirty individual specimens of the remains of the mastodon (MeuMon gigantens) found in this State, in almost eTery case a very considerable part of the skeleton of each animal proved to be in a greater or less condition of decay. The remains have always been discovered in marshes, ponds, or other miry places, indicating at once the cause of thedeath of the animal and the reason of the preservation of the bones from decay. Spots »f ground in this condition are found at the summit of the glaoial drift or in "old beds" of rivers which have adopted a shorter route and lower level, consequently their date does not reach beyond the most recent changes of the earth's surface; in faot, their existence was so late that the only query is, Why did they become extinct P A skeleton was disoovered in excavating the bed of the canal a few miles north of Covington, Fountain County, bedded in wet peat, 'l'he teeth were in good preservation, and Mr Perrin Kent states that when the larger bones were out open the marrew, still preserved, was utilised by the bog cutters to " grease " their boots, and that chunks of sperm-like substance 2fr to 3 inches in diameter (adipocere), occupied the place of the kidney fat of the monster. During the past summer of 1880, an almost complete skeleton of a mastodon was found six miles north-west from Hoopston, Iroquois County, 111., which goes far to settle definitely that it was not only a recent animal, but that it survived until the life and vegetation of to day prevailed. The tusks formed eaoh a full quarter of a cirole, were 9 feet long, 22 inohes in oiroumferenoe at the base, and in their water-soaked condition weighed 175 pounds. The lower jaw was well preserved with a full set of magnificent teeth, and is nearly 3 feet long. The teeth, as usual, were thiokly enamelled, and weighed each from 4 to 5 pounds. The leg bones, when joined at the knee, made a total length of 6} feet, indicating that the animal was no less than 11 foot high, and from 15 to 16 feet from brow to rump. On inspecting the remains closely a mass of fibrous bark-like material was found between the ribs, filling up the plane of the animal's stomach ; when carefully separated rt proved to be a crushed mass of herbs ani grasses, similar to those which still grow in the vicinity, JH