ON THE SKULTi OF DINOTHERIUM GIGANTEUM. 525 



28. Note on the Skull of UinotJieriuin </i(janteuni. in the 

 British Museum. By C. W. Andrews, D.Sc, F.U.S., 

 F.Z.S. 



(Submitted for Publication by permission of tbe Trustees of tbe British Museum.) 



[Received March 5, 1921 : Read May 24, 1921.] 



(Text-figures 1-4.) 



One of the most important specimens in the Geological Depart- 

 ment of the British Museum is the fine skull of Dinotherium 

 giganteum, which seems to be the only even approximately 

 complete example at present known. The hi.story of this spe- 

 cimen is of considerable interest. It was discovered in 1835 by 

 Klipstein, about eighteen feet deep in the well-known ossiferous 

 sands of Eppelsheim in Hesse-Darmstadt. An account of this 

 discovery, including a description of the specimen and of the 

 deposits in which it occurred, was published by Klipstein and 

 Kaup in 1836 under the title " Beschreibung und Abbildungen 

 von dem in Rheinhessen gefundenen colossalen Schadel des 

 Dinotherii gigantei " : in the following year a French translation 

 of this paper appeared. Kaup, in his part of the memoir, not 

 only gives a description of the skull itself, but also a very 

 interesting account of the method of collecting the specimen. 

 It appears that it was found lying on its dorsal surface in a bed 

 of clay and sand. This was partly removed, leaving the skull 

 resting on six pillars of matrix. Next, iron bars were passed 

 through the openings thus made, which were then filled up with 

 plaster of Pans. Next, the remaining portions of the matrix 

 were removed and their place filled with more plaster, so that 

 finally the skull rested on a solid base of plaster strengthened by 

 iron bars. A stout board was inserted beneath the whole mass, 

 which was then lifted from the excavation by twenty-four men 

 with ropes. A quaint picture of this operation is given on the 

 cover of Klipstein and Kaup's memoir. In this figure there 

 is also shown a huge proboscidean femur, which is perhaps the 

 original from which the cast of a Dinotherium femur now in the 

 British Museum was made. In 1837 the skull was sent to be 

 exhibited in Paris, pnrt of the expenses of transport being borne 

 by the French Academy. While there it was examined by 

 de Blainville, whose description of the specimen is the best yet 

 published ; but even he was not allowed any opportunit}^ of 

 examining the dorsal surface. On the same occasion Isidore 

 Geoifroy, Straus, and otiiers took the opportunity of giving their 

 views as to the structure and affinities of Dinotherium. It was 

 then intended to send the specimen to London, but whether this 

 was done on this occasion is uncertain. Some years later, in 

 1849, it was certainly in London, and was offex-ed to the British 



