THE MALTESE FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



87 



whereas in the African (708 A) and an old foot of the Indian (2543, E. C. S.) there 

 are two facets for the second cuneiform. 



1. The right cuneiform (PI. XVII. fig. 2) appertains most probably to naviculare 

 fig. 1, both having been discovered side by side. Like it, the bone in question is 

 scarcely equal to the same of the young Asiatic (2677 a), which is somewhat smaller 

 than the other fossil cuneiform above-mentioned of the left foot from the same 

 locality. 



2. The second specimen, like the last, shows all the characters of the mature bone, 

 with its rough exterior and well-marked facets. The entire length and breadth are 2"8 by 

 1'7 inch, thickness 0'8. As usual, the naviculare surface is concave and 2 by 1'4 inch, 

 the same, or almost the same, being the dimensions of the metatarsal ; the latter, how- 

 ever, does not show the exact boundaries of its articular surfaces, which Cuvier seems 

 to consider diagnostic of the feet of the two living species '. 



Middle Cuneiform. 

 The only representative of this bone in my collection is the perfect specimen repre- 

 sented in PI. XVII. fig. 3. It shows the anterior surface of a left meso-cuneiforme 

 fi-om Mnaidra Gap, where it was discovered in close proximity to the external cunei- 

 forms just described, and in all probability belonged to the larger of the two. The 

 apex (a) is here rounded, such as is usually observed in the young bone of the Indian 

 and Mammoth, the adult (including the African) having it more or less curved. But the 



Mg. 5. 



No. 3. 



No. 2. 



Middle Cuneiform of the African (1), Asiatic (2), and Maltese (3) Elephants. 



dorsal surface rises to a point {b) internally, and is also distinct from either recent bones, 

 which, again, difier more or less from one another. At all events, that of 708 /* (African, 



■ Ossem. Fossiles, tome i. pp. 497 & 572. 



