82 MR. A. L. ADAMS ON THE OSTEOLOGY OF 



The complete state of ossification of fig. 3, as compared with very much larger astra- 

 gals of recent species, shows that it was the matured bone of an elephant e\'idently not 

 much over 3 feet in height. 



Calcaneuji. — There are two types or forms, in three specimens, two of which are 

 precisely alike, whilst a third is slightly larger and diff'ers from them in the followmg : — 



A Type. — PI. XVI. fig. 4 represents a right calcaneum with the greater portion of 

 the astragaloid and the entire cuboid and peroneal facets denuded. It is an old bone, 

 however, the epiphyses being completely consolidated. As none of the articular surfaces 

 are preserved, there is little to add to the admeasurements given in fig. 4. The height is 

 3 inches ; total length about 4' 6 inches. The peculiarity, as distinguished from the other 

 two and also the same bone in the Asiatic and Mammoth, is the broader upper surface of 

 the heel, which, in this respect, assimilates to the African and E. meridionaMs ; but there 

 is a Mammoth's calcaneum in the Beechey collection, British Museum, like the last. 

 As to the curving or " saddle-back" of the heel, this would seem to be more decided 

 in the three Maltese specimens than in any of the recent, where, however, ordinarily it is 

 well developed, excepting in one massive heel-bone of E. meridionaUs, where the upper 

 surface is quite straight. From an inspection of numerous recent and fossil calcaneums, I 

 find the groove in the front tuberosity for the tendon of the tibialis is always pronounced 

 in old bones, and scarcely developed in young heel-bones of individuals of recent species 

 much larger in dimensions than any of the Maltese elephants, which is, of course, another 

 indication of the specimens in question having belonged to full-grown individuals. 



As regards the dimensions of the owner of fig. 4 — although doubtless it belonged 

 to an adult, and, as compared with recent species, to one of the height of that assigned 

 to the rather small tibia PL XV. fig. 3, with which it was associated in Mnaidi-a Gap, 

 this individual probably did not exceed 6 feet in height, consequently might stand as a 

 small-sized male or ordinary female of perhaps the largest form. 



B Type. — 1. The calcaneum PI. XVI. fig. 5 (right limb), and a less perfect specimen of 

 the opposite foot were both discovered in Benghisa Gap, in conjunction with other bones, 

 including the lunare and cuneiform, PI. XVIII. figs. 4 & 9 ; all are doubtless referable to 

 the smaller Elephant. The epiphyses are completely consolidated, and the bone uninjured, 

 with the exception of the loss of a portion of the internal astragaloid facet. As just 

 observed, it displays the narrow upper surface of the heel of the Indian and Mammoth 

 so pointedly as to at once distinguish it from the last. Here the interosseous pit, as in 

 the Maltese astragals, is broader about the middle than in, at all events, any recent bones 

 I have seen. Again, the cuboidal facet is apparently more extensive in the fossil, stretch- 

 ing across the bone, and is not so oval, which peculiarity agrees with the opposing 

 surface of the cuboid, as will be shown presently. The saddle-shaped heel seems to 

 be more decided in this instance than in the last specimen, and to as great an extent as 

 in the Indian, the arc of the circle being fully 0-7 inch'. The peroneal facet is also 



' This might, like the large articular facets of the other foot-hones to be noticed in the sequel, have added to 

 the activity of the animal ; a high heel would throw more weight on the anterior portion of the foot. 



