VII.—The True Horizon of the Mammoth

In the abstract of the proceedings of the meeting, on November 8th, of the Geological Society of London, I notice that on the reading of Dr. G. M. Dawsou's “Notes on the occurrence of Mammoth-remainsinNorth-West America” the author cites the presence of Mammoth bones in a layer of clay resting on the “ground-ice” formation of the northern coast of Alaska and other areas. I drew attention to this position of the Mammoth bones above the solid ice bothinNorth Siberia and Alaska, as proved by several explorers,inmy paper on “The True Horizon of the Mammoth” (GEOL. MAG., NO. 345, p. 107, March, 1893),inwhich I claimed for the Mammoth an existence long after the period assigned for its extinction by Sir Henry H. Howorth. I see that Sir Henry, in the discussion of the paper, very naturally disagreed with the conclusion of Dr. Dawson as to the age of what is called by American geologists the “ground-ice” formation, and was of opinion “that this ice has accumulated since the beds were laid down in which the Mammoth-remains occur, and that the ice was not there when the Mammoth roamed about in the forests where he and his companions lived.” Furthermore, he is reported to have said that “humus and soil cannot accumulate upon ice, except as a moraine,” both of which statements are controverted by the explorations of recent and competent observers who have examined these regions.