400 PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIR TEACHINGS. CHAP. IV. 



M. Kaup proposed that of Machairodus for this new sub- 

 genus of Felidse; a term which is now adopted by palaeon- 

 tologists. 



A good model of the skull, with the jaws and teeth, is 

 placed on the uppermost shelf of this cabinet. This cranium 

 resembles that of the Panther, but the two enormous upper 

 canines impart a most peculiar character to its physiognomy. 

 The lower jaw has the symphysial portion of unusual depth, 

 and there is a depression on each side to receive the upper 

 canines when the mouth is closed. These teeth are of a 

 falciform shape, thin and broad, with their edges finely ser- 

 rated ; they are relatively thinner, natter, and wider, than 

 the teeth of the Megalosaurus : the fang is contracted and 

 solid. 



MACHAIRODUS LATIDENS. Room VI. The teeth obtained 

 from Kent's Cavern are placed, with other remains from the 

 same ossiferous deposit, in Room VI. They are stated by Pro- 

 fessor Owen to be specifically distinct from the M. cultridens 

 of the Val d'Arno, and the M. megantereon of Auvergne. 

 They are 6 inches long, and one inch two lines wide across the 

 base of the crown ; their greater width has suggested the 

 name of M. latidens; they are figured and described in " Hist. 

 Brit. Foss. Mammalia," p. 180. The animal to which they 

 belonged is supposed to have been as large as the Tiger, and 

 " to judge by its instruments of destruction, of even greater 

 ferocity." 



Two species of this remarkable genus have been collected 

 by Major Cautley and Dr. Falconer, from the tertiary deposits 

 of the Sewalik Hills. 



I must not dwell longer on the specimens in this Case, 

 except to notice the smallest, but most interesting, of the 

 fossil remains it contains, namely, the lower jaw of a Marsu- 

 pial Mammalian from the Oolite of Stonesfield. 



