AMERICAN MASTODON. 211 



The bones of the fore-foot resemble in form those of the elephant, 

 but project forward instead of being arranged in a perpendicular co- 

 lumn, and the toes have evidently possessed great power of flexion. 



The pelvis is a broad massive bone, and was taken up entire. 

 It measures, between the illiac extremities, six feet and one inch. 

 The pubic and sacro-illiac symph5'ses are completely united by 

 ossification. The pubic bone, from the anterior to the posterior edge, 

 measures two feet. The thyroid foramen is nine and a half inches 

 long by five inches wide. The diameter from the sacrum to the pubis 

 is twenty-two inches ; the transverse diameter nineteen. 



The femur (thigh-bone) is three feet ten inclies long, and seven- 

 teen inches in circumference at the middle. The head of this bone 

 is two feet in circumference ; around the trochanter, three feet. 

 The great trochanter is very large, but in place of the lesser tro- 

 chanter is only a swelling and roughness of the bone. 



The tibia is two feet six inches long, and two feet seven inches in 

 circumference at the top. The articulating surface, where it receives 

 the thigh-bone, is one foot transverse diameter. The fibula is two feet 

 two inches in length. The bones of the hind-leg resemble in a won- 

 derful degree the same bones in man ; and it is not to be wondered 

 at, that when these bones have been found, they have sometimes 

 been mistaken for the bones of gigantic men. 



The bones of the legs, the tusks and the proboscis in this animal 

 are similar to those of the elephant. The structure of the remainder 

 of the skeleton is entirely different. The head of the elephant is 

 formed of bones more or less rounded throughout. The occiput 

 consists of two large lobes of bone, one on each side, with a deep 

 groove between. The lower jaw is convex on the lower side, and 

 teeth in that jaw are with the crowns concave from the front back- 

 wards, receiving the upper teeth which are convex to fit them. The 

 teeth of the elephant are nearly smooth, while in this animal they 

 are formed of two rows of conical prominences, from which the 

 animal receives its name, the two Greek words of which the name 

 s composed signifying a nipple and a tooth. 



It was formerly the opinion that this animal lived j)artly upon 



lesh. There is, however, satisfactory evidence, from its teeth and 



")' from the contents of the stomach, that its food was principally the 



J'' small twigs and branches of trees. It had little, if any, lateral 



^ VOL. II. — NO. II. E 



