1890.] MR. R. I.YDEKKER ON A CERVINE JAW. 603 



crowns, with a very bold internal cin^ulum, rising between the two 

 inner columns into a flattened triangular accessory column. On the 

 outer or external aspect these teeth are remarkable for the excessive 

 development of the oblique ridges forming the lateral borders of the 

 outer columns, or crescents, so that distinct cavities are produced on 

 the outer surface by the reflection of these bordering ridges. The 

 antero-external extremity of the second inner crescent runs up nearly 

 to the extremity of the interval between the outer crescents after the 

 fashion of the Cervidce. 



The premolars are likewise characterized by the strong develop- 

 ment of the internal cingulum, and the reflection of the lateral ridges 

 of the external surface of the outer crescent. 



From the general characters of the teeth, as detailed above, more 

 especially the brachydontism of the crowns, the form of the inner 

 accessory column, and the outward extension of the antero-internal 

 angle of the second inner crescent, I have no doubt that the specimen 

 is referable to one of the Cervidce. It indicates a Stag of somewhat 

 smaller dimensions than Cervus cashmirianus. No existing species 

 of Cervus that has come under my observation has teeth with the 

 large inner cingulum and complex outer surface which characterizes 

 the present specimen. 



I have, indeed, found a few isolated teeth of the extinct O.giganteua, 

 as exemplified by specimens in the Natural History Museum, pre- 

 senting an inner cingulum approximating to that found in the molars 

 of the jaw under consideration ; but such teeth do not show the 

 ' pocketed ' external surface found in the fossil molars. The nearest 

 approach to the latter feature that I have observed occurs in the 

 molars of some of the larger species of the Rusine group of the genus 

 Cervus ; but all the members of that group are widely differentiated 

 from the fossil by their hypsodontism. 



In the memoirs of Monsieur P. Thomas on the Fossil Mammals 

 of Algeria, pubhshed in the Mem. Soc. Geol. France and elsewhere, 

 there is no mention of any teeth like those of the specimen before 

 us, nor indeed is there any species of Cervus described from the 

 later Tertiaries of Algeria. 



Seeing, then, that the specimen under consideration appears to 

 indicate a species decidedly specifically distinct from all existing Cer- 

 vidce, and which cannot be identified with any fossil form known 

 to me, I may be justified in regarding it, at least provisionally, as 

 representing a new species, for which I propose the name of Cervus 

 algericus. 



This species may be defined as follows : — 



Somewhat smaller in size than Cervus cashmirianus, with brachy- 

 dont molars, having a very large inner cingulum, and the external 

 surface complicated by the excessive development and reflection of 

 the lateral ridges of the outer crescents so as to form distinct pockets 

 on this surface at the base of the ridges in question. 



The teeth of this specimen appear to represent the most complex 

 type of brachydont and selenodont molars yet described ; and I 

 venture to hope that the description of this specimen may lead 



