OHIO.

(Maps [16], [36].)

1. Little Salt Creek, Jackson County.—Somewhere along this creek was discovered the lower jaw and its teeth, to which was first given the name Elephas jacksoni. The creek, with its branches, gathers up the waters of the central part of the county and leaves the county at its northwest corner.

The first notice of this jaw appears to have been given in 1838 (First Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio, pp. 96, 97) by C. Briggs, assistant geologist of the survey. He stated that with some other bones it had been found, by unnamed persons, about 1835, in the bank of a branch of Salt Creek, in the northwest part of the county. A second search, made by Briggs and Foster, brought to light fragments of the skull, two teeth, and some other parts of the skeleton. Parts of the tusk in a frail condition were secured. It is interesting to learn that the tusk measured on the outer curve 10 feet 9 inches. The writer has been unable to learn what has become of these bones; none is in the collection of the State University at Columbus. The report made by Briggs on this specimen was reprinted in the American Journal of Science, volume XXXIV, 1838, page 358, in a review of Mathers’ First Annual Report. The author of the review was almost certainly J. W. Foster. An unsigned letter, apparently also by Foster, follows, in which are poor figures of the jaw and one of the teeth. In this letter the name Elephas jacksoni is applied to the remains. In 1839 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXXVI, p. 190), Foster contributed a figure of one of the teeth, probably a hindermost molar, but it is uncertain whether it represents the whole tooth or the remaining part of a worn one; nor is the amount of reduction indicated. The present writer finds it impossible to decide whether the tooth belongs to Elephas primigenius or E. columbi.

2. Beverly, Washington County.—In 1874 (Geol. Surv. Ohio, vol. II, pt. 1, p. 471), Mr. E. B. Andrews reported that, several years before he wrote, parts of the skeleton of a huge mammoth had been dug up in Beverly. Among other parts were several large teeth in good preservation, one of which was deposited in the cabinet of Marietta College; but the writer has not been able to learn anything about it. A Dr. Bowen, of Waterford Township, was said to have found, somewhere farther up Muskingum River, a shoulder-blade of a mammoth; but this locality must have been in Morgan County. The identification of the species is also questionable.

3. Nashport, Muskingum County.—J. W. Foster (Geol. Surv. Ohio, vol. II, 1838, p. 80) reported a molar and a tusk of an elephant had been dug up at Nashport, in excavating a canal. With these had been found remains of a mastodon, of Castoroides, and of a supposed sheep. More probably the latter was an intrusion of a domestic sheep. These remains had been preserved in the Zanesville Athenæum, but the writer can get no trace of them.

4. Ross County.—In 1866 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. XV, art. 3, p. 15), Charles Whittlesey reported he had seen remains of elephant in alluvial muck in Ross County, at an elevation of about 50 feet above the bottom land of the Scioto Valley. The locality was no more exactly defined and one can not determine whether it is within the Wisconsin area, that of the Illinoian, or that not glaciated. According to Leverett (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv. XLI, p. 259), what appears to be an Illinoian terrace along Scioto River opposite Chillicothe stands 120 feet above the river, while the Wisconsin terrace is 60 feet lower. The elephant remains were probably on the Wisconsin terrace.

5. Cincinnati, Hamilton County.—In 1843 (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. XII, p. 127), Lyell wrote that both elephant and mastodon teeth had been found in the gravelly beds of the higher terraces on the right bank of the river at Cincinnati. In his “Travels in North America” (vol. II, 1845, p. 59), Lyell was more definite in his statement. He stated that near the edge of the higher terrace, in digging a gravel-pit, which he saw open at the end of Sixth street, a tooth of Elephas primigenius had been discovered not long before. Dr. E. O. Ulrich informs the writer that this was probably at the eastern end of the street. Inasmuch as all the elephant remains of our country were at that time referred to E. primigenius, it is doubtful whether the specimen belonged to this species or to E. columbi. Professor N. M. Fenneman writes that the “higher terrace” here mentioned can be nothing more than the terrace on which the lower city stands, namely, the Wisconsin outwash. He knows of no fragments of Illinoian terrace there.

6. Fort Jefferson, Darke County.—In 1878 (Geol. Surv. Ohio, vol. III, pt. 1, p. 508), Mr. A. C. Lindemuth wrote that Dr. G. Miesse had in his collection an almost perfect skeleton of a mammoth, as well as portions of a mastodon, both of which were found in the peat deposits of Mud Creek “prairie.” This mastodon is doubtless the one described on page [73] and preserved in the Greenville Public Library. Where the elephant remains are the writer does not know. The locality appears to be in Neave Township (township 11 north, range 2 east).

7. Circleville, Pickaway County.—In 1834 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXV, p. 256), in an unsigned article, the geologist S. P. Hildreth told of having a tooth of an elephant which had been found in gravelly diluvium back of Circleville. This meant probably somewhere east of the town.

8. South Bloomfield, Pickaway County.—In the article just cited, Hildreth told of securing, near South Bloomfield, teeth of the “American elephant,” in association with those of the mastodon. They were found in excavating for a culvert over a small branch near the town. Hildreth described the teeth, so that it is certain that they belonged to an elephant; but the species can not be determined. A tooth is described as being 7 inches broad, 6 inches long, and 3 inches thick.

9. Cleveland, Cuyahoga County.—In 1886 (Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci., vol. IV, p. 308), Dr. E. Sterling reported the finding of an elephant in a small swamp 3 miles from Cleveland and 2 miles from the lake. The swamp had originally occupied about 2 acres of surface. A well-preserved tusk, two vertebræ, three ribs, part of the sacrum, and a molar were secured. In 1873 (Geol. Surv. Ohio, vol. I, pt. 1, p. 183), J. S. Newberry stated that the delta sand deposits, the gravel and sand, which form the surface of the Cleveland plateau, had yielded numerous parts of the skeletons of mastodon and elephant.

10. Montville, Geauga County.—In 1873 (Geol. Surv. Ohio, vol. I, pt. 1, p. 526), M. C. Read recorded the discovery of remains of an elephant at this place. Two tusks were secured, also all the bones of the pelvis, seven or eight vertebræ, some ribs, fragments of the skull, and a part of one tooth; the latter was not described. The remains were found in a small marsh; at the surface was a deposit which had resulted from the growth of swamp vegetation; at the bottom was clay; and in this clay the bones were buried. They were supposed to have belonged to a young animal.

11. Canton, Stark County.—In Mount Union-Scio College the writer has examined a right tibia of a proboscidean reported to have been found 3 miles northeast of Canton. It is believed to have belonged to one of the elephants and not to a mastodon. The following measurements were taken.

mm.
Total length675
Side-to-side diameter of lower end across the articular surface200
Fore-and-aft diameter of lower end across the articular surface160
Circumference at middle of length345
Side-to-side diameter at middle of length110
Fore-and-aft diameter at middle of length104
Side-to-side diameter at extreme upper end245