THE MALTESE FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 65 



be 13 inches in length, the above would be much too large; and if we allow femur 

 PL XIV. fig. 3 a length of 22 inches, the proportion would be in excess on the side of 

 the femur. 



The femur and fibula of the Oxford-University and King's-College Museum specimens 

 are 21 & 10 inches respectively; so that the maximum femur of E. falconeri, being 

 given at 13 inches, would in proportion allow of only 6 inches to its fibula ; and seeing 

 that neither of the former was quite 4 feet, I am inclined to think Mr. Busk's estimate 

 may be low for the femur of this pygmy, which, however, may have had shorter thigh- 

 and leg-bones in proportion, just as I have pointed out in the tibia of the large form. 



Patella. 



A Series. — 1. Four specimens referable to the larger form were discovered in Mnaidra 

 and Gandia, and one belonging to the spiall form in Benghisa Gap. With reference 

 to the former, the patella PI. XV. fig. 8 is of the left side ; the maximum breadth of 

 its inner facet is 1'8 inch, and of the outer 1"3, the greatest thickness being 2-2. 



2. Another of the same side is more oval in outline; its length is 3"7 inches, breadth 

 of inner facet 1'6, and outer 1'4, the greatest thickness being 2. Both these and a 

 third in the University of Malta, from Gandia Fissure, as compared with any of the 

 femurs above described, seem to represent animals equivalent to the o\vners of the 

 largest bones in my collection, i. e. to an elephant fully 7 feet in height. As compared 

 with that of the Sumatran (British Museum), they are rather larger, seeing that its 

 patella is 3-6 inches in length, the outer facet being 1-3, and inner 1'5. 



3. The right and left femurs (PI. XIV. figs. 1 & 2) had their patellae evidently attached 

 when deposited in Mnaidra Gap, seeing that between the condyles and the heads of 

 their tibise there lay two patellae, of which the right is shown in PL XV. fig. 7, and 

 displays the same sharpness of the outer border as compared with the thickening of the 

 internal, and thus characteristic of the last described, whilst the left, like fig. 8, is oblong. 

 Its articular facets show, the outer 1'2 inch in breadth, and the inner 1-5, thickness 1'9, 

 which are about the dimensions of the patella of the elephant in Guy's-Hospital 

 Museum and in the Netley Hospital, both representing the adolescent stage and indi- 

 viduals about 6 '5 feet at the shoulder. I am aware that this comparison does not tally 

 with the relative lengths of the respective femurs ; but the data furnished seem to show 

 that the large Maltese form had altogether shorter and stouter extremities than, at all 

 events, the Asiatic species. 



B Series. — The perfect little patella fig. 6 being found so close to femur PL XIV. 

 fig. 3, in Benghisa Gap, and being also of the right limb, renders it highly probable 

 that they belonged to the same animal. The breadth of its external facet is 0'8 inch, 

 and internal l^l, thickness 1'4. 



The characters of the patella in the two recent species are not difiisrent ; but, as far 

 as materials extend, it would appear that the bone is relatively broader in the African. 



VOL. IX. — PAKT I. November, 1874. K 



