PACHYDERMATA. 



129 



together by a third substance, termed the cortical; in a wora, similar to tliose we have ab-eady seen 

 in the Cavies, and some other Rodents. These grinders succeed each other not vertically, as our 

 permanent teeth replace the milk teeth, but from behind forwards, so that as fast as one tooth becomes 

 worn, it is pushed forward by that which comes after it ; hence it happens that the Elephant has 

 sometimes one, sometimes two grinders on each side, or four or eight in all, according to its age. The 

 first of these teeth is always composedof fewer lamina; than those which succeed them. It is stated that 

 certain Elephants thus change their molars eight times : their tusks, however, are changed but once. 



The Elephants of the present day, covered with a rough skin nearly destitute of hair, inhabit only 

 the torrid zone of the ancient Continent, where hitherto but two species have been discovered. 



The Asiatic Elephant (E. indicics, Cuv.). — Head oblong, with a concave forehead ; tLs crown of the grinders 

 presenting transverse undulating ridges (rubans), which are sections of the laminas whica compose them, worn 

 down by tritmation. Tliis species lias smaller ears than the next one, and lias four nails to the hind foot. It is 

 found from the Indus to the Eastern Ocean, and in the large islands to the south of India. From time immemo- 

 rial this species has been employed as a beast of draught and burden ; but has never yet propagated in captivity, 

 though the assertion respecting its modesty and repugnance to copulate before witnesses is utterly devoid of 

 foundation. The females have very short tusks, and in this respect many of the males resemble them. 



The African Elephant {E. africanus, Cuv.). — Head round, with a convex forehead; very large ears; and grinders 

 presenting lozenge-shaped eminences on their crowns. It appears to have often only three toes on the hind-foot. 

 This species inhabits from Senegal to the Cape of Good Hope. Whether they ascend the eastern coast of xVfrica, 



or are replaced there by the Asiatic species, is not yet 

 ascertained. The tusks of the female are as large as 

 those of the male, and the weapon itself is generally 

 larger than in the preceding. This animal is not 

 now tamed in Africa, though it appears that the Car- 

 thaginians employed it in the same way that the 

 inhabitants of India do theirs. 



In nearly every part of the two Continents, are 

 found, under ground, the bones of a species of Ele- 

 phant allied to that of India, but the giinders of 

 which bear straighter and narrower eminences, the 

 sockets for the reception of the tusks are much longer, 

 and the lower jaw is more obtuse. A specimen re- 

 cently taken from the ice on the coast of Siberia, by 

 Mr. Adams, appears to have been densely covered 

 with hair of two kinds, so that it is possible that this 

 species may have lived in cold climates. It [is termed 

 the Mammoth Elephant (E. primogenius, Cuv.), and] 

 has long been quite extinct. 



Fig. 54. — Mammoth Skeleton. 



The second genus of Proboscideans, or that of 



The Mastodons {Mastodon, Cuv.), — 

 Has been quite destroyed, no species of it being now alive. They had the feet, tusks, tnink, and many 

 other details of conformation the same as the Elephants ; but their grinding teeth ditfered in having 

 large conical tubercles above the gum, which, by detrition, were reduced to disks of various size, that 

 represent sections of the tubercles, (a conformation common to the Mastodon, Hippopotamus, Pig, 

 &c., which has induced the erroneous idea that the first were carnivorous). These grinders, which 

 succeeded each other from behind as in the Elephants, present also so many pairs of points, as the 

 animal was advanced in age. [There are small tusks in the lower jaw of the immature Mastodon, in 

 which state it is the Tetracaulodon of Godman.] 



The Great Mastodon (M. giganteum, Cuv.), in which the tubercles were lozenge-shaped, is the species most cele- 

 brated. It equalled the Elephant in size, but with still heavier proportions. Its remains are found in a wonderful 

 state of preservation, and in great abundance through all parts of North America*: in the Eastern Continent 

 they are of much rarer occurrence. 



Narrow-toothed Mastodon (M. a}igus(idens).—Mnch narrower grinders than the preceding, the tubercles of 

 which, when worn down, present trefoil-shaped discs, whence they have been mistaken by some authors for the 

 grinders of the Hippopotamus. This species was one-third less than the Great Mastodon, and much lower on the 

 legs. [Two or three have been confounded under its name.] Its teeth, in certain places, tinged with iron, become 

 of a fine blue when heated, forming what is called the " oriental turquoise." 



rfect skeleton, marie up lioweve 

 I.isLMim of rliilnilelpWa.— Ed. 



of the bones of different indiviHuats, found in the celebrated deposit of* Bij; bone iiek,' 



