NOTE ON ELEPHAS MERIDIOXALIS. 11 



congealed mud in which the bodies of such quadrupeds were 

 enveloped has never once been melted since the day when they 

 perished, so as to allow the free percolation of water through the 

 matrix, for had this been the case the soft part of the animals 

 could not have remained undecomposed." M. D'Archaic, an 

 eminent French geologist, expresses himself in similar terms. 



It seems probable that Siberia enjoyed at no very remote period 

 a climate sufficiently mild to afford, food for Elephants or 

 Rhinoceros of different species to those of the present day. It is 

 supposed that such large animals would require a luxuriant vegeta- 

 tion for their support, but Darwin shows this to be erroneous. He 

 says : " The southern parts of Africa, though sterile and desert, 

 are remarkable for the number and great bulk of their indigenous 

 quadrupeds." Dr. Andrew Smith saw in one day's march in 

 latitude 24 south, 150 Rhinoceros, several herds of Giraffes, and 

 his party killed in one night eight Hippopotamus. Yet the country 

 was thinly covered with grass and bushes alxmt 4ft. high. "Where 

 Mammoth's remains are now found in Siberia, lichens can only 

 grow. Stumps of trees occur on the tundras associated Avith their 

 roots and dissevered branches, which now grow a few degrees 

 south, and much dwarfed. We are forced to the conclusion, 

 therefore, that the temperature of Siberia was higher then than it 

 is now. The food of this giant animal consisted partly of the 

 leaves of fir, as shewn by their occasional presence in the inter- 

 stices of their teeth. As yet the contents of the Mammoth's 

 stomach have not, I believe, been examined ; the brain, muscles, 

 and tendons are the only portions which have -undergone a 

 microscopic examination. 



One of the constant characters of the Mammoth's molars of all 

 ages and of all regions, is that the enamel-ridges rise only a very 

 little above the ivory and cement. The alternate successions of 

 enamel, ivory, and cement, are more condensed, and a larger 

 number of plates form the part of the tooth which is in use. 

 Lartel gives from 20 to 24 plates in a molar about 9J inches 

 long. The number the same length of an Indian Elephant's 



