40 FAUNA ANTIQUA SIVALENSIS. 



those described by Cuvier in Ms ' Ossemens FossUes.' Tlie 

 great depth at which the marl lies beneath the upper strata, 

 with the discovery hi it of remains of the horse, is an uiter- 

 esting fact. In the sandstone strata the remains of the horse 

 are by no means scarce. There appears, however, to be a 

 local disposition in the deposits of these remains. In some 

 places the hippopotamus, elephant, mastodon, crocodile, tor- 

 toise, &c., are found in abundance, with the remains of ru- 

 minants ; in others the hippopotamus and the water reptiles 

 are almost totally absent, and only the remauis of ruminants 

 and camivora occur ; all tending to prove that these animals 

 were destroyed on the site of their habitats ; and that this 

 former world was not more mysterious than the present ; that 

 there were vast tracts of marsh and river, with their attend- 

 ant hippopotami and crocodiles ui the waters, and elephants 

 and mastodons in the neighbourhood ; and that there were 

 other tracts free from water and marsh, and frequented by 

 their natural inhabitants, ruminants, camivora, &c. 



Dr. Falconer, in a note read at a meeting of the Asiatic 

 Society of Calcutta,^ suggested the identity of this deposit 

 with that near Prome, some of the fossils from which have 

 been so beautifully lithographed ha the Society's ' Transac- 

 tions.' ^ The mastodons in the Sewalik strata are in great 

 abundance ; and as we have perfect skulls, we are enabled to 

 form some opinion of the dentition and the change of teeth. 

 Three of these skulls, now m my cabinet, have the front 

 tooth worn, and the rear one coming mto use ; the whole 

 line of teeth stretching on a surface of nineteen inches, and 

 forming an arc of 90°. The fro7it tooth I cannot distinguish 

 from that of the M. latidens figured m the ' Geological Trans- 

 actions ; ' and the 7-ear one, in the same animal, bears such 

 perfect resemblance to the M. Elephanto'ides, that I cannot 

 help risking the conjecture that the M. latidens and the M. 

 Elephanto'ides are one and the same animal ; the specimens, 

 from which the specific characters were taken, having been 

 detached teeth. 



Bringing this forward in the way of suggestion may be of 

 use, in ultimately leading to truth. The question, however, 

 must be determined by a strict examination of specimens ; 

 and having advanced the above supposition, I will take care 

 that the means shall be provided.^ 



' Journal Asiatic Society, vol. iv. p. ' of the elephant, so far as relates to the 



58 ; date of communication, January 3 

 1835. 



' Geological Transactions, 2nd Series, 

 Tol. iii. p 377 et seq. ; pi. 36 to 43. 



' The rear or newly-formed teeth of 

 every species of mastodon resemble those 



integrity of the apices or simimits of 

 their transverse ridges ; and they might 

 therefore be mistaken for those of the 

 M. Elephantdidcs ; but the observations 

 which led to the conclusion that the Ava 

 specimens of Mastodon belonged to two 



