Discovery of an American Mastodon

DISCOVERY OF AN AMERICAN MASTODON.

A New York paper states that on the 8th of November, workmen excavating a foundation for a mill at the manufacturing village of Cohoes, near Troy, found the remains of a complete skeleton of a huge mastodon 83 feet below the surface, and about 100 feet from the Mohawk River. It is believed that the frame can be made quite perfect. The remains were carefully gathered together, cleaned, and oiled, and it was expected that Professor Agassiz would arrive to inspect them. The jaw is 4 feet 9 inches in length from the mouth to the cranium, to which a portion of the backbone and jaw are still connected. The cranium rises very much like that of an elephant. The two tusks each measure 8 feet in length, and their true position is well marked on the upper jaw. The hip bone is 5 feet long, and weighs 100 lbs., while the shoulder blades measure 10 feet 9 inches, and weigh about 50 lbs. each. The under jaw, found some weeks Bince, precisely fits the upper jaw now exhumed, and the ribs are found to be 4½  feet in length. The measurements show that the animal must have stood at least 15 feet in height, and have been a little upwards of 20 feet in length, independent of the tusks, already stated to be each 8 feet in length. Professor Marsh, of the Yale College Scientific School, gives it as his opinion that the remains discovered are those of a great North American mastodon, comparing in all its parts fully with the description of the animal given in the scientific works as follows:—The animal has the vaulted and cellular skull of the elephant, with large tusks in the upper jaw and heavy form. From the character of the nasal bones and the shortness of the head and neck, it has been concluded it had a trunk.”