Remains of domestic animals discovered among Post-Pleiocene fossils in South Carolina

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FRANCIS. S. HOLMES, A-M.,
| Professor of Geolosy and Zoology College of Chacoston, 8. C.; Member of the American ‘ |
A-sociatiun for the Advancement of Science; Corresponding Member Acad. )
‘ Nat. Sci., Pniladelphia, and Lyceum Nat. History. New-York ; )
| | and Curator of the Museum Nas. History, Siaie (gomiis c. 1
q | ALSO, EXTRACTS FROM A PAPER BY 5 ; i
| PROFESSOR LEIDY, OF PHILADELPHIA,
| | A _ AND A LUTTER BY i
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| CHARLESTON, § ©. |
"iy JAMES AND WILLIAMS, PRINTERS,

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To the Editors of the Charleston Mercury :

Messrs. Epirors:—Under the above head you
published, a short time since, a notice of the fossil re-
mains discovered in the marl-beds of Ashley River,
and included a short extract from a paper written by
the distinguished anatomist, Professor Leidy of Phil-
adelphia.

Your notice seems to have attracted general atten-
tion, but I regret to find by the letter you kindly
sent me, that one of your correspondents 1s afraid the
article in question may cause some misapprehension
of the views of Professor Liedy in regard to the ori-
gin of the recent or existing species of the horse in
North America. I have read with care the letter of
your Philadelphia correspondent, and for reasons that
will hereafter appear, I must, beg permission to re-
ply to it.

Why should he infer from your article on the fos-
sil remains of the horse, or from the extract from
Professor Leidy’s paper, that allusion was made to
the recent horse? ‘The opinion of Professor Leidy in
regard to the origin of our domestic horse, is not al-
luded to; your remarks are confined to the fossil re-
mains of this animal, and not a word is said about
recent species, or those now in existence,

The caption of the article must have excited the
apprehension expressed by the writer, and as this
heading may have been suggested by my note to you,
inclosing the extract, I feel myself responsible for it.

To avoid all misapprehension of the views of a
hig hly esteemed friend, and of my own also, I have

2

concluded to send you the accompanying additional
extracts from the same paper; it was kindly prepared
for me by Prof. Leidy, as a contribution to my work
on the fossils of South-Carolina. These extracts I
give now more cheerfully, as I find some time must
elapse before the number which will contain the
whole article can be published, with its numerous
illustrations.

I have also added a few remarks of my own on
these interesting remains.

Respectfully,

FRANCIS S. HOLMES.

Hossils of the Dost-aleiorene.

The post-pleiocene period is marked in the geolo-
gical sequence, as that interesting epoch when life
upon our globe was manifested in those organic
forms, chiefly of the same species, that belong to the
historical, or present period, and were obviously de-
signed ‘“‘ from the beginning ”’ to be the cotemporaries
and companions of man, who appeared immediately
afterwards: ‘‘The crowning point of creation.”

It is the last formation of the caznozorc or tertiary,
the epoch just antecedent to the advent of man upon
this earth; a period in which, it may be said, the
earth had been finally prepared and made ready for
him who was to be formed in the likeness of the
Creator, and was to have dominion given him over
the ‘‘fish of the sea, the fowls of the air, the beasts of
the earth, the herb and every creeping thing, yea—
over all the earth;” a period that will ever be distin
guished as the grand connecting lnk between the
past and the present.

3

Sir Chas. Lyell, who is considered the best au-
thority on tertiary geology, placed this connection in
a striking poimt of view, having ascertained that
ninety- five per cent. of the fossils of the post-pleio-
cene period, are identical with living species.

The crust of the earth, as far as the researches of
geologists extend, appears to be separated into strongly
marked divisions, that seem to have been formed
during four distinet and prolonged periods. ‘These
periods, for the sake of convenience, have been

‘named in accordance with the class of animals and
vegetables in existence during the formation of each,
evidences of which we find preserved in their fossil
remains.

The first division has been called’ Azozc, which
signifies without life; the rocks of this age consist of
granite, gneiss, etc.; they contain no traces of organic
forms, and being the lowest or first formed in the se-
ries, and originally in an incandescent state, passed,
no doubt, into the condition of rocks, before the cre-
ation of animals and plants.

In the second division, the Paleozoic, or ancient
life, we have indications of the first animals and
plants created, not one species of which has outlived
the convulsions that separated this period from its
successor; and that served, apparently, m each case
to mark the close of one period and the commence-
ment of another.

The next in order and third of the series, is named
the Mesozoic or middle life, and its fossils belong to
that middle or intermediate class of animals, between
the most ancient and recent forms. ‘These also in
turn became, like their predecessors extinct, and
were succeeded by a later creation.

The next and last age is named the Catnozoic—
recent ife—and by some authors called the TERTIARY,
or third grand division, and in which we discover, for
the first time, the created forms that are to be the
cotemporaries of man.

4

These divisions, or grand divisions, as they may be
called, are again sub-divided into minor periods or
formations; the first, consequently the lowest and
oldest in the series of the Catnozoic or TERTIARY, 1S
called Eocenr, for in it we find representatives of the
dawn or commencement of that creation; a few spe-
cles, two or three per cent. only, having been per-
petuated down to the present time.

In the Metocens, the next in age, a larger number
of species are found whose existence is thus prolonged.

In the PELIocENE, more recent, a majority of the
fossils are of recent species; and at last, in the Post-
PLEIOCENE—the most recent—ninety-five per cent.,
or nearly all the species, continue to recent times.

Now the evidence herein to be adduced will shew
that among the fossils collected in South Carolina’
from beds of this age—Post-PLEIocENE—some of
which are exposed at Ashley Ferry, Goose Creek,
Stono, John’s Island, and other localities, a number
have been found apparently belonging to animals
having specific characters in common, with recent or
living species not considered indigenous to this coun-
try, such as the horse, hog, sheep, ox, etc.

A large collection of fossils from this interesting
formation were submitted by me about three years
ago, to Professor Leidy, of Philadelphia, the eminent
paleontologist, for determination; of these a number
were returned with the remark, that they appeared
to belong to recent species which had become acci-
dental occupants of the same bed with the true fos-
sils. I held the opposite opinion, and believed that
these relics were indeed true fossil remains, as they
were obtained not only from the banks and deltas of
rivers, but a large number from excavations several
feet below the surface, and at a distance from any
stream, creek, pond, bog or ravine; and in some
cases from excavations below the high sandy land of
cotton fields.

5:

¢

In a letter to Dr. Nott and Mr. Gliddon,* dated
Feb. 10, 1857, Prof. L. writes: Ly

“Sometime since, Professor F. 8. Holmes, of Charleston, sub-
mitted for my examination, a collection of fossil bones from a
post-pleiocene deposit on Ashley River, S.C. Among remains
of the extinct horse, the peccary, mylodon, megatherium, masto-
don, hipparion, the tapir, the capabara, the beaver, the musk-rat,
etc., were some which I considered as belonging to the dog, the
domestic ox, the sheep and the hog. Prof. Holmes observes
that these remains were taken from an extensive deposit, in
which similar ones exist abundantly, and he further adds, that
he cannot conceive that the latter should have become mingled
witb the former, since the introduction of domestic animals into
America by Europeans. It is not improbable that the American
continent once had, as part of its fauna, representatives of our
domestic animals, which subsequently became extinct—though I
am inclined to doubt it; but what we have learned of the extinct
American horse, will lead me carefully to investigate the sub-
ject.”

The opportunity for prosecuting this investigation,
to some extent, | had the pleasure of affording Pro-
fessor Leidy, in March last, a month after the date
of the above letter. Dr. Hallowell and himself
visited me in Charleston, and | accompanied them
to Ashley ferry and Goose creek. ‘The annexed ex-
tracts are from a paper of Professor Leidy’s on this
topic, written after his return home to Philadelphia,
and he has also kindly sent me a number of very val-
uable drawings of fossil horse teeth, and other re-
mains obtained from the Carolina beds.+

“The interesting collection of remains of vertebrated animals,
which form the subject of the following pages, for the most part
have been submitted to the inspection of the author, by Prof.
Holmes and Capt. A. H. Bowman, U.S. A., who collected them
from the eocene, post-pleiocene, and recent geological formations,
in the vicinity of Charleston, South-Carolina.

“The collections of these gentlemen consist of a most remark-
able intermixture of remains of fishes, reptiles and mammals, of
the three periods mentioned; and in many cases perhaps we may
err in referring a particular species to a certain formation, more
especially in the case of the fishies. The remains usually consist
of teeth vften well preserved, but frequently in small fragments,
more or less water-worn, and most of the fossils are stained
brown or block.

* Indigenous races of the earth; p. xix.

+ Lithographs of these figures will appear in the volume, with Prof. L.’s paper.

‘

‘

“By far the greater portion of the fossil remains are obtained
from the post-pleiocene deposit of the Ashley River, about ten
miles from Charleston. The country in this locality is composed
of a base of whitish eocene marl, containing remains of sgualodon
—sharks and rays—above which is a stratum of post-pleiocene
marl, about one foot in thickness, overlaid by about three feet of
sand and earth mould

“The post-pleiocene marl contains great quantities of irregu-
lar, water-worn fragments of the eocene marl rock from beneath,
mingled with sand, blackened pebbles, water rolled fragments of
bones, and more perfect remains of fishes, reptiles and mammals,
belonging to the post-pleiocene and eocene fossils.

“ On the shores of the Ashley River, where the post-pleocene
and eocene formations are exposed, the fossils are washed from
their beds, and become mingled with the remains of recent indi-
genous avd domestic animals, and objects of human art, so that
when a collection is made in this locality, it is sometimes diffi-
cult to determine whether the animal remains belong to the
formations mentioned or not. Generally, however, we have
been able to ascertain where the fossils belong, which we have
had the opportunity of examining, from the fact that the greater
number were obtained from the deposits referred to in digging
into them some distance from the Ashley River.

‘The collections contain remains of the horse, ox, sheep, hog
and dog, which I feel strongly persuaded, with the exception of
many of those of the first mentioned animal, are of recent date,
and have become mingled with the true fossils of the post-pleio—
cene and eocene formations, where there have been exposed on
the banks of the Ashley River and its tributaries. In regard to
the remains of the horse, from the facts stated in the account
given of them in the succeeding pages, I think it will be con—
ceded that this animal inhabited the United States during the
post—pleiocene period, contemporarily with the mastodon mega—
lonyz, and the great broad fronted bison.

‘Many of the matromalian remains are of recent animals, or at
least are undistinguishable from the corresponding parts of the
latter; and if they are not accidental occupants of the post—plei—
ocene deposit, are highly interesting, as indicating their con—
temporaneous existence with many species and genera now ex—
tinct.*

‘It appears to be quite well authenticated that the horse,
which is now so extensively distributed, both in a wild and do-
mestic condition, throughout North and South America, did not
inhabit these continents at the time of their discovery by Euro-
peans. With this fact in view, in conjunction with the cireum—
stance that animal remains of late periods may become accidental

* Remains of the Tapir, Peccary and Cabybara present a similar association
of life to that now confined to South America.

7

occupants of earlier geological formations, we should require
strong evidence to be advanced before it is admitted that the
Horse belonged to an ancient fauna of the western world. At
the present time the evidence appears to be sufficiently ample to
justify the latter conclusion, and it is further sustained by the
discovery, in the same part of the world, of the remains of two
species of the closely allied genus Hipparion,

‘‘ Remains of the Horse, discovered in Brazil, Buenos-Ayres
Chili, have been indicated by Dr. Lund, Prof. Owen, M. Weddell,
and M. Gervais. These remains exhibit no well marked charac-
ters distinguishing them from corresponding portions of the ske-
leton of the recent Horse, and from a comparison of the figures
and descriptions which have been given of most of them, together
with some remarks of the latter author, it is doubtful whether
they belong to more than a single species, the Hquus neogaeus of
Dr. Lund.

“ Prof. Buckland and Sir John Richardson have described re-
mains of the Horse, discovered in association with tlose of the
Elephant, Moose, Reindeer, and Musk-Ox, in the ice cliffs of
Eschscholtz Bay, Arctic America.

“In the United States, remains of the Horse. chiefly consisting
of teeth, have been noticed by Drs. Mitchell,* Harlan,f and De
Kay,{ but these gentlemen have neither given descriptions nor
figures by which to identify the specimens. Some of the latter
are stated to have been found in the vicinity of Neversink Hills,
New Jersey; others in the excavation for the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal, near Georgetown, District of Columbia; and some
in the later tertiary deposite on the Neuse River, in the vicinity
of Newbern, North Carolina. Dr. DeKay, in speaking of such
remains, says, ‘‘they resemble those of the common Horse, but
from their size apparently belonged to a larger animal,” and he
refers them to aspecies with the name of Lguus major.

“Dr. R. W. Gibbes§ has given information of the discovery of
teeth of the Horse in the pleiocene deposit of Darlington, South-
Carolina; in Richland District of the same State; in Skidaway
Island, Georgia, and on the banks of the Potomac river. He
further observes that he obtained the tooth of a Horse, from
eocene marl, in the Ashley river, South Carolina, but the re-
searches of Prof. Holmes|| indubitably indicate the specimen to
have been an accidental occupant of the formation.

“Specimens of isolated teeth, and a few bones of the horse,
from the post-pleiocene and recent deposits of this country, have
frequently been submitted to my inspection. Many of these I
have unhesitatingly pronounced to be relics of the domestic

* Catalogue of Organic Remains, 1826, 7, 8.
+ Med. a. Phys. Researches, 1835, 267.

t Zoology, New York, pl. 1, Mammalia, 108.
§ Proc. Amer. Assoc:, 1850, 66.

|| Lbidem, 68.

8

horse, though I feel persuaded that many remains of an extinct
species are undistinguishable from the recent one.

“Whether more than one extinct species is indicated among
the numerous-specimens of tecth I have had the opportunity
of examining, I have been unable satisfactorily to determine.
The specimens present so much difference in condition of preser-
vation, or change in structure; so much variation in size, from
that of the more ordinary horse to the largest English dray
horse; and such variableness in constitution, from that of the
recent horse to the most complex condition belonging to any
extinct species described, that it would be about as easy to indi-
cate a half dozen species as it would two.

Under the circumstances, I would characterize the extinct
horse of the United States, as having had about the same size
as the recent one, ranging from the more ordinary varieties to
the English dray horse, with molar teeth, frequently compara-
tively simple in construction, but with a strong disposition to
become complex.

“Among the number of teeth of the horse in Prof. Holmes’
collection, labelled as coming from the post-pleiocene deposit of
Ashley River, there are several, which, from their size, construc-
tion and condition of preservation, I feel convinced are of recent
date; and these no doubt became mingled with the true fossils
of that formation where it is exposed on the Ashley River, in
which position I personally found undoubted remains of the re-
cent horse and other domestic animals, and objects of human
art, mingled with remains of fishes, reptiles, and mammals,
washed by the river from the banks, composed of eocene and
post-pleiocene deposits.

“Teeth of an extinct species of Horse, however, undoubtedly
belong as true fossils to the post-pleiocene formatious in the
vicinity of Charleston. These are usually hard in texture,
stained brown or black from the infiltration of oxide of iron,
sometimes well preserved, but more frequently in a fragmentary
condition and water worn. Generally they are not larger than
the teeth of the more ordinary varieties of the domestic horse,
and sometimes are quite as simple in the plication of their
enamel, but usually are more complex and sometimes exceed-
ingly so.

“Figure 1 represents a first superior molar tooth, neither
larger nor more complex in structure than the corresponding
tooth of the recent Horse. This specimen, which is dense and
jet black in color, was obtained by Prof. Holmes from a stratum
of ferruginous sand, two inches thick, exposed on the side of a
bluff, on Goose Creek, about twelve miles from Charleston.

“Having expressed a desire to see the locality from which
the tooth just mentioned was obtained, Prof. Holmes afforded me
the opportunity of doing so. The bluff is about thirty feet high;

9

its base is formed of a pleiocene limestone, about fifteen feet
thick and composed of the debris of marine shells; above this is
the stratum of ferruginous sand, of post—pleiocene age, cuntain-
ing numerous pebbles and rolled fragments of bone all blackened
like the tooth obtained from the same position. Overylying the
latter stratum, there is a layer of stiff blue clay, about two feet
in thickness, and above this there are about twelve feet of sand
and earth—mould.

“A similar blackened tooth was obtained from the same for—
mation at Doctor’s Swamp, John’s Island.

“ Figure 4 represents a very remarkably well preserved speci-
men of a lower molar above referred to, from Georgia, where it
was discovered by J. H. Couper, in association with equally well
preserved remains of other extinct animals. The tooth is brown
in color; and it neither differs in size nor form from its homo-
logue in the recent Horse.

‘“‘In the collection of fossils of Prof. Holmes, there is the spe—
cimen of an upper first large molar, labelled from Texas, repre—
sented in figure 5. The tooth is of the largest comparative size,
and exhibits the highest degree of complexity in the folding of
its enamel; in both of which characters it differs in such a re—
markable degree from the corresponding tooth, represented in
figure 5, from the post-pleiocene formation of South—Carolina,
that it appears hardly possible that these two teeth should be—
long to the same species of horse.

“A remarkably well preserved specimen of an upper molar
tooth, jet black in color, and an incisor, yellow and quite friable
in texture, both belonging to the extinct horse, from North-Car-
olina, have been submitted to my inspection by Prof. Emmons.

“Among the most interesting of the fossils discovered by Prof.
Holmes, in the post—-pleiocene beds of the Ashley River, are two
molar teeth of a species of the equine genus Hippotherium, These
are the first remains of the latter discovered in America, and they
indicate the smallest known species.

‘Both specimens are from the upper jaw; and they are well
characterized, not only by the isolation of the internal median
enamal column, but also by the complex plication of the interior
or central enamel columns.

“The Jarger specimen is firm in texture; has the enamel stain—
ed jet—black, and the dentine and cement gray.

““T have personally had the opportunity of inspecting remains
of the tapir, found in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi,
Indiana, Ohio and South—Carolina, proving an extensive range of
this animal at one time over the country of the United States.

“The specimens which were presented by Dr. Carpenter to the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, on close compar—
ison are not found to differ from the corresponding parts of the
living lapirus americanus.

10

“The post—-pleiocene deposit of the Ashley River, contain a
number of small fragments of molar teeth, and one nearly entire
and unworn crown of a second lower molar, which have the same
characters of form and size, as in the living tapir. Besides these,
the same collections contain fragments of lower molars, and two
nearly entire crowns of upper molars, having the exact form of
the corresponding teeth of the 7’. americanus, but larger in size.

“Teeth of the beaver, jet black in color, have likewise been
obtained from the post-pleiocene deposit of Ashley River.

“The collections contain numerous specimens of blackened
molar teeth, together with a few incisors and fragments of jaws,
from the Ashley post—pleiocene deposit, which neither differ in
form nor size from the corresponuing parts of the recent musk—
rat.

“ Remains of Zepus sylvaticus—common gray rabbit—have been
found in association with those of other rodents and of the ex—
tinct peccary near Galena, Illinois. A few specimens of molar
teeth, black in color, apparently belonging to this species, were
obtained from the post—pleiocene beds of the Ashley River.

“ Several small fragments of teeth of the Megatherium, in Prof.
Holmes’ collection, were obtained from the post—pleiocene bed of
the Ashley River. Previously to the discovery of these speci—
mens, remains of the Megathertum had been found in no other lo—
cality of North America, than in the State of Georgia.

**Two small fragments of lower molar teeth of Mylodon Harlani,
were obtained from the Ashley post-pleiocene beds. One of the
fragments is represented in figures 21, plate xvi, of ‘A memoir on
the extinct Sloth Tribe of North America,’ by the author,”

As regards the specimens of human art found as
above, itmust be remarked that it is only at this
locality—Ashley Ferry—that we find such relics.
Here at the base of a low bluff, is a beach of Focene
marl; above the bluff is a farm-yard, and all the
sweepings of the premises, consisting in part of old
hoes, broken plough-shares, and fragments of crock-
ery-ware, etc., are thrown into the river, and le min-
gled with the fossils which are washed out of the
bloff, and scattered over the surface of the beach
kelow, which is exposed at low tide. At no other
locality on this river, and there are several, viz:
Ramsay’s, Clement’s Greer’s , Middleton’s, etce., ee
similar fossils are foutidt do the obtain relics of human
art; at least, I have never found such.

11

The fossils from Ashley Ferry present, asa group,
the same appearance as those procured inland at some
distance from the river, by digging from three to five
feet below the surface. Many specimens from the
ferry were considered as recent by Professor Leidy ;
they appear quite fresh and unchanged in color, and
their texture not in the shehtest degree altered. To
one familiar with the fossils of the South Carolina
Post-Pleiocene, this excites no surprise, as it is of
common occurrence,’ more especially among the
shells; for example, the olive shell—Olva kterata—
is found as fresh and highly polished as the recent
ones from the sea-beaches along the coast; and Car-
dium magnum retains often, the delicate yellow and
brown markings; common to the species.

The color or texture of a fossil, therefore, does not
always absolutely determine tts relative age; as Pro-
fessor Leidy has himself remarked in a foot-note to
his letter alluded to above, viz:

“Fossilization, petrification, or Japidification, is no positive
indication of the relative age of organic’ remains.

‘*The Cabinet of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Phila-
delphia, contains bones of the megalonyx, and of the extinct
peccary, that are entirely unchanged; not a particle of gelatin
has been lost, nor a particle of mineral matter added, and, indeed,
some of the bones of the former even have portions of articular
cartilage and tendinous attachments, well preserved.”*

From the foregoing it would apppear that of the
ancient fauna of America, which included represen-
tatives of many of our present domestic animals,
some species have undoubtedly become extinct; but
I confess I am not yet prepared to admit from any
evidence yet adduced, or from my own examinations
that, all of the hving species are distinct from those
found fossil in the post-pleiocene. The teeth and
bones of the rabbit, raccoon, opossum, deer, elk, hog,
dog, sheep, ox and horse are often found in these
beds, and though associated with those known to be

* Indigenous races of the earth; p. xix.

12

extinct, such as mastodon, megatherium, hipparion,
etc., need not necessarily be referred to extinct races
also; since their remains cannot be distinguished
from the bones and teeth of the living species.

Of the mollusca from the same beds about ninety-
five per cent are to my mind identically the same
with species now living on the coast of South-Caro-
lina. ‘Two species of these shells though extinct, or
not in existence here, are now living in numbers on
the coast of Florida and the northern shores of the
gulf of Mexico ;* and two have no hving represen-
tatives that we can discover.+

The question therefore naturally suggests itself—
are the living horses, dogs, hogs, raccoons, opossums,
deer, elk, tapirs, beavers, etc., and the one hundred
and fifty living shells of the coast, the descendants of
the animals whose remains we find fossil in the above
named beds. ®

It has been just remarked that about ninety-five
per cent., or nearly all of the one hundred and fifty
shells of molluscous animals from these beds are
specifically identical with the recent or living species
of the coast,—two are found only at the south of
this, and two are. extinct. Of the vertebrates from
the same bed, the tapir, peccary, raccoon, opossum,
deer, musk-rat, rabbit, beaver, and elk have still their
living representatives, generically, if not specifically;
and even of the identity of species there seems to be
no doubt, as no anatomical differences can be dis-
cerned. ‘T'wo of these species, like the mollusca just
alluded to, no longer live in South Carolina; the
tapir and peccary are only found in South America
and Mexico; the musk-rat, elk and beaver, though
extinct on the Atlantic coast, are still living in the
interior of the country. And though it has been
acknowledged that the mastodon, megatherium, ele-
phant, glyptodon, and two species of Equine genera,

* Strombus pugilis; Gnathodon cuneatum.
{ Iyalea. Tellina.

13

etc., are entirely extinct, yet the discoveries made of
the remains even of some of these, would indicate
that they still existed at a period so recent, that, in
the language of Professor Leidy, ‘it 1s probable the
red man witnessed their declining existence.”

The peccary, or Mexican hog, an animal common
in Mexico, is not indigenous to the Atlantic United
States; but his bones have been found associated
with human remains in caves used as cemeteries by
the Aboriginees.* ‘A tomb in the city of Mexico,”
according to Clavigero, (’)+ ‘“‘was found to contain
the bones of an entire mammoth, the sepulchre ap-
pearing to have been formed expressly for their re-
ception.” And “Mr. Latrobe relates that during the
prosecution of some excavations, near the city of
Tezcuco, one of the ancient roads or causeways was
discovered, and on one side, only three feet below
the surface, in what may have been the ditch of the
road, there lay the entire skeleton of a mastodon. It
bore every appearance of having been coeval with
the period when the road was used.”

Again I extract from Prof. Leidy’s letter :{

“The early existence of the genera to which our domestic
animals belong, has been adduced as presumptive evidence of
the advent of man at a more remote period than is usually as-
signed. It must be remembered, however, even at the present
time that of some of these genera only a few species are domes-
ticated: thus of the existing six species of Hqguus (Horse) only
two have ever been freely brought under the dominion of man.

“The Horse did not exist in America at the time of its disco-
very by Europeans; but its remains, consisting chiefly of molar
teeth, have now been so frequently found in association with
those of extinct animals, that it is generally admitted once to
have been an aboriginal inbabitant. When I first saw examples
of these remains I was not disposed to view them as relics of an
extinct species; for although some presented characteristic dif-
ferences from those of previously known species, others were
undistinguishable from the corresponding parts of the domestic
horse, and among them were intermediate varieties of form and

* Bradford’s American Antiquities, p. 31.
+ Bradford’s American Antiquities, p. 227.
{ Nott and Gliddon, Indigenous races of the earth; p. xviii.

14

size. The subsequent discovery of the remains of two species
of the closely allied extinct genus Hipparion, in addition to the
discovery of remains of two extinct equine genera of an earlier
geological period, leaves no room to doubt the former existence
of the Horse on the American continent, contemporaneously with
the Mastodon and Megalonyx: and man probably was his com-
panion.”

The result of the whole seems to be, that of the
animals found fossil in the post-pleiocene beds, all
the mollusca of the present day are undoubtedly a
perpetuation of the same species; that of the high-
er order of vertebrata, the tapir, peccary, raccoon,
opossum, deer, elk, and musk rat are equally enti-
tled to be considered the descendants of this ancient
race. And if the claims of the mollusca to this dis-
tinction rests upon a secure basis, because they are
peculiar to this country, and not obnoxious to suspi-
cion ‘of foreign immigration, it must be recollected
that this is equally true of the above named animals.

Those which have hitherto been regarded as of re-
cent and European origin, are the horse, sheep, hog
and ox; and it must be reserved perhaps for future
consideration to determine how far the negative
proof of the non-existence of these animals in the
country at the time of its discovery may be regarded
in each individual case sufficiently strong to settle
the question of his extinction and re-introduction,
when so many of his associates and contemporaries
have succeeded in maintaining an unbroken line of
descent down to the present day.

By the steamer Isabel, just arrived from Key West,
(March Ist) I received the annexed letter from the
learned Professor Agassiz, to whom I had the pleas-
ure of exhibiting these interesting specimens, only a
few days ago, when he passed through Charleston,
en route for Key West:

15

Key West, Fes. 25th, 1858.
Professor F. S. Holmes:

My Dear Sir:—I have not forgotten my promise to write you
my impressions respecting your important discoveries of fossil
mammalia in the post-pieiocene beds of South-Carolina. Indeed
I have been thinking of them continually since I saw them, and
nothing impressed me so deeply for many years past as the
sight of these bones. I consider their careful study in all their
relations as of the utmost importance for the progress of our
science. It is true there is hardly any thing of interest in the
animals themselves, since they appear to be all well known
types, but their simultaneons occurrence in the same beds, show-
ing that they have lived together at a time when the white man
had not yet planted himself upon this continent, render their
association as undisputed. How does it happen, that horses,
sheep, bulls and hogs, not distinguishable from our domestic
species existed upon this continent, together with the deer, the
musk-rat, the beaver, the hare, the opossom, the tapir, which in
our days are peculiar to this ‘continent, and not found in the
countries where our domesticated animals originated? The
whole matter might seem to admit of an easy solution by sup-
posing that the native American horse, sheep, bull, and hog were
different species from those of the old world, even though the
parts preserved show no specific differences; but this would bea
mere theoretical solution of a difficulty which seems to me to
have far deeper meaning, and to bear directly upon the question
of the first origin of organized beings.

The circumstances under which these remains are found, ad-
mit of no doubt but the animals from which they are derived,
existed in North America long before this continent was settled
by the white race of men, together with animals which to this
day are common in the same localities, such as the deer, the
musk-rat, the opossum and others only now found in South Ame-
rica, such as the tapir. This shows beyond the possibility of. a
controversy, that animals which cannot be distinguished from
one another, may originate independently in different fauna, and
I take it that the facts you have brought together, are a satis-
factory proof that horses, sheep, bulls and hogs not distinguish-
able at present from the domesticated species, were called into
exisience upon the continent of North America prior to the com-
ing of the white race to these parts, and that they had already
disappeared here when the new comers set foot upon this con-
tinent; but the presence of tapir teeth among the rest show also
that a genus peculiar to South America and the Sunda Islands
existed also in North America in those days, and that its repre-
sentative of that period is not distinguishable from the South
American species.

It would be desirable in this stage of the enquiry to compare
your tapir teeth with those of the species from Central America,

16

which is considered distinct from the Brazilian species. This
circumstance leads naturally to the question of the specific
identity of all these animals with those now living in the same
locality, and with the domesticated species. And here I confess
the difficulty to be almost insuperable, or at least hardly ap-
proachable in the present state of our science, when the views
of naturalists are so divided as to what are species among the
genera bos, ovis, capra. For myself, I entertain doubt respect-
ing the unity of origin of the domesticated horses. But what-
ever be the final result of this enquiry, this much is already
established by the fossils you have collected, that horses, hogs,
bulls and sheep were among the native animals of North Ame-
rica, as early as the common American deer, the opossum, the
beaver, the musk rat, etc. What remains to be settled respecting
their specific identity is involved in the controversy now carried
on between naturalists, who admit specific distinctions upon a
very wide range of differences, and those who limit them within
narrow boundaries. But the final solution of this point can in
no way lessen the interest of your discoveries.

Should you publish anything upon this subject, let me have
your notice, for I am deeply interested in the subject, as I always
shall be, in everything you do.

Ever truly your friend,
L. AGASSIZ.

CATALOGUE OF MAMMALIA FROM THE POST-PLEIO-
CENE.
Extinct Spectes.—Mastodon, Megatherium, Megalonyx, Glyp-
todon, Mylodon and Hipparion, 2 species.

Not now Founp on tHE AtLAntic Coast, But InpicENous To Norra
Amertca.—Bison, Tapir, Peccary, Beaver, Musk rat, and Elk.

Tue Derr, Raccoon, Opossum, Rappir AND THE FOLLOWING Domzs-
vic Anttatns—Horse, Hog, Sheep, Dog and Ox are not distin-
guishable from the living species.

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