270 



skull of this creature that it had a fairly large proboscis, but, 

 unlike other elephants of the present time, the two tusks are in 

 the lower jaw and curve downwards instead of upwards. Dean 



Buckland came to the conclusion 

 that this creature was largely 

 aquatic in its habits, but this is 

 not certain. However, the aquatic 

 habits of the tapir, a distant rela- 

 tion of the elephant, show that 

 this conclusion is by no means an 

 impossible one. It is not easy to 

 imagine how such tusks were used 

 under water, as Buckland sug- 

 gested, to grub up aquatic plants; 



FIG. 106. Skull of Dinotherium but on land they could certainly 

 giganteum, from Eppelsheim. The . 

 lower jaw is a cast. An examination be used for rakm g U P t he ground, 



of the skull at the top will show that an( j perhaps in pulling down the 

 it is considerably crushed in. 



branches of trees. A length of 



eighteen feet has been attributed to this creature, of which the 

 skull is shown in Fig. 106, but this is probably an over- estimate. 

 A restoration is shown in Plate XLVII. 



THE MAMMOTH 



Many are the traditions and tales that have clustered round 

 the Mammoth. 1 He is, however, no fabulous product of the 



1 The word Mammoth is thought by Pallas and Nordenskiold to be of 

 Tartar origin. The former asserts that the name originated in the word 

 mamma, which signifies earth (the Mammoth being found frozen in the earth). 

 It was introduced into the languages of Western Europe about two centuries 

 ago, from the Russian. But other writers have attempted to prove that it is a 

 corruption of the Arabic word Behemoth, or " great beast," which in the Book 



