THREE EXTINCT SPECIES OF ELEPHANT. 289 



There is a small talon process appended to the last ridge, enveloped by cement. The 

 crown is worn low in front, and differs from those of the preceding teeth in maintaining 

 nearly a uniform width throughout, the others being nan'ow in front, and widening 

 suddenly backwards. The front fang is thick and massive, supporting two or three 

 ridges ; between it and the large back fang there are the remains of a series of smaller 

 fangs, more or less confluent with the latter, presenting characters widely different (in 

 the greater amount of complexity) from those yielded by fig. 4, and indicating, in 

 harmony with other pomts, that they were not teeth of equivalent age. A part only of 



the anterior talon remains. The dimensions are : — 



in. 



Length of crown 22 



Width in front 0-7 



Width in the middle 0-7 



Width at eighth ridge 0'7 



Height of cro^vn at the last ridge 0-8 



" So far as I am aware, no milk-molar of an Elephant, fossil or recent, has hitherto 

 been observed with so complex a crown, conjoined with such small dimensions. 



" 4. Uj)per Milk-moJars. — Of upper milk-molars the series is less complete than of 

 lower. Of the antepenultimate (m.-m. 2) or, as commonly called, first milk-molar, there 

 is no determinable specimen. But of the penultimate (m.-m. 3) a very beautifully pre- 

 served germ is represented by fig. (5 of the same Plate, top and side aspects. It consists 

 of the entire shell, before the ivory nuclei had become ossified, and without fangs ; the 

 layer of cement had not been completely formed, and is denuded from the sides. The 

 crown is of an oblong form, a little wider behind than in front, and is composed of five 

 principal ridges, with a distinct talon in front and behmd. The tips of the digitations 

 of the first ridge and talon are alone affected by wear, and tliat only to a slight degree. 

 Takmg into account the difference of upper and lower teeth in form, and the difference 

 in the stage of wear, it agrees closely in size and proportions with the inferior penulti- 

 mate shown in fig. 4 and already described. The ridges are seen to be separated by 

 rather wide intervals, and they are high relatively to the other proportions. The 

 digital terminations of the ridges speedily become confluent below the apex, this con- 

 stituting the principal cause of the absence of crimping in the enamel plates, noticed in 

 the description of the lower milk-molars The dimensions are : — 



in. 



Length of crown 1-4 



Width in front 0-6 



Greatest width behind O'S 



Height (greatest) of ridge plates 0-95 



The tooth is of the left side. There are in the collection a number of detached plates 

 of an unconsolidated germ tooth of the same age. 



