248 MR. BUSK ON THE REMAINS OF 
The data upon which this conclusion is based will be found in the Table of compa- : 
rative measurements. 
The shaft presents all the general characters distinctive of the elephantine femur, but 
at the same time exhibits, in several respects, differences (besides its size) which distin- 
guish it from that of either the Indian or African species. 
In order to render this more evident it will be necessary to say a few words with 
respect to the distinctive differences of the femur in those species, concerning which but 
little seems to have been recorded. 
On this point all that Cuvier * remarks is—“ that in the African Elephant the bone 
is slenderer [ plus gréle] and has a shorter neck, in consequence of which the upper end 
is not so wide transversely as in the Indian species;” whilst M. de Blainville , on the 
other hand, states that the African femur is thicker (plus gros), less flattened, and 
rather more convex in front, with a shorter and more upright neck. He also remarks 
that it presents the rudiment of a trochanter minor, and that the external side is straighter, 
and the trochanter major not so high, and furnished with a less-expanded (Gvasée) fossa 
behind. He states that, at the lower end, the condyles are more equal, especially in 
length, closer together, and consequently separated behind by a narrower sinus. 
Neither of these statements conveys much information; and that of M. de Blainville 
contains several particulars which are in direct variance with what I have myself been 
able to observe. In the first place, there is every reason to believe, and it will be seen 
from the figures in the Table of measurements, that the African femur is, as remarked 
by Cuvier, rather slenderer in proportion to its length than the Indian, though it does 
not seem that its transverse diameter across the head and trochanter is at all less. 
With respect to the rudimentary trochanter minor, noticed by Blainville, I believe it will 
be found usually considerably more developed, or, rather, more prominent, in the 
Indian than in the African femur, and that the digital fossa behind the trochanter is 
much deeper (and certainly more prolonged downwards) in the latter; whilst, as regards 
the condyles, there can be no doubt that they are far more unequal in length, if by that 
expression be meant the antero-posterior diameter, in the African than in the Indian 
species. 
The general form and characters of the femur of Elephants are too well known to 
require remark; but for convenience of description in what I have to say respecting the 
comparison of that of E. melitensis with those of the existing species, it is as well to 
observe that, notwithstanding its great compression in the upper part, and comparative 
rotundity below, the shaft is more or less quadrangular. It consequently presents four 
surfaces (anterior, posterior, internal, and external), separated by four corresponding 
angles. ‘Taking these surfaces and angles in the same order, it will be found that in the 
Indian Elephant the anterior aspect is nearly straight in the vertical direction, whilst in 
the African it is slightly concave, The principal other difference in this aspect is that, 
* Op, cit. i, p. 571, + Ostéographie des Mammiferes, iti. p. 42. 
