The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1855-11-09
.N1sCELLANY.
Mastodon Remains.

The remains of very large Mastodon
have been lately discovered on the Eastern
Branch of Cooper River. Some of the
bones are in good state of preservation,
andhave been presented to Professor Holmes
for the Museum of the College of Charles
ton, by their discoverer, VIM. Harlcston,
Esq, Of the Hut plantation, st. Johns Ber-
kley. A large tooth of the same animal
has also been received from John IIarleston,
Esq, Of the Buffalo plantation.
From the character of the earth adhering
to the bones, Professor Holmes concludes
they must have been taken from the stratum
known to gcologists rs the Post Pleiocenc
Of Lyell, or perhaps from a deposit of a
moro recent date. 1t consists of con-
cretion of loose sand and gravel, con-
solidated by fcrruginous ntlictons. With
these bones arc fragments of tic shell or
carapace Of fresh water terrapin.
The name of n,astodon signifies nipple
tooth, and is derived from the Greek. 1t
was so called, because the molars or grind
crs have their surfaces covered with several
transverse tuberclcs, or conical crcsts. When
Worn by age, these protubcranccs become
truncated into a lozcnge form. From the
structure and form of these grinders, they
are we'll adapted for the brnsing and mas
tication Of crude vegetables, roots, and
aquatic reeds and plants. The animal had
no incisors, but two tusks, and Il trunk or
proboscis, like the Elephant. Bones and
teeth of this colossal quadrupcd, are fire.
qucntly found in remarkably fresh and
well-preserved state through the plains of
North America, from the Great Lakes to
Texas; but the most celebrated locality is
in kentucky, and called the Big Bone Lick
1t is marshy tract, or morass, aboundine
III salt and brackish water, and frequcnted
by deer, and other animals, WHO would lick
the saline particles from the surface hence
the name lick.
The bottom Of this bog, or lick, consists
OF fntid mud, interrningcd with sand
and vegetable matter; and in this, bones of
great magnitude occur in profusion. They
are found at moderate depths, with no mark
of detrition, and therefore it is evident these
animals lived and died in the country where
Their relics are entomLcd. Sometimes the
entire skeleton is found in vertical position,
as if it had sunk in the mire. One found
IN New Jersey in bog of black earth was
in this position, with its head on a level
with the surface Of the soil, just as you fire.
quently see COWS begged in marshes at the
present day.
The Mastodon was not unlike the Elephant
III form and size, but somewhat longer and
thicker. DIR. John G. Warren, of Boston,
possesses the most perfect skeleton vet
found; it is seventeen feet long, twelve feet
high, and slxten feet five inches in circum-
ference around the ribs. The entire length
OF the tusks is ton feet eleven inches, and
length of tail six feet eight inches. One
tooth weighs four pounds.
No living instance of this creature is on
record; its race has long been extinct, and
these colossal bones have evidently been bu-
r'ed in the earth for ages-long, long before
man and the animals which are his cotem-
poraries, were created.
The Indians believe that men of similar
proportions were coeyal with the Mastodon.
and that the Great Spirit destroyed both
with his thunder Charleston Mercurv.