ELEPHAS PRIMIGENIUS. 265 



of the Mammoth, Mr. Adams visited the spot, and " found 

 the Mammoth still in the same place, but altogether mu- 

 tilated. The prejudices being dissipated because the Tun- 

 gusian chief had recovered his health, there was no ob- 

 stacle to prevent approach to the carcass of the Mammoth; 

 the proprietor was content with his profit from the tusks ; 

 and the Jakutski of the neighbourhood had cut off the 

 flesh, with which they fed their dogs during the scarcity. 

 Wild beasts, such as white bears, wolves, wolverenes, and 

 foxes, also fed upon it, and the traces of their footsteps 

 were seen around." The skeleton, almost entirely cleared 

 of its flesh, remained whole, with the exception of one 

 fore-leg, (probably dragged off by the bears). The spine, 

 from the skull to the os coccygis, one scapula, the pelvis, 

 and the three remaining extremities, were still held to- 

 gether by the ligaments, and by parts of the skin. The 

 head was covered with a dry skin ; one of the ears, well 

 preserved, was furnished with a tuft of hair. The point 

 of the lower lip had been gnawed ; and the upper one, 

 with the proboscis, having been devoured, the molar teeth 

 could be perceived. The brain was still in the cranium, 

 but appeared dried up. The parts least injured were one 

 fore-foot and one hind-foot : they were covered with skin, 

 and had still the sole attached. According to the asser- 

 tion of the Tungusian discoverer, the animal was so fat, 

 that its belly hung down below the joints of the knees. 

 This Mammoth was a male, with a long mane on the 

 neck; the tail was much mutilated, only eight, out of 

 twenty-eight or thirty caudal vertebrae, remaining ; the 

 proboscis was gone, but the places of the insertion of its 

 muscles were visible on the skull. The skin, of which 

 about three-fourths were saved, was of a dark grey colour, 

 covered with a reddish wool, and coarse long black hairs. 



