3. Germantown, Montgomery County.—One mile east of Germantown, Edward Orton, State geologist of Ohio, found along Twin Creek a large tooth which (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. L, 1870, p. 54) he compared with the tusk of a hog. It was later identified by J. S. Newberry (Proc. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. I, 1870, p. 83) as belonging to Castoroides. It was found in a bed of peat which is overlain by from 50 to 100 feet of glacial drift. One might conclude that the animal had lived there at some time between the Illinoian and Wisconsin stages. However, opinions have differed.
The geology along Twin Creek has been studied by Orton, Wright, and Leverett. The last named published his views in 1902 (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., XLI, pp. 363–365, plate XIV, fig. 1). He states (p. [365]) that there seem to be good reasons for believing that the peat-bed indicates the lapse of a considerable interval of deglaciation. Whether the interval preceded or followed the formation of the early Wisconsin moraine is yet to be determined. That seems to mean that the interval may be mid-Wisconsin or pre-Wisconsin. Wright thought that but a few hundred years had elapsed between the deposit of the till below the peat and that above. Orton’s description of the locality was published in 1870 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. L, p. 54).
4. West Sonora, Preble County.—In 1893 (Amer. Geologist, vol. XII, p. 73), Professor Joseph Moore reported that a fragment of an upper incisor of Castoroides had been found at West Sonora. It was associated with remains of a mastodon. West Sonora is on the Englewood moraine.
5. Greenville, Darke County.—In 1883 (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. VI, p. 238), F. W. Langdon described a tooth of Castoroides, found at a depth of 4 feet, in a swampy locality near Greenville. In 1893 (Amer. Geol., vol. XII, p. 73), Joseph Moore stated that this tooth belonged to Dr. J. W. Jay, of Richmond. It may now possibly be in the collection of Earlham College. Moore said that it had been found associated with mastodon.
In the public library at Greenville is a fragment of an upper incisor of Castoroides, found in making a ditch along Bridge Creek, in 1889, by Mr. Leo Katzenberger, who writes that the place is in the northwest corner of section 1, township 11, range 2 west, 1.5 miles southwest of Greenville. These animals likewise lived on or near the Sidney moraine.
6 New Knoxville, Auglaize County.—In C. W. Williamson’s “History of Ohio and Auglaize County,” 1905, on page 338, with a figure, is an account of the finding of a skull of Castoroides ohioensis in section 29 of Washington Township, which is in township 6 south, range 5 east, and near New Knoxville. The discovery had been made that beneath a bed of humus there was a stratum of gravel of a quality for road making. In removing the upper peaty layer, the head of the giant beaver was discovered, near the south margin of the pond. Williamson stated that the house of the animal was uncovered. It was between 3 and 4 feet high and about 8 feet square; the poles of which it was constructed were about 3 indies in diameter and were laid after the manner of the houses of modern beavers. Apparently the beaver died in the house, and it was thought that after the death of the beaver wolves or other carnivorous animals had inhabited the house, since bones of deer and other animals were strewn over the floor. It is to be regretted that the house, if such it was, was not taken up in a way that it might have been accurately reconstructed. Williamson’s account is reproduced in Bulletin 16, Geological Survey of Ohio, 4th series, 1912, page 39.
In Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, the writer has seen a very large skull of Castoroides, labeled as found at Wapakoneta, but it is quite certainly the one found at New Knoxville. Both incisors are broken off close to their insertion in the skull. Williamson’s figure represents at least the left one present.
MICHIGAN.
(Map [28].)
1. Berrien County.—In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is a nearly complete skull with the left ramus of the lower jaw, purchased from Mr. George A. Baker. The exact place in the county where it was found is unknown, and the writer has been unable to get into communication with Mr. Baker.