45 



lion ; I have ventured to distirigLiisli him iiudtir 

 that genus, and have CviK^dhim the Megaloiiyx, 

 after the Greek, Avhich signifies the great lion. 



However presumptuous this step may ap- 

 pear, I found it essential to take it ; in order 

 to avoid the vulgar error of calling it '' mam- 

 moth," a term already bestowed on an animal 

 of the elephantine species, as heretofore provecl, 

 and of the herbivorous nature. Besides, in 

 a place which abounded with bones, I found it 

 absolutely necessary to have some system of 

 classification. For, in fact, I discovered re- 

 mains of no less than six species of incognita ; 

 three of which I have not as yet defined. But 

 would it be wise to blend them all together, 

 and, to save the labour of investigation, to 

 involve them all in the name of mammoth ? In 

 my first memoir I gave my motives for afiixing 

 this name to one particular animal, whose pro- 

 perties I described ;-— and in this, I give the 

 name of megalonyx to another, w hose capacities 

 I shall further explain. In zoology, this 

 name will, I imagine, class under felis, a ge- 

 nus of quadrupeds belonging to the order of 

 /era, the principal characters of which are 

 these, — the fore teeth are ecjual, the molares. 



