Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-06-23
FOSSIL TOOTH OF A HORSE.

EDS. RECORD UNION A short time
since you placed in my hands a fossil
which was found in making an excavation
near the Lake House, with the request
that l should determine its character.
Owing to pressing engagements l had
altogether neglected the specimen until
the present moment. In his note the dis
coverer, H. P. Cornelius, states that the
specimen was found about five feet from
the surface of the earth, and beneath the
bedrock, as it is called. Owing to the
action of the atmosphere the specimen has
crumbled and fallen in pieces, yet by care
fully reuniting the fragments the form and
| characteristics of the molar of the horse
are clearly made out.
The discoverer states that the tooth was
imbedded In sand or loan, and no mention
Is made of other remains having been
found in company with it. The locality
named has furnished many specimens of
interest to science. About twenty years
ago farmer, a resident of the vicinity,
unearthed, while digging a well, some
remains of teeth which | then identified as
belonging to the mastOdon, although they,
! line the specimen above mentioned. crum.
/ bled into fragments upon exposure. Upon
visiting the spot where these mastodon
teeth were found, made a note OF few
| facts, which | have preserved. They were
imbedded in loan, at depth of three or
four linches above the loan rested the
cement (bedr0ck) this being two and one
| half feet III thickness, with between two
| a nd NJ Of Ill 4
! full examination of the different strata
failed to bring to light any trace Of shells
or other remains, either of marine or CT
fresh water origin. Judging from the re-
mains of land animals which have been
! found in the slight excavations which have
so far been made, We may safely conclude
| that such remains exist in vast quantities
beneath this layer OF cement. There
is a moral certainty that at a re-
mote period the territory between
the American and Costumes rivers
was fertile plain, upon which a
great variety OF animals found sustenance
| The horse must have been found in great
numbers, as well as the mastodon, and
their appearance associated together irdi-
Gates the coexistence of many other spe-
cies. The extinction of these herds of
animals was, it is more than probable, ow-
ing to some cataclysm which not only de.
stroyed but also buried them beneath the
material of which the bedrock is formed.
This bedrock, so called, is ferrugnous
cement formed of sand, OF sand and gravel,
and iron, and it appears to be present
wherever excavations have been made in
all the space south of the American.
While it is generally covered with con-
siderable depth of soil, it occasionally ap.
pears upon the surface In the roadway be-
tween Sacramento and the Lake House
| When we come to consider the agencies by
which the materials of which the cement
is formed was spread ont so evenly upon
the surface, we find ourselves surrounded
by difficulties. Is it the result of ma
rIne submergence The absence of fossils
in this cement strata it would appear, is
proof sufficient that this could not be the
case.
Was it produced by slickens brought
down from the mountains, the result of
natures hydraulic works? The want of
homogeneity of the material of which it is
composed is proof, it would appear, unau-
swerable in the negative. May it not have
been the result of volcanic action, by
which the material in plastic condition
was spread out over the surface?
In determining the era when this cata-
clysm occurred-in fixing the exact period
when this great rusty pail settled down
over the land aud hid away from sight the
flower and fauna of an old world, we have
but slight data by which to be governed;
yet there is every reason for believing that
it antedates the present river system of
California; or should it be proven to be of
volcanic origin, it is likely to have been
deposited at the time when by such agen.
cies the old river channels were obliterated
or the contour of the Sierras essentially
changed.
1t is to be hoped that for the future
great care may be exercised in preserving
the remains, which may be found in this
locality. 1t IS especially desirable that
any trace Of the existence of man, such as
mortars, flint implements or flint chips,
may be preserved. Should such traces be
brought to light in the locality named they
will indicate that the animals to which the
fossils belonged were contemporary with
that of the Nevada man. Such remains
would prove to be of exceptional value at
the present moment, when attention is be.
ing specially directed toward the Pacific
coast as being the spot where evidences of
mans antiquity are most certain to be
found. H. W. HARDNESS.
June 81, 1888.