The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-12-11

the very spot on which they then stood.
The gravel pit 10 which the eyes OF
mn BIOLOGISTS are turned Ia situated at
Marbl, Rock. not a great distance from
Cedar RapidS II Is thought quite pos
rible that other interesting remains
may be encountered. and the railroad
company las instructed the division
superintendent. In the event OF such a
end. TO again notify Professor Calvin.
The camera has caught n picture oil
Interest The desire OF all scientific men
TO obtain photographs OF important
finds before removal has been gratiied
IN this case.
The workmen in the gravel pit Of
the Burlington. Cedar Rapids and
Northern Railroad. at Marble Rock,
Iowa. the other day uncovered the ena
q a tusk OF a mastodon. The TACT was
reported 70 the chief engineer oil the
.oad and he IN turn notified me-
Fortunately. | was enabled 10 secure
the photograph which accompanies THIS
article Upon arriving at the gravel
plt I found that the s3ecimen, about
four feet in length. We q fragment
broken from the base u very large
,usk. The basal diameter was nine
inches: the length OF the tusk when en-
tire was probably more than eleven
feet.
The mastodon was an animal re-
tembllng IN liz general makeup the
modern elephant The molar teeth dit-
lered from those OF the elephant. The
upper law supported pair OF large
strongly curved tusks. and In some
species tusks were developed also
from the lower Jaw.
In both mastodon and elephant the
tusks are mcdlhed incisors or front
teeth. The body Of tho mastodon was
comparatively long and slender, but IN
general rs weight exceeded that OF the
modern Asiatie elephant.
II was In comparatively recent tlmea.
reologlcally speaking, that the maslo-
dom became extinct in Iowa. and In the
belt Of country now occupied by the
Northern United States and Southern
eanada over which he ranged for a
long time. Contemporary with tho
mastodon. at least during the early
mar, az his occupancy Of the region in
dlcated. was the American elephant,
Elephas Amerlcanus. a species closely
related TO the mammoth or great hairy
elephant Of Europe and Northern Asia.
Remains Of musk OK, Ovlbus cavli-
rous. have been found 10 beds Of CORE
spending ago at Council BLUFFS and
elsewhere In this same latitude.
There was alao about the same time
horse. Equls major. slightly larger
than the domestic horse. as indicated
By teeth found In postglaelal beds at
Sioux City and at numerous other
points. while Ia gravols At Mason city
and IN clay beds az Mrs 'afine there
have been found remains Of the rein
deer II would. therefore. seem that
/ the masIodon aud American elephant
we're members Of an Arctic or sub-Arc-
] ne fauna.
The rravels at Mason City. from
which the romans Of the reindeer were
obtained. were transported and dcpos-
litd by torrents OF water issuing from
the margin OF melting glaciers. The
Marble Rock Fravels that furnished
the fragment Of masiodon tusk are OF
the same age and have the same gen
Csis.
The musk OF from Council BluGs,
the horse from Sioux City, and the
reindeer from Muscatlne are from beds
Of clay laid down In icy waters during
the melting and retreat Of the same
glacial ICE. ThO..mastodon persisted
for some time aflir the animals with
which ne was associated had dlsap-
pearcd from rs latitude or had be-
The renss The Iowa spcclea, Mas