, 1864-06-26
DISCOVERY OF, 4 BlAsTODON.
| Interesting Discovery in: Lennveo
s:ounty.-Ihc Complete Skeleton or n
. N N4RMt%Etx-- kr..saA-1-% -%-e-AAV@18----

ADH1Ah. Suue .u.-1ou1 correspondents
hardly expected that hs would be called
from reporting Presbyterian General a..
eemblJ and a 'Wesleyan Conference to do
the same kind Office for the 'bfg bones" of sn
extinct animal, but 10 it hAs been. When
Uriah Decker, Esq, came into town yester-
day from his home nine milea away on
Wolf Creek, In Adrian township, and to the
immense bones, 'yonr correspondent felt hta
curiosity rapidly setting very strong. Tbs
Fossils had but Just been found and ne pro-
ceedsd tothe spot at once, ssi71s his dinner,
(as all enterpraing reporters should), If hap.
PLY something might be etil undug. In the
ordinary dry-goods boz nearly full OF bones,
Amon3 them were all the large leg bones
bnt two, one being still In Adrian with Mr.,
Decker, and the other, as far ns could be as
certained, remaining out IN the swamp for
further discovery. an investigation of these
relics Of The ceno1oic time naturally result
ed 10 q wish 10 see where they came from,
and being directed to the ditch At the end
of the wheat field your reporter aud his
friend took up their line Of march again.
At this ditch lii. Joseph Decker became
visible, and up from its depth rose the head
and shoulders Of Dennis Ryan, the finder Of
the *tbfg bones,"
The body lay in what must have beea
water course, and that st no distant day.
Thccur7e.and the hills. the creek only $50
rods away, the evident slope aud following
OF tbs ground towards that point are proofs
stream the body Was found, only two feet
and half below the surface, with the re1dy
solution Of this small depth, In the wash and
wear Of the water which must have flowed
above 1t. The soil is cl,y mari sud shell,
quirks.nd, spong5 and saaKj IS peat bog,
aud with many nttle snail and MUSCLE shel.s
imbedded in Is texture. TO oblfgc as In ourlu
vestigation, Nj Ryan made . cut 10 the hearth
~ith his spade. showing the different str4.a.
There were: muck, burnt soil. 3 mari,
! qoicksaod. Mr. X also, With no partIcu-
lar effort, ran hia spade down to the handle
and said bic had tried long poles and found
no bottom. He also shook theeasth With
lis foot !.
The ditch runs nearly north and south, and
across it. with his head to the north-east and
his tail to the Southwest, the ma4todon WAS
found. BE lag on LIS side, with his back to
| the porth.' Que fore lex waa doubled under
/ and the other extended, and tue hind quarters
were little the lowest Like the remains
+! IN the fresh water marshes Of fOrange Couaty
! got 1nired md sunk
And now for the finding of Bohe moth
While Dennis Ryan was digging away at hts
| ditch fortwo dollars per diem, coin Of the
| realm, and therefore workin. very cheerfully,
! he struck On what he Thought was 4 rout-
! never had seen before. he concluded there
| fore that 1t was bone, aud Mr.. Jas Decker
and himself setting to work, opened up sew
| etal others IN moment or two. That WAS
! "Wednesday ut 5 In the afternoon Since
| then they Lavc Investigated further, aud
! have tax en- out nearly all the bones They
| hare now the skull, aughtlJ damaged; all
! hut one Of the large le:s-nones; one Of the
| smaller leg-bones, number of ribs, some
! NJ arly perfect, and Others far from It; a
! broken 1usk and it, mate: several remarks
bly, perfect teeth shoulder and hip bones In
| good preservation; yertebrc aud foot bones,
knee caps and supplementary bones In great
| variety. t.
We urged them, by al the sclences, not to
allos the parts to be dispersed, and TO use
| grr4t care in getting out the remainder. In
| deed, in the digging while We We're there,
among them the fourth knee-csp, or what
| NC Judged to correspond with that bone,
The Following arc the demensions OF the
mastodon. as taken on the spot. from actual
| measurement, In company with Rey. George
From the 9rrmit1 oi the skan to tho last hone
animal, 10 feet ~ 1T is probably nearer g..
Shoulder Nade-LenGth, II lucheas largest CIR
eum1elenee, 20 Inches; unaliest, itK; soetet
IA Ts1o4 acne-Length, 1ax inches; e.reanse.sneo
cunfsraacc, i6H Inches; na7owest diameter, s1&s
Inches: broadest, 5k.
tssx rg e; ,sests; 1zsess @ tassss 81 larger
| S,naHer kJ toae-Length, 1si inches: llrge1
end. Z inshea; susl!ss end sFs smallest eifean:
| Eaef joaak,- -c1rra,nte7enee, 16 inches; diane
| ter, inches .thttkneze- ~.
Length Of leg rom top sf shoulder to pastera
M9IxnRth, - inches; diameter Of process, II
| inches; eucAlle<t diameter, inches.
/ Ttrtatra- Inches; thickness. 81
+ Tasfs-Sea7 haze, circumference, 9 inches. Th.
| tufkB were eraken and mpch decsyed-a2parentl1
about the fIze of thoas o1 N eggplant -
| Teekh-Thc teeth wera In wonderful ptcserya
Hon The e1own OF the nolar teash presenting conI
cal 1ube1clas coyerea with enAme:.' The enamel II
st1ll perfect. As 1t IL from this peeultar nipple
toott that the nastodon dc.s.es 10 nams (1n3sfos
nipple, odont, tooth) the- character Of: the fossil
remsrna th1s discovered would seem to be yeE.
ea.iefactori1y indicated = - '2 t''' y
| What We took to be the eyeeocket VIZ
i oval; longest diameter, 11S inches: shortes
!, di: meter 1inch; depth, about 15< inches.
The skull bad rndenbtly been -bIoken
; getting it out, u no piece large enough 70
+: correct measurement appeared, There Has
BIT Of cheek bone another Of Jaw, aad tha
~ was ILL., = 1.<.