1. Minoa, Onondaga County.—Dr. Burnett Smith, of Syracuse University, sent the writer photographs of a lower hindermost molar of an elephant which, associated with a tusk, was found at this place, 8 miles east of Syracuse. Dr. Smith has ascertained that the tooth and the tusk were dug up during the construction of the West Shore Railroad. The tooth is quite certainly that of Elephas primigenius. It is worn down to the base in front, but retains a part of its large posterior root.
2. Williamson, Wayne County.—In the collection of Rochester University is a lower left hindermost molar tooth found at this place. Professor H. L. Fairchild informed the writer that the tooth was found on the Iroquois beach, but whether on the northern or southern side is not known.
3. Pittsford, Monroe County.—In 1842 (Zool. New York Mamm., p. 101, plate XXXII, fig. 2), J. E. De Kay described, under the name Elephas americanus, a tooth found at Perinton, about 10 miles east of Rochester and near Irondequoit River. A description of the discovery and of the locality had been given in 1837 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXXII, p. 377) by an anonymous writer. Two teeth and a tusk had been found in a sandy bank on the stream mentioned while a race was being made for a saw-mill. The tusk, and probably the teeth also, lay at a depth of 4 feet. The exact locality was described as being 2 miles north of the crossing of Erie Canal. This is in reality southeast of Rochester and near Pittsford. On page [59] is described a tusk of a supposed mastodon found at Pittsford in 1830.
De Kay regarded the animal as belonging to an undescribed species, but his name Elephas americanus had been applied to the mastodon by Cuvier in 1799.
On examining Fairchild’s plates showing the recession of the Wisconsin ice-sheet (Bull. 127, State Mus. New York) it will be seen that the localities where the three specimens of Elephas primigenius have been found are close to the south shore of the ancient Lake Iroquois. The animals could not, therefore, have lived before the ice had nearly or quite withdrawn into the basin of the present Lake Ontario. They may have lived long after this, possibly up to, or near to, the beginning of the Recent. It is to be noted further that the locality of the molar tooth found at Williamson, Wayne County, is closer to the shore of Iroquois Lake than is that of any of the mastodons; so possibly this species existed somewhat longer than did the mastodon.
4. Buffalo, Erie County.—From the director of the Buffalo Society of Natural History, Dr. William L. Bryant, the writer has received photographs of a right upper hindermost molar of Elephas primigenius dredged from near the middle of Niagara River, opposite Buffalo. The tooth is 275 mm. long and 100 mm. wide on the worn surface. It is worn to near the base in front, but probably no plates are wholly lost. There appear to be about 24 present. It appears probable that the tooth had not been carried far after being washed from its resting-place. Although it probably belongs to the Wisconsin stage, there is a possibility that it was washed out of some older Pleistocene deposit.
5. Queensbury, Warren County.—Mr. C. A. Hartnagel, assistant State geologist of New York, informed the writer of the discovery, some 60 years ago, of a tooth of an elephant near Queensbury, situated near the southern end of Lake George. The tooth is labeled as found on the John Harris farm. The nature of the deposit in which it was buried is not known. It was found during the excavation of a cellar, therefore at no great depth.
The tooth is a lower right hindermost molar, worn on only about 8 plates and not to the base in front. About 7 plates are missing from the rear. There are present 17 ridge-plates. The length along the base is 250 mm.; originally it must have been close to 350 mm. On a lateral face there are only about 7 of the plates in a 100–mm. line. Nevertheless, the writer regards the tooth as belonging to E. primigenius. It is unusually long for the species; hence the plates are thicker, quite as thick as some specimens of E. columbi. However, the enamel, as shown on the worn face, is much thinner than that of E. columbi and comparatively little folded. The plates are only moderately concave on the hinder face. The height of the tooth at the ninth plate is 140 mm.
6. Lewiston, Niagara County.—From Mr. C. A. Hartnagel the writer received information of the finding of a tooth of an elephant at Lewiston; and later the tooth was sent for examination. It proved to belong to E. primigenius and to be the upper right hindermost molar. Inasmuch as it is worn to the base in front and as the large anterior root is missing, some plates, probably at least two, are missing. There are 22 present. The tooth is worn back to the tenth from the rear. The length, as the tooth is preserved, is 275 mm. The height at the tenth plate from the rear is 160 mm., not including the base of the roots. The greatest thickness is 85 mm. On the lateral face are 9 plates in a 100–mm. line. The base of the tooth is straight; the hinder border of the crown, arched.
Mr. Hartnagel stated that besides the tooth some fragments of other teeth and two atlases were found at the same place. Evidently more than one animal was present. The remains here described were discovered at least 20 feet below the gravel-bed at that place and 80 feet below the level top of the terrace at points where it was not eroded. The bones and teeth appear to have been scattered through a bed of sediments at least 6 feet in thickness. The remains described above were mentioned by Kindle and Taylor on page 13 of Folio 190 of the U. S. Geological Survey, but were referred to a mastodon. The writers described the deposit in which the tooth was found. The geological age was believed to be that of the Iroquois episode of the Wisconsin.