ig* Dr. Falconer and Capt. Cautley 



hibits, render the Sivatherlum one of the most remarkable of the past tenants 

 of the globe that have hitherto been detected in the more recent strata. 



Of the numerous fossil mammiferous genera discovered and established 

 by Cuvier, all were confined to the Pachydermata. The species belonging 

 to other families have all their living representatives on the earth. Among 

 the Ruminantia, no remarkable deviation from existiug types has hitherto 

 been discovered, the fossil being closely allied to living species. The 

 isolated position, however, of the Girafie and the CamclidcB, made it pro- 

 bable, that certain genera had become extinct, which formed the connect- 

 ing links between those and the other genera of the family, and further 

 between the Ruminantia and the Pachydermata. In the Sivatherium* we 

 have a ruminant of this description connecting the family with the Pachyder- 

 mata, and at the same time so marked by individual peculiarities as to be 

 without an analogue in its order. 



The fossil remain of the Sivatherium, from which our description is 

 taken, is a remarkably perfect head. When discovered, it was fortunately 

 so completely enveloped by a mass of stone, that although it had long been 

 exposed to be acted upon as a boulder in a water-course, all the more 

 important parts of structure had been preserved. The block might have 

 been passed over, but for an edging of the teeth in relief from it, which 

 gave promise of something additional concealed. After much labour, the 

 hard crystalline covering of stone was so successfully removed, that the 

 huge head now stands out with a couple of horns between the orbits, 

 broken only near their tips, and the nasal bones projected in a free arch, 

 high above the chaffron. All the molars on both sides of the jaw are pre- 

 sent and singularly perfect. The only mutilation is at the vertex of the 

 cranium, where the plane of the occipital meets that of the brow ; and 

 at the muzzle, which is truncated a little way in front of the first molar. 

 The only parts which are still concealed, are a portion of the occipital, the 

 zygomatic fossae on both sides, and the base of the cranium over the sphe- 

 noid bone. 



The form of the head is so singular and grotesque, that the first glance 

 at it strikes one with surprise. The prominent features are— 1st, the great 

 size, approaching that of the elephant: 2nd, the immense development 

 and width of the cranium behind the orbits : 3rd, the two divergent osseous 

 cores for horns starting out from the brow, between the orbits : 4th, the 

 form and direction of the nasal bones, rising with great prominence out of 

 the chaffron, and overhanging the external nostrils in a pointed arch : 5th, the 

 great massiveness, width and shortness of the face forward from the orbits : 

 6th, the great angle at which the grinding plane of the molars deviates up- 

 wards from that of the base of the skull. 



* We have named the fossil, Sivatherium, from Siva, the Hindu God, and 

 S»j<a» bcllua. The Sivalik or Sub-Himalayan range of hills, is considered in the 

 Hindu mythology, as the Lutiah or edge of the roof of Siva's dwelling in the 

 HimAlaya, and hence they are called the Siva-ala or Sib-ala, which by an easy 

 transition of sound became the Sewalik of the English. The fossil has been dis- 

 covered in a tract which may be included in the Sewalik range, and we have given 

 the name of Sivalkerium to it, to commemorate this remarkable formation, so rich 

 in new animals. Another derivation of the name of the hills, as explained by the 

 Mahant or High Priest at Dehrn, is as follows : 



Sewalik, a corruption of Siva-wdla, a name given to the tract of mountains be- 

 tween the Jumna and Ganges, from having been the residence of Iswara Siva 

 and his son Gane's, who under the form of an elephant had charge of the Wes- 

 terly portion from the village of Dudhli to the Jumna, which portion is also 

 called Gangaja, gaja being in Hindi an elephant. That portion eastward from 

 Dudhli, or between that village and Haridwar, is called Deodhar, from its being 

 the especial residence of Deota or Iswara Siva : the whole tract however between 

 the Jumna and Ganges is called Siva-ala, or the habitation of Siva ; unde der. 

 Sewalik. 



