FAMILY ELEPHANTID^E j MASTODON. 323 



water deposits of the newest tertiary series. They are com- 

 monly associated with remains of other animals ; of which some 

 may be referred to existing genera ; whilst many (some of which 

 will be hereafter noticed) present forms, of which we have not 

 any representatives amongst the races now living. 



289. Nearly allied to the Elephants is an extinct genus, 

 termed the Mastodon, which was characterised by the form of its 

 molar teeth. These, instead of having the enamel disposed in 

 ridges, had their crowns raised up into conical eminences, with 

 deep furrows between them ; and these were worn down by 

 friction, into disks of various sizes, very much as in the Pig, 

 Hippopotamus, and other Pachydermata. In the young state, 

 moreover, there were small tusks projecting downwards, in the 

 lower jaw (as well as in the upper) of both sexes ; but both of 

 these disappear in the adult female, and only one remains in the 

 male. From the examination of a young specimen possessing 

 these tusks, it was at first supposed that it belonged to a distinct 

 genus, to which the name of Tetracaulodon (or four-tusked) was 

 given. The Mastodon giyanteus, of which a very fine skeleton 

 was recently (1842) exhibited in London, under the name of the 

 Missouri Leviathan, must have considerably exceeded in size 

 the largest Elephants of the present day. Its remains are con- 

 fined to the American continent, and are very abundant in some 

 parts, especially in the saline morass popularly termed the Big 

 Bone Lick. Some curious traditions exist amongst the North 

 American Indians regarding the colossal animals, of the existence 

 of which these bones now furnish the only evidence. Some of 

 them believe that they existed contemporaneously with men of 

 a corresponding stature, but that both these gigantic races were 

 destroyed by the thunderbolts of the Great Being, whilst others, 

 still attributing their destruction to the same source, suppose 

 that the male leader of the herd escaped to the Great Lakes, on 

 the borders of which they believe him to be still living. Several 

 other species of Mastodon, however, have been distinguished by 

 their remains ; of these some were natives of the Old World, and 

 probably even of Britain : but they were for the most part con- 

 siderably smaller than the gigantic Mastodon of North America. 



