266 BRITISH MAMMALS 



reindeer and the horse, and probably equally truthful representa- 

 tions of the mammoth. The illustration, which is given from 

 the author's drawing, is based partly on one of the more 

 recently discovered and vivid of these representations.-^ In 

 1895 and in subsequent years MM. Capitane and Breuil 

 discovered on the walls of the Cave of Combarelles, in the 

 wild country of Dordogne, 109 engraved figures which date 

 from a period perhaps 20,000 years ago. 



In Ireland the mammoth appears to have lingered almost to 

 the verge of the Historical period, and it still lives in the legends, 

 myths, and fairy stories of the people.^ Mammoths may still 

 have been living in England 15,000 years ago, but it is probable 

 that they were extinguished in Great Britain at an earlier date than 

 in Ireland, and that they were saved from extinction in the last- 

 named island by its complete insulation. 



The molar teeth of the mammoth represent the extreme form 

 of elephantine specialisation in this direction. They are much 

 broader in proportion to the length than are those of any other 

 elephant ; and although they offer a close resemblance to the molar 

 teeth of the Indian elephant, they possess more enamel ridges. 

 These are much narrower and much closer together. The skull 

 differed from that of the Indian elephant by having a narrower 

 summit and more prolonged and stronger sheaths necessary to 

 support the roots of the enormous tusks. These tusks in the 

 male often attained a length of 10 ft., measured along the outer 

 groove. They were directed downwards and outwards, then 

 upwards and inwards at the tips, with a tendency to a spiral form. 

 There is, however, great variation in the shape of the mammoth 

 tusks, some of which describe nearly a complete circle, so that 

 there is but little space between the tip of the tusk and the 

 front of the skull, while others are nearly straight. The very 

 much curved tusks which predominated must have become a 



^ Partly also on skeletons of the mammoth and on the structure of the 

 Indian elephant and the growth of hair in its young. 



2 See for this an extremely interesting work, The Elder Faiths of 

 Ireland^ by A. Wood-Martin. 



