CHAPTER III 



THE ANCESTRAL HISTORY OF ELEPHANTS — 

 EXTINCT HORSES AND RHINOCEROSES — • 

 THE ARSINOITHERIUM. 



WHEN we compare the American mastodon 

 with true elephants, viz., the African, 

 the Indian, and the Holarctic one called the 

 mammoth, we find in the first place that though 

 the mastodon is as big a beast as any of these, 

 and very close to them in the form and arrange- 

 ment of its bones, yet there are two important 

 differences to be observed. These relate first 

 to the shape of the head, and secondly to the 

 shape and number of the teeth. If you look 

 at an elephant's skull (Fig. 70) and compare it 

 with that of a dog (Fig. 71) or pig, you will be 

 struck by the abrupt way in which the bones 

 of the face are set. The face is almost straight 

 so far as the bony parts are concerned — both 

 the upper and lower jaw are quite short. There 

 is, in fact, no " snout " indicated in the bony 



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