282 On the Sivatherium giijanteiim 



h'to' 



bulk and armed head, few animals could be strong enough to contend with 

 it, and we may expect that its extremities were constructed more to give 

 support, than for rapidity of motion. But, in the rich harvest which we 

 still hope to reap in the valleys of the Markanda, it is probable that speci- 

 mens to illustrate the greater part of the osteology of the Sivatherium will 

 at no very distant period be found. 



The structure of the teeth suggests an idea regarding the peculiarities of 

 the herbivorous habits of the animal. In the description it was noticed 

 that the inner central plate of enamel ran in a flexuous sweep, somewhat 

 resembling what is seen in the Elasmotherium, an arrangement evidently 

 intended to increase the grinding power of the teeth. It may hence be 

 inferred, that the food of the Sivatherium was less herbaceous than that 

 of the existing horned ruminants, and derived from leaves and twigs; or 

 that as in the horse, the food was more completely masticated, the digestive 

 organs less complicated, the body less bulk}', and the necessity of regur- 

 gitation from the stomach less marked than in the present Uuminantia. 



The following dimensions, contrasted with those of the elephant and 

 rhinoceros, will aiford a tolerably accurate idea of the size of the Siva- 

 therium. They are characteristic, although not numerous : — 



Elephant. Sivatherium. ^"i"^" '-homed 



From margin of foramen magnum moceros. 



to the first molar 23-10 in. 18-85 in. 249 in. 



Greatest width of the cranium 260 220 12-05 



Do. do. of face between the malar 



bones..... 185 16 62 9-20 



Greatest depth of the skull 1780 11-9 1105 



Longdiameteroftheforamen magnum 2-35 2-6 2-6 



Short do. do. do 2-4 23 1-5 



Average of the above 15-06 12-.38 10-22 



If the view which we have taken of the fossil be correct, the Sivathe- 

 rium was a very remarkable animal, and it fills up an imporiant blank in 

 the interval between the Ruminantia and Pachi/dermata. That it was a 

 ruminant the teeth and horns most clearly establish; and the structure 

 which we have inferred of the upper lip, the osteology of the face, and 

 the size and position of the orbit, approximate it to the Pachi/dermata. 

 The circumstance of anything approaching a proboscis is so abnormal for 

 a ruminant, that at the first view, it might raise a doubt regarding the cor- 

 rectness of the ordinal position assigned to the fossil ; but when we inquire 

 further, the difficulty ceases. 



In the Pachi/dermafa, there are genera with a trunk, and others with- 

 out a trace of it. This organ is therefore not essential to the constitution 

 of the order, but accidental to the size of the head, cj- habits of the animal 

 in certain genera. Thus in the elephant, nature has given a short neck to 

 support the huge head, the enormous tnsks, and the large grinding apparatus 

 of the animal ; and by such an arrangement, tiie construction of the rest 

 of the frame is saved from the disturbance which a long neck would have 

 entiiiled. But as the lever of the head became shortened, some other 

 method of reaching its food became necessary ; and a trunk was appended 

 to the mouth. We have only to apply analogous conditions to a ruminant, 

 and a trunk is equally required. In fact, the camel exhibits a rudimentary 

 form of this orgim, under iliftcrent circumstances. The upper lip is cleft ; 

 each of the divii-ions is separately moveable and extensible, so as to be an 

 excellent organ of touch. 



The fossil was discovered near the Markanda river, in one of the small 



