The Pleistocene of North America / and its vertebrated animals from the states east of the Mississippi River and from the Canadian provinces east of longitude 95°

by Oliver Perry Hay

OHIO.

(Maps [11], [36].)

1. Waverly, Pike County.—In the U. S. National Museum is an upper molar of an elephant said to have been found in a gravel-pit of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, at Waverly. It was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in 1900 by Mr. E. Sehon, who stated that the tooth had been picked up along the railroad mentioned, about 30 miles south of Kenova, West Virginia, but that the gravel had been loaded on the cars at Waverly. The tooth is believed to be the hindermost milk molar. There are 10 plates in a line 100 mm. long. The Pleistocene geological conditions at Waverly may to some extent be learned by consulting Leverett’s paper forming Monograph XLI of the U. S. Geological Survey, pages 101–104. There is a possibility that this tooth was buried in gravels older than the last glacial stage.

2. Zanesville, Muskingum County.—In 1853 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. XV, pp. 146–147) is found a brief account of the discovery of elephant remains at Zanesville. One tusk and four molars were found. Two of the latter weighed (probably while wet) 20 pounds each and two others 14 pounds each. They had been found on the line of what was then called the Ohio Central Railroad and in the eastern part of the city. At about the same time (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. IV, p. 377) Warren exhibited a tooth of an elephant, one of three received by him from Zanesville (misprinted Lanesville). In the second edition of his monograph on “Mastodon giganteus” Warren figured one of these teeth (his plate XXVIII). It was stated that he had four of the teeth, all belonging to Elephas primigenius. These are now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. The right upper hindermost molar is a fine large tooth. The large front root is missing, as are quite certainly about 3 plates. There are now 28 present. The length along the nearly straight base is 335 mm. The rear is high and arched. There are 9 plates in a 100–mm. line and the enamel is little festooned. Foster, in 1857 (Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 10th meeting, p. 156), described the discovery and exhumation of these remains, publishing a geological section illustrated by a figure. The elephant bed is 37 feet above the river and over 20 feet from the surface. In the collection of the State University at Columbus (No. 5296) is a fine upper hindermost molar of Elephas primigenius credited to T. W. Lewis and said to have been found at Zanesville. There are nine or ten plates in a 100–mm. line. Zanesville is situated in the unglaciated part of the State; but outwash from both the Illinoian and the Wisconsin glaciers has been deposited along the river. For a knowledge of the Pleistocene epoch in that region, Leverett’s work may be consulted (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., vol. XLI, p. 158, plate II).

3. Duncan Falls, Muskingum County.—In the U. S. National Museum (No. 308) is a tooth, apparently the first true molar, of Elephas primigenius labeled as having been found on Salt Creek, in the county named. Salt Creek is situated in the eastern part of the county, flows southward, and empties into Muskingum River at Duncan Falls. This tooth is probably the one mentioned by J. W. Foster in 1857 (Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 10th meeting, 1856, p. 158) as having been found near the mouth of Salt Creek and then owned by Mr. A. C. Ross.

4. Millport, Columbiana County.—From Professor Edwin Linton, of Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania, the writer received a letter stating that there is in that institution a tooth of an elephant found in section 7 of Franklin Township (17 north, range 3 west), apparently about 2 miles northeast of Millport and on or near the stream Nancy Run. The locality is outside of the glaciated area. Probably the animal had lived during the Wisconsin stage, but there is a chance that it belonged to an earlier time.

5. Mount Healthy, Hamilton County.—In 1914, the writer received the photograph of a skull of Elephas primigenius which was found some years before at Mount Healthy. Professor N. M. Fenneman informed the writer that it was discovered on the farm of Barney Miller, in the bank of Whisky Run. Professor C. A. Hunt, of Mount Healthy, has sent the information that it was found in the bed of Taylor Creek, a branch of West Fork of Mill Creek, in the northeast quarter of section 28, township 3, range 1, of the Miami purchase. Taylor Creek is probably another name for Whisky Run. The skull was met with in deep alluvial sediment. At the time of Professor Hunt’s writing it was in the possession of Mr. Jacob Kismer, North Side, Cincinnati. In 1920 it was purchased for the U. S. National Museum (No. 10261).

The front of the skull is preserved from the vertex to the front of the premaxilla. A part of one tusk, about 4 inches in diameter, is present. An upper molar was detached and later lost or otherwise disposed of. The one present has 10 ridge-plates in a 100–mm. line. Leverett (Monogr. XLI, p. 283), in speaking of drift deposits in Mill Creek Valley, stated that the greater part of the drift is Illinoian. Professor Fenneman (Bull. 19, Geol. Surv. Ohio, p. 158) refers the deposit to the Wisconsin stage.

15. Butler County.—In the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia is an elephant tooth which is accredited to W. S. Vaux and labeled as having been found in Butler County. The tooth has now a length of 230 mm., but is worn down to the base in front and the large anterior root is missing. The width is 105 mm. It appears to be a large hindermost upper molar of E. primigenius. Nothing more definite is known about the locality. The whole country is covered with Wisconsin drift.

6. Dayton, Montgomery County.—In the collection of the Society of Archæology and History at the University of Ohio is a tooth of Elephas primigenius which, as reported by Professor W. C. Mills, was found near the middle of the eastern boundary of Montgomery County. This would not be far from Dayton. The locality is within the area covered by Wisconsin drift and the animal lived probably not far away from the foot of the retiring glacier.

7. Selma, Clark County.—In Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, are two upper last molars, right and left, said to have been collected at Selma. There are nine ridge-plates in a line 100 mm. long. Nothing is known regarding the geological conditions connected with the discovery, except that the locality is within the Wisconsin area.

8. Versailles, Darke County.—In the U. S. National Museum is an upper hindermost molar of Elephas primigenius (No. 4761), recorded as found in Wayne Township, on the farm of Foster Compton, in the northeast corner of the township. This would be probably about 4 miles north of east of Versailles. The country is level and was doubtless originally swampy. This tooth is apparently the one mentioned by A. C. Lindemuth in 1878 (Geol. Surv. Ohio, vol. III, pt. 1, p. 509). He stated that it had been picked up in the creek bottom just north of Versailles.

Under this number may be recorded a tooth of E. primigenius found many years ago by George H. Teaford, about 2 miles southeast of Palestine, in Darke County, and now in the collection in the public library at Greenville. It is a lower left hindermost molar. There are 20 plates present and evidently a few are missing from the front.

9. Jersey, Licking County.—In the collection of the Ohio State University, Columbus, are two large teeth of Elephas primigenius labeled as sent from this place and credited to D. D. Condit. The length along the base of one of the teeth is 286 mm. There are nine plates in a 100–mm. line and the enamel is unusually thin. This locality is on the western border of the Wisconsin terminal moraine and the animal belongs therefore to the Late Wisconsin stage.

10. Chicago, Huron County.—In the collection of the Society of Archæology and History, at the University of Ohio, the writer has seen a tooth of Elephas primigenius, labeled as having been found at this place, which is located on or close to the Defiance moraine.

11. Kamms, Cuyahoga County.—About May 1, 1911, Mr. F. W. Glenn, of Kamms, sent to the U. S. National Museum a photograph of a tooth which the present writer identified as belonging to Elephas primigenius. This town is about 4 miles from the shore of Lake Erie.

12. Cleveland, Cuyahoga County.—In the collection of Adelbert College, Cleveland, is a lower jaw of Elephas primigenius which was obtained here. Professor H. P. Cushing has furnished the writer photographs of this jaw, which belonged to a young animal, inasmuch as the hindermost milk molar had not wholly appeared above the bone. Of this tooth, six ridge-plates were crossed by a line 50 mm. in length.

This jaw was found in 1909, in making a sewer, in hitherto undisturbed materials, 22 feet from the surface. In the section at that point is found 22 feet of sand resting on till, the latter being the upper part of the glacial filling of the preglacial Cuyahoga Valley, 300 feet down to the rock. The jaw was at the base of the sands. Professor Cushing regarded the jaw as older than old Lake Warren and presumably as belonging to the time of Lake Whittlesey.

13. New Berlin, Stark County.—At Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, the writer has seen a well-preserved specimen of an upper second true molar of Elephas primigenius found near New Berlin. There were counted 16 ridge-plates, of which 11 are in a 100–mm. line.

From Rev. J. P. Stahl, Alliance, Ohio, the writer has learned that this tooth was found about a mile south of New Berlin, in a small gravel hill along the Canton and New Berlin highway. The gravel was being removed to make a road-bed. New Berlin is on the Grand River moraine and the elephant belongs therefore to the Late Wisconsin stage.

14. Amboy, Ashtabula County.—In the Buffalo, New York, Natural History Society, the writer examined a tooth of Elephas primigenius, discovered at this place. It is the front half of the right upper hindermost molar. There are nine ridge-plates in a 100–mm. line. At the same place, and probably under the same geological conditions, were found teeth of Elephas columbi. These conditions will be described on page [329].

15. See page [135].