242 MISS D. M. A. BATE OX [Mar. 5^ 



damaged anteriorly, are each situated iii a portion of a ramus ; 

 and belonging, as they do, to opposite sides of the mandible as well 

 as being m a similar stage of wear, it is thought that they may 

 have been owned by a single individual. On the left side 

 (M. 9383 «, PI. XII. fig. 1), in addition to the last molar, the 

 three posterior plates of M. 2 are also present. In M. 3 eleven 

 plates can be counted, but a considerable part of the posterior 

 poi'tion of the tooth is wanting. The fifth plate is slightly abraded, 

 and it is noticeable in both this and the companion specimen that 

 the enveloping cement on the grinding-surface of the crown is 

 somewhat scanty, with the result that all the enamel soon becomes, 

 exposed, even while the anterior poi'tion of the tooth may still be 

 but little worn. The second example (M. 9383 b) presents very 

 similar characteristics ; the presence of eleven plates can be deter- 

 mined, but damage anteriorly and concealment of the tooth behind 

 by the bone and mati-ix make it impossible to ascertain the original 

 total. 



The one other last true molar (M. 9381, PL XII. fig. 3), an 

 isolated tooth of the left side, is almost perfectly preserved except 

 for the loss of the greater part of the first and a portion of the 

 second plate. It is considerably curved, this being accentuated by 

 the angle at which the hinder plates lie. The number of ridges is 

 thirteen, six of which show signs of more or less wear, and there 

 appears to be no evidence of the foi-mei- presence of any additional 

 ones. The sloping, instead of upright, position of the last plate 

 is a further indication that this molar must be considered an 

 example of the last of the permanent series. The antero-posterior 

 length of the tooth (not along the curve) is about 122 mm., or 

 139 mm. if continued to the heel of its base ; the greatest height, 

 which occurs at the sixth plate, is 53 mm., while the width of the 

 abraded surface of the third ridge is 35 mm. The cement-areas 

 are of medium width and the enamel bands thick and uncrimped, 

 though somewhat irregular and disconnected in the less-worn 

 plates. 



It is interesting to contrast this with two corresponding teeth 

 of B. Cypriotes in the British Museum Collection*, all three being 

 of the left side and in practically a similar stage of use. The 

 Cretan fossil is the more massive and superior in width and 

 antero-posterior length, the persistence of the annulation of the 

 enamel bands is also more strongly marked. On the other hand,, 

 it has a lower crown (53 mm.), both actually and as compai-ed 

 with its bulk, than the Cypriote specimens, this being 59 mm. 

 in. the isolated tooth (M. 8591), while in the other (M. 8589), 

 although the ramus prevents a measurement of the greatest 

 height being obtained, that of the seventh plate is 63 mm. 

 The most satisfactorily identified last molar of E. melitensis in the 

 British Museum Collection for comparison with the above-noticed 

 tooth from Crete, is a specimen situated in a right mandibular 



* M. 8589, Phil. Trans, vol. 197 b (1904), p. 355, text-iigs. 2 & 3 ; and M. 8591, 

 ibid. p. 355, pi. 22. figs. 6, 6 a. 



