248 ME. 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 elephanthie 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 M'ill 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 recoi'ded. 



On this point all that Cuvier * remarks is — " that in the African Elephant the bone 

 is slenderer [plus grele\ 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 f , on the 

 other hand, states that the African femur is thicker {phis cjros), 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 (evasee) 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 Cuviei', 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 belie\e 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, 

 * Ojp. ci(. i. p. .571. t Osteographie des Mammiferes, iii. p. 42. 



