OHIO.
In Unglaciated Region.
1. Pike County.—In 1875 (Cincinnati Quart. Jour. Sci., vol. II, p. 154), J. H. Klippart wrote that the upper jaw of a mastodon, with a considerable part of the cranium, had been found somewhere in this county and had been on exhibition in the State Agricultural rooms. It was owned by a Mr. Faust, of Galion or Crestline. Nothing more appears to be known about this specimen.
2. Nashport, Muskingum County.—In 1837 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXXI, p. 79), S. P. Hildreth, in an unsigned article, stated that mastodon remains had been found 2 miles north of this place, during the excavation of a canal. He recognized large portions of tusks and some molar teeth. At the same place were found the skull which became the type of Castoroides ohioensis, as well as a skull which Hildreth described and named Ovis mamillaris, but which probably belonged to a domestic sheep.
47. Lisbon, Columbiana County.—In the Ohio University Department of Archæology and History there are some remains of a peccary which, as reported by Professor W. C. Mills, was found associated with remains of a mastodon. The locality is said to be in the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 24, township 18 north, range 3 west. This would be in the south edge of the town of Lisbon and probably on the south side of the Middle Fork of Little Beaver River. It would be just outside of the moraine of the Wisconsin drift-sheet.
In Illinoian Drift Area.
3. Cincinnati, Hamilton County.—In the first edition of his “Ossemens Fossiles,” in 1812 (vol. II, Mastodons, p. 12), Cuvier mentioned the discovery of a tooth of a mastodon on the right bank of Ohio River, between the two Miamis. In 1843 (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 1, vol. XII, p. 127), Lyell reported that teeth of the mastodon and of an elephant had been found 4 miles north of Cincinnati, in gravel beds of the higher terrace.
In his “Travels in North America,” volume II, page 60, Lyell wrote that several teeth of mastodons had been discovered on Mill Creek, and on what he indicated as the upper terrace. He presented a list of the genera of mollusks that had been found at the same place. He added that mastodon remains had been found in the strata of the upper terrace, both above and below Cincinnati. Professor Fenneman writes that in Mill Creek valley the Illinoian is distinctly terrace-like and composed of interbedded sheets of outwash and till, as though made during repeated advances of the ice. The teeth mentioned may belong, therefore, to the Illinoian or Sangamon.
The most important discovery of mastodon remains is that recorded by Seth Hayes (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. XVII, 1895, p. 217) and by E. W. Claypole (Amer. Geol., vol. XV, 1895, p. 325). These remains form what is known as the “Shaw mastodon.” They were discovered in Hyde Park, in the northeastern part of Cincinnati, in section 27 of Columbia Township. The spot is 1.4 miles away from the river, and just south of the upper part of Crawfish Creek. Remains of at least three mastodons were exhumed, including 3 tusks, a lower jaw with teeth, and many other bones. There were found also a tooth and a vertebra of a horse. An interesting matter regarding the lower jaw is the presence of 2 mandibular tusks of considerable size (Hayes, as cited, plates XI, XII). The diameter of each is given as 1.5 inches. One projected beyond the jaw 9.75 inches; the other, 7.4 inches. They were curved rather strongly downward. The specimen is to be referred to Mammut progenium Hay. The geology of the locality will be described on page [328].