Memoir upon living and fossil Elephants. 24 7 



A third character is taken from the breadth, as well abso- 

 lute as proportional, of the teeth, being much more con- 

 siderable in the fossil elephant than in that of India. We 

 may ascertain this by referring to the fifth column of my 

 table. We there see that the fossil elephants have almost 

 all from 0-08 to 0-09 in breadth, and the teeth of the living 

 from 006 to 0-07. 



If these differences stood alone, perhaps they would not be 

 sufficient to establish a distinction of species ; but as they 

 agree with the differences in tht jaws and in the crania,, as 

 we shall soon see, they become important. 



But are there none else in the fossil state but these teeth 

 with narrow laminae ? 



I have mentioned a specimen already with broad laminae : 

 it was dug up near Porentrui, in the department of the Upper 

 Rhine. Without being very much altered, it is sufficiently 

 so to entitle it to the appellation of a true fossil. jNine la- 

 minae remain entire^ and an uncertain number have been 

 carried off from behind. These nine laminae are thick, 

 much undulated, and occupy a space of 0*180 in length : 

 their breadth is still more considerable than in other 

 fossil teeth, being O-ogo. This tooth must have belonged 

 to a very old elephant. 



M. Adrian Camper speaks of three fragments of fossil 

 ' teeth, which he has in his cabinet*, the laminss of which 

 are as broad as those in living elephants ; but we must 

 know whether the teeth to which these fragments belonged 

 had numerous or few laminaj, before we can institute a 

 comparison. 



M. Authenricth informs me that he saw at Philadelphia 

 some teeth, which, in his opinion, resembled much more 

 the African than the Asiatic elephant : but Mr. Barton po- 

 sitively assures me that these were fresh teeth brought from 

 Africa. That which was engraved for Mr. Drayton's work 

 upon Carolina, resembles the common fossil teeth ; and 

 those of which M. Humboldt brought over some fragments 

 from Mexico also resemble them, as well as those which 

 Mr, Barton speaks of. 



* Dtscr. anat. d'un Elcph. p. If). 



O 4 ]M. Hum- 



