these remarks to the Royal Geographical Society, and to take the sense of the Society on the question, whether it is not desirable, if other scientific bodies should co-operate, that a representation be made by the Royal Geographical Society to Her Majesty's Government on the advantage of making such a reconnaissance of the Southern Continent as I have proposed; primarily in the interest of astronomy (referring to my official responsibility for the importance of the examination at this special time); but conjointly with that, in the interests, perhaps ultimately more important, of geography and other sciences usually promoted by the Royal Geographical Society."

278

WAS MAN A CONTEMPORARY OF THE MAMMOTH?

BY JAMES D. DANA.

THE

THE evidence of the contemporaneity of Man and various extinct Quaternary Mammals in Europe and Great Britain is complete: that is, it is beyond reasonable doubt or question; for (1) it has been gathered with great care by the best of geological observers; (2) it has been verified through the reexaminations of reported cases by other able geologists; and (3) it has been further verified by the special investigations of committees of scientific societies.

The North American facts thus far announced have not, unfortunately, the same broad basis for confidence.

Among the earlier of the reported discoveries are the two in Missouri, brought out by Dr. Koch. The account of them has often been cited by writers on the subject; and Mr. J. W. Foster, in his "Pre-Historic Races of the United States of America," prefixes to the citation the remark that Dr. Koch, at an interview with him, during the last year of his life, assured him, "in the most solemn and emphatic manner, that his statement was true." Mr. Foster also observes that "to deny the accuracy of his statement is to accuse him of having attempted to perpetrate a scientific fraud "-a decision not sustained by the ordinary rules or treatment of evidence; for science has constantly to guard itself against the assertions of men who are honest, but are not experienced in scientific investigation, and in all such cases rightly asks for corroborating testimony. Moreover Dr. Koch's statement of his facts may be true, and still his conclusion as to their proving the contemporaneity of Man and the Mastodon in North America be wrong.

The question which American Science should carefully consider-as carefully and guardedly as has been done for similar cases in Europe-is, whether Dr. Koch was a competent observer, and whether his observations are a sufficient basis for the conclusion that has been drawn from them.

I have before me four pamphlets by Dr. Koch, dated severally

1841, 1843, 1845, and 1853. They relate to his discoveries in this country-the first two of them to his Missourium, and the others to his Hydrarchos, or, as these publications call it, his Hydrargos, or species of Hydrachen. The following are copies of their title-pages, commencing with the earliest :

"Description of the Missourium, or Missouri Leviathan, together with its supposed habits; Indian traditions concerning the location from whence it was exhumed; also, comparisons of the Whale, Crocodile, and Missourium with the Leviathan, as described in the 41st Chapter of the Book of Job; by Albert Koch. 16 pp. 8vo. St. Louis, 1841. [1840 on the cover, indicating that the copy is from a second edition.]

"Description of the Missourium Theristocaulodon (Koch), or Missouri Leviathan (Leviathan Missouriensis), together with its supposed habits and Indian traditions; also, comparisons of the Whale, Crocodile and Missourium with the Leviathan, as described in the 41st Chapter of the Book of Job; by Albert Koch. Fifth edition, enlarged. 25 pp. 8vo. Dublin, 1843. [A "third edition" of 24 pages appeared in London in 1841.]

"Hydragos, or Great Sea Serpent of Alabama, 114 feet in length, 7,500 lbs. weight, now exhibiting at the Apollo Saloon, 410 Broadway. Admittance 25 cents.-Description of the Hydrargos Sillimanii (Koch). A gigantic fossil Reptile, or Sea Serpent: lately discovered by the author in the State of Alabama, March, 1845. Together with some geological observations made on different formations of the rocks during a geological tour through the Eastern, Western and Southern parts of the United States, in the years 1844 1845; by Doctor Albert C. Koch, Corresponding Member of the Societies of Halle, and of Dresden, &c. 16 pp. 8vo. New York, 1845. [Following this, Dr. Koch published at Berlin, in 1845, a book of 99 pages, with eight plates, entitled 'Die Riesenthiere d. Urwelt,' giving an account of his Mastodontoid discoveries in America.]

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Description of the family of Animals now extinct, but known to the scientific world under the appellation of Hydrachen:* these animals, when living, were the most gigantic, powerful and horrible beasts of prey that ever ruled over and spread terror through the primitive Oceans; also

In this change of name from Hydarchos, the Water-Chief (the suggestion, no doubt, of some friend, since he never wrote it right), to Hydrachen, a word that looks as if made up from the Greek word for water and the German for dragon, Dr. Koch evidently intended to adopt Müller's German term for the family, Hydrarchen.

an account of the discovery of the Zeuglodon Macrospondylus of Müller, and of the remains of Hydrachen in general; by Dr. Albert Koch, Corresponding Member of various Scientific Societies. 12 pp. 8vo. New Orleans, 1853."

The first of these pamphlets was printed when the Missourium was on exhibition at St. Louis in 1840-41; the second, when the skeleton was in Ireland, it having been taken to London in 1841; the third, when Dr. Koch's first collection of Zeuglodon remains was arranged and on exhibition as the "Hydrargos" in New York; the fourth, after his first Zeuglodon collection had been carried (in 1845) to Europe, and purchased (in 1847) for the Royal Anatomical Museum at Berlin (where it was studied by Müller); and after another "Hydrargos" had been obtained by Dr. Koch (in 1848), in the vicinity of "Washington Old Court House, Washington Co., Alabama," and had been transported (1) to Dresden (where, through "eight months' faithful labour," it was set up by May 6, 1849), and also (2) to Breslau, (3) to Vienna (1850), and (4) to Prague, and at each place put on exhibition; but not to Munich, because "the only saloon disposable was too small for the exhibition;" and, finally, had come back to its native country, "after it had established its just fame in Europe" as one of the "Hydrachen," and been put on exhibition in New Orleans.*

Still other accounts of earlier date are at hand in “ Sill. Amer. Journal, vols. xxxvi. and xxxvii. of 1839; the first (vol. xxxvi., p. 198) cited from a newspaper article of January 1839, which was evidently written by Dr. Koch (then Mr., the title of Doctor appearing first in 1845); the second (vol. xxxvii., p. 191), signed "A. Koch, proprietor of the St. Louis Museum," and credited to the "St. Louis Com. Bulletin" of June 25, 1839.

Further, a note on the bones at St. Louis collected by Mr. Koch was presented to the American Philosophical Society, in October, 1840, by Dr. W. E. Horner, and an abstract from the Proceedings of that Society is cited in vol. xl. (1841).

It is evident from these documents that Dr. Koch was a man of enterprise, "an indefatigable collector." The credit is also due to him of having performed a great service to science by his collections; for these included one of the best skeletons of the Mastodon that has been unearthed, and two nearly complete

The skeleton was on exhibition in St. Louis as early as 1855 or 1856, as stated in "Sill. Amer. Journal," II., xxi., p. 146, 1856; was there, as I learn from Dr. Lapham, sold to the Museum (Curiosity-shop); and thence, later, taken to Wood's Museum in Chicago, where it ended its remarkable career in the great fire of 1871.

skeletons of Zeuglodon, besides portions of other Mastodon and Zeuglodon individuals. Dr. Koch's "St. Louis Museum contained, in 1840, according to Dr. Horner, "two hundred or more teeth of the Mastodon and American Elephant, a dozen or more lower jaws of the Mastodon, with very numerous specimens of other parts of the head and skeleton generally, though no perfect head;""the skeleton nearly complete of a Mastodon ; " and, besides, "the head of an animal which Mr. Koch calls nondescript," which Dr. Horner thought to be that of a Mastadon, and another interesting Mastodon relic, "denominated by the proprietor (Dr. Koch) Missourium Kochii."

The two cases of the discovery of human remains along with those of the Mastodon, mentioned by Dr. Koch, are described in the pamphlets published in London and elsewhere abroad; in the "Transactions of the St. Louis Academy," vol. i. p. 61, 1857; and the first of the cases at an earlier date in a newspaper article of January 1839, cited in vol. xxxvi. of "Silliman's American Journal" (1839). This earliest account was written by Dr. Koch himself, the discoverer, for it is all in the first person; and, as it appeared within a few months of the discovery, it best deserves citation. It is therefore here republished, and after it, that of the second case, from the pamphlet of 1843.

I. "It is with the greatest pleasure the writer of this article can state, from personal knowledge, that one of the largest of these animals has actually been stoned and burned by Indians, as appears from implements found among the ashes, cinders, and half burned wood and bones of the animal. The circumstances are as follows:

"A farmer in Gasconade County, Missouri, lat. 38° 20′ N., lon. 92° W., wished to improve his spring, and in doing so, discovered, about five feet beneath the surface, a part of the back and hip bone. Of this I was informed by Mr. Wash (Walsh in pamphlet of 1843); and not doubting but the whole, or nearly the whole skeleton might be discovered, I went there and found as had been stated, also a knife made of stone. I immediately commenced opening a much larger space; the first layer of earth was a vegetable mould, then a blue clay, then sand and blue clay. I found a large quantity of pieces of rocks, weighing from two to twenty-five pounds each, evidently thrown there with the intention of hitting some object. It is necessary to remark, that not the least sign of rocks or gravel is to be found nearer than from four to five hundred yards; and that these pieces were broken from larger rocks, and consequently carried here for some express purpose. After passing through these rocks, I came to a layer of vegetable mould; on the surface of this was found the first blue bone, with this a spear and axe; the spear corresponds precisely with our common Indian spear, the axe is