398 



NATURE 



[December 9, 1915 



DISCOVERYOFA SKI:LET0JV0FE\ALFH\S 

 ANTIQUUS AT UPNOR, NEAR CHATHAM. 



THREE or four years ag-o a party of Royal 

 Engfineers was digging: a trench on the 

 banks of the Medway at Upnor, opposite Chatham 



Fig. I.— Section at Upnor showing chalk below with Thanet sands above ; the alluvium in which the 

 bones occur was depo-ited against these. The actual spot where the skeleton was found is at the 

 far end of the section. 



Dockyard. In the course of their work they came 

 across a number of large bones, some of which 

 were destroyed together with a tusk of great 

 size ; at this point they suspended 

 operations. Some time later Mr. 

 S. Turner, of Luton, was col- 

 lecting flint implements in the 

 neighbourhood and picked up 

 some pieces of bone, which he sent 

 to the Natural History Museum 

 for identification. One of these 

 pieces was recognised as being 

 a carpal bone of a large elephant, 

 and in the autumn of 1913 it was 

 decided to examine the spot in 

 the hope that further remains 

 would be found. From this ex- 

 amination it became clear that a 

 considerable portion, at least, of 

 the skeleton of a very large ele- 

 phant still remained buried in the 

 clay, and a few bones, including 

 an enormous axis vertebra, were 

 collected. The weather then be- 

 coming very wet, operations 

 were discontinued and, for 

 various reasons, not resumed till 

 the past summer. Then, after 

 arrangements had been made with the military 

 authorities, the work of excavation was renewed, 

 and was carried on until there was no hope of 

 further discoveries. 



The bones were in an extremely fragile condi- 

 NO. 2406, VOL. 96] 



tion, and in many cases were so near the surface 

 that they were perforated by the roots of the 

 vegetation growing above them and by worm- 

 burrows. The method of extraction is shown in 

 Fig. 2. The upper surface and edges were first 

 exposed and then completely 

 - covered with a series of strips of 



coarse canvas dipped in plaster of 

 Paris ; next the specimens were 

 undercut and turned over, when 

 the encasing process was com- 

 pleted. This work was skilfully 

 carried out by Mr. L. E. Parsons, 

 jun., and thus a large part of the 

 skeleton was safely removed. 



The chief portions collected are 

 a tusk about 8 ft. long, por- 

 tions of the skull and mandible 

 (very imperfect) with one lower 

 and two upper molars in very 

 good condition, numerous verte- 

 brae, and sufficient limb bones of 

 one side or the other to render it 

 possible to restore the fore- and 

 hind-legs almost completely. The 

 teeth indicate that the animal is 

 Elephas ayitiquus, and the dis- 

 covery is of especial importance 

 because this is the first instance, 

 in this country, at least, in which 

 teeth and a great part of the 

 skeleton have been found in association. Hitherto 

 there has always been uncertainty as to whether 

 bones found were certainly those of E. antiquus 



Fio. 2. — Showing an os innominatum and a femur 



or not ; now it will be possible to give a nearly 

 complete account of the osteological characters 

 of that species. 



The limb bones indicate that the animal was 

 of enormous size, comparison with bones of an 



