Dr. II. Woodward — On Cave Hunting. 245 



and permanent molars of both the upper and lower jaws ; also a number 

 of tusks of different sizes, though these included none of the tiny milk 

 incisors. No teeth which could be referred to very aged individuals 

 were obtained, for amongst the last true molars none have more than 

 half their full number of plates in use. 



" The series of teeth consisting of specimens of very small size, it 

 was natural in the first instance to compare them with the remains 

 of the dwarf species from the Pleistocene deposits of the caves and 

 fissures of Malta and Sicily. It was thought probable that they 

 would differ from these, the fact of the pigmy hippopotamus 

 of Cyprus being distinct from, those found in the other large 

 Mediterranean islands lending colour to the supposition ; this 

 expectation was fulfilled, for the Cyprus fossils do not appear to be 

 identical with any of the Maltese species, though they seem to come 

 nearest to Eleplias melitensis both in size and in the number of 

 plates in the molars. The number of these plates in auy particular 

 tooth is liable to vary to a certain extent, but on taking the average, 

 as far as this can be judged from the amount of material available, 

 the resulting ridge formula, exclusive of talons, is 



5 7-8 8 9 12 

 ~ 5 7-8 8 9 12 



which practically agrees with that of JS. melitensis given by 

 Dr. Falconer.^ 



" The teeth of the Cypriote elephant are considerably smaller than 

 those of E. mnaidriensis, from both Sicily and Malta, this being the 

 largest species from the last-named island. They also differ some- 

 what in their ridge formula, which is that mentioned above, while 

 Dr. Leith Adams- gives that of E. mnaidriensis as 



3 6 8-9 8-9 10 12-13 

 3 6 8-9 8-9 10 12-13 



" The Cyprus form seems to have been also slightly inferior in size 

 to E. melitensis, for its largest upper and lower molars do not equal, 

 either in length or breadth, some of the specimens of the corre- 

 sponding teeth of this Maltese species which are in the collection of 

 the British Museum. Its tusks differ from all those from Malta in 

 being compressed laterally, which character is especially noticeable 

 in those of the female and young ; further, they appear to be more 

 strongly curved than those of E. melitensis. 



" As a general feature it may be said that the molars from Cyprus 

 are, on the whole, more simply constructed than those of E. melitensis. 

 They show a still slighter tendency to ' crimping ' in the bands of 

 enamel, and are less inclined to develop the mesial expansion of the 

 plates of dentine which is not uncommonly found in the teeth of 

 E. melitensis, and is so conspicuous in those of E. Africnmis. 



*' It is well known that when the plates of an elephant's tooth first 



1 Pal. Mem., vol. ii, p. 298 ; London, 1868. 



2 Zool. See. Trans., vol. ix (1874), p. 112. 



