1873.] *>° [Oope. 



The anterior limb was stouter than the posterior, judging from the 



proportions in Eobasileus pressicomis, and were no doubt more elevated, 



if of the Proboscidian character. This would give us the hypothetical 



elevation at the withers : 



Inches. 



Leg 61.00 



Scapula (actual) 21.00 



Neural spines (extremities) 7.00 



Or seven feet, five inches 89.00 



These measurements are made from the plantar and palmar surfaces, 

 allowance being made for the pads. 



The neck, estimating from the dorsal vertebrae and from the cervicals 

 of other species preserved, could not have exceeded one foot in length, and 

 may have been less. This added to the length of the cranium, gives a 

 total of about four feet. The obliquity of the antero-posterior axis of 

 the cervical vertebrae, indicates that the head was posteriorly elevated 

 above the axis of the dorsal vertebrae. Thus it is entirely clear, that the 

 muzzle of this animal could not have reached the ground by several feet, 

 and that, as occurs in the similar cases of the Tapirs and Elephants there 

 was a proboscis to supply that necessity. The indications derived from 

 the bones of the muzzle confirm this conclusion, as has been already 

 pointed out. There could have been no interference from the horns near 

 the ends of the nasal bones, for the bases of these project beyond the 

 origin of a proboscis, and were directed outwards while the latter hung 

 downwards. 



This species was probably quite as large as the Indian Elephant, for 

 the individual described is not adult, as indicated by the freedom of the 

 epiphyses of the lumbar vertebra?, and fragments of others in my posses- 

 sion indicate considerably larger size. 



Habits. The very weak dentition indicates soft food, no doubt of a 

 vegetable character, of what particular kind it is not easy to divine. The 

 long canines were no doubt for defense chiefly, and may have been use- 

 ful in pulling and cutting vines and branches of the forest. The horns 

 furnished formidable weapons of defense. That the anterior nasal pair 

 were not used for rooting in the earth is evident from the elevation of the 

 head, which would render this impossible. 



This huge animal must have been of defective vision, for the orbits 

 have no distinctive outline, and the eyes were so overhung by the horns 

 and cranial walls as to have been able to see but little upwards. The 

 muzzle and cranial crests have obstructed the view both forwards and 

 backwards, so that this beast probably resembled the Rhinoceros in the 

 ease with which it might have been avoided when in pursuit. 



Locality. The remains of the Loxolophodon comutus were found by the 

 writer in August, 1872, in a ravine of the bad lands of Wyoming. The 

 greater part of the cranium and the femur were excavated from the base 

 of a cliff of perhaps 250 feet in height, on the side of a ravine elevated 



