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Mr. Lyell of the Siherian plains, with their innumerahle fossil
hones, the relics of many successive generations, there can
he little douht that the heds were accumulated either in a
shallow sea, or in an estuary. From the description given
in Beechey’s voyage of Eschscholtz Bay, the same remark is
applicable to the north-west coast of America: the formation
there appears identical with the common littoral deposits*
recently elevated, which I have seen on the shores of the
southern part of the same continent. It seems also well
established, that the Siherian remains are only exposed
where the rivers intersect the plain. With this fact, and
the proofs of recent elevation, the whole case appears to be
precisely similar to that of the Pampas: namely, that the
carcasses were formerly floated into the sea, and the remains
covered up in the deposits which were then accumulating.
These beds have since been elevated; and as the rivers
excavate their channels the entombed skeletons are exposed.
Here then, is the difficulty: how were the carcasses preserved
at the bottom of the sea ? I do not think it has been
sufficiently noticed, that the preservation of the animal with
its flesh was an occasional event, and not directly consequent
on its position far northward. Cuvierf refers to the voyage
of Billing as showing that the hones of the elephant, buffalo,
and rhinoceros, are nowhere so abundant as on the islands
between the mouths of the Lena and Indigirska. It is even
said that excepting some hills of rock, the whole is composed
of sand, ice, and bones. These islands lie to the northward
of the place where Adams found the mammoth with its flesh
preserved, and even ten degrees north of the Wiljui, where
the rhinoceros was discovered in a like condition. In the
case of the bones we may suppose that the carcasses were
* See som e r em a rk s b y D r . B u c k la n d o n th e s im ila r ity o f th is fo rm a tio
n W’ith th e d e p o s its so c om m o n ly fo u n d o v e r a g r e a t p a r t o f E u r o p e .
A p p e n d ix to B e e c h e y ’s Vo y ag e , p . 6 09.
f O s sem e n s Fo ssiles, vo l. i., p . 151.
drifted into a deeper sea, and there remaining at the
bottom, the flesh decomposed.* But in the second and
more extraordinary case, where putrefaction seems to have
been arrested, the body probably was soon covered up by
deposits which were then accumulating. It may be asked,
whether the mud a few feet deep, at the bottom of a shallow
sea which is annually frozen, has a temperature higher than
S 2 ° } It must be remembered how intense a degree of cold
is required to freeze salt water; and that the mud at some
depth below the surface, would have a low mean temperature,
precisely in the same manner as the subsoil on the land
is frozen in countries which enjoy a short but hot summer.
If this be possible,t the entombment of these extinct quadru -
* U n d e r th e s e c irc um s ta n c e s o f s low d e c om p o s itio n , th e s u r ro u n d in g
d e p o s its w o u ld p ro b a b ly b e im p r e g n a te d w i th m u c h a n im a l m a tte r ; a n d
th u s th e p e c u lia r o d o u r p e rc e iv e d in th e n e ig h b o u rh o o d o f th e s tr a ta c o n ta
in in g fossil b o n e s a t E s c h s c h o ltz B ay , m ay b e a c c o u n te d fo r. S e e A p p
e n d ix to B e e c h e y ’s V o y ag e .
t W i th r e s p e c t to th e p o s s ib ility o f e v e n ice a c c um u la tin g a t th e b o ttom
o f th e se a, I s h a ll o n ly re f e r to th e fo llow in g p a s sag e ta k e n from th e
E n g lish tr a n s la tio n o f th e Expedition io the E a s t Coast o f Greenland, by
Captain W. Graah, Danish R o ya l N a v y . “ N o r is th is th e o n ly d a n g e r to
b e a p p re h e n d e d : th e ic e o f f th is b lin k , ev en to a c o n s id e rab le d is ta n c e
from it, b e in g s a id to s h o o t u p from th e b o ttom o f th e se a in su c h a
m an n e r, a n d in su c h masses, as in m an y y e a rs to m a k e i t u t te r ly im p a s s a
b le . H ow to a c c o u n t fo r th e p h e n om e n o n to w h ic h I h a v e j u s t a d v
e rte d I k n ow n o t, u n le s s b y su p p o s in g t h a t th e b o ttom o f t h e se a i ts e lf is
h e re a b o u ts lik e th e d ry l a n d co v e re d w ith a th ic k c ru s t o f ice. B u t
w h e th e r th is c ru s t is fo rm e d u p o n th e s p o t, o r is th e r em a in s o f iceb e rg s
a n d th e h e a v y d rift-ic e fro z e n to th e b o ttom d u r in g s e v ere w in te rs , o r a
p o r tio n o f th e lan d -ic e , w h ic h lo a d e d w ith s to n e s a n d fra gm en ts o f th e
c rum b lin g h i ll h a s p r o tr u d e d i ts e lf in to th e se a, is a p ro b lem im p o s s ib le ,
p e rh a p s to so lv e .” A g a in h e s a y s : “ W e p a s se d i t w ith o u t a n y a c c id e n t,
a n d w ith o u t h a v in g o b s e rv e d a n y th in g o f t h a t u p h e a v in g o f th e ice o ff i t ,
to w h ic h a llu s io n h a s b e e n m ad e , th o u g h th e f a c t o f its o c c u rr e n c e c a n n o t
b e d o u b te d , th e v e ry n am e o f t h e p lac e , P u is o r to k , b e in g th e n c e d e riv e d .”
I t seem s fu lly e s ta b lis h e d o n e x c e lle n t te s tim o n y (se e J o u rn . o f G e o g r a p h .
S o c ., v o l. V., p . 12, a n d vo l. v i., p . 41 6 j a lso a c o lle c tio n o f n o tic e s in
E d in b u rg h J o u rn a l o f N a t . a n d G e o g ra p h . Soc., v o l. ii., p. 5 5 ), t h a t f re sh w
a te r riv e rs in R u s s ia a n d S ib e ria , a n d ev en in E n g la n d , o fte n fre e z e a t
i i . '1
’'(1
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