94 . ME. A. L. ADAMS ON THE OSTEOLOGY OF 



no means defined, as shown in fig. 5 a. The scar for the internal cuneiform is wanting, 

 as not unfrequently occurs in the Asiatic species ; it is, however, present in a similar 

 specimen of the right side, of slightly larger dimensions than the above. Moreover 

 there is no ridge between the middle and external cuneiform-facets ; but the facet for 

 the third metatarsal (b, fig. 5) is well shown on the upper and external margin, with a 

 deep kregular-shaped pit, c, which intrudes on the posterior face of the bone which, 

 but for the absence of any facet on its internal border, could with diflSculty be distin- 

 guished from a fourth metatarsal. 



5. The perfect specimen of a left second metatarsal, PI. XX. figs. 3 & 3 a, at once 

 assigns its position. The protuberant scar, b, for the internal cuneiform, and the ridge 

 dividing it from that occupied by the external cuneiform, with a prominent facet for the 

 third metatarsal on the external side, coupled with the diminutive dimensions of the 

 bone, at once proclaim the presence of a very small form of Elephant, inasmuch as the 

 epiphyses are completely consolidated. 



By way of comparison with recent species, fig. 3 and the second metatarsal of the 

 Kings-College and Oxford-University Museum skeletons, are of precisely the same 

 length, indicating an individual about 4 feet in height. 



Third Metacarpal, third Metatarsal, and their phalanges. 



The relative proportion of the third metacarpal in the African and Asiatic Elephants 



seems to me to be in favour of the bone being longer and more slender in the latter. 



It would appear, moreover, that the inner, outer, and lower surfaces are more flat and 



Iw tl// 0'»-'v«^ l^ss rounded in the African, its ettaetferm-facet being also much broader, and the aspect 



for the magnum not so concave. 



As regards the third metatarsal, the only seeming diff'erence is the more rounded 

 internal surface of the African specimen. 



The first phalanx of the third metacarpal in the African is a stouter bone, with less 

 of the compressed sides of the Asiatic; and its distal articular surface is less saddle- 

 backed. And, of course, the second phalanx has a proportionally more even articular 

 surface ; the proximal facet is nearly quadrilateral in the African, and almost oval in 

 the Asiatic. The same characters are apparent in their equivalents of the liind foot. 



How far these distinctions will be borne out in a series of specimens of the African 

 Elephant remains to be shown. 



The specimens in my collection and those from Zebbug, already described by Busk, 

 represent much diversity in size ; and although it is extremely difiicult, indeed seemingly 

 impossible, to assign to each then- proper position, I think, that all the following are 

 referable to the third fore or hind digit. I shall arrange them in series according to 

 dimensions. 



A Series. — The largest third metacarpal bones are represented by three specimens, 

 differing very little in size, but more in characters. The largest (PI. XIX. fig. 10) gives 



