ELEPHANT AND MASTODON. 47 



series of molar teeth., our conclusions are, in some measure, 

 at variance with those of most other palaeontologists who 

 have preceded us upon this family. 



Before entering upon the description of the species, we 

 shall examine, at some length, the general characters pre- 

 sented by the teeth ; but in order to comprehend the present 

 state of knowledge on this branch of the subject, it will in 

 the first instance be necessary to pass briefly under review 

 the leading opinions which have been entertained by palaeon- 

 tologists regarding the relations of mastodon and elephant to 

 each other, and to notice the successive steps in the discovery 

 of new forms which have led to the modifications of these 

 opinions. 



It is beside our object to give anything like an historical 

 account of the labours of the earlier writers. Those who are 

 desirous of the information will find it detailed in the great 

 work of Cuvier, down to the period at which he wrote ; and 

 for subsequent opinions, they may consult the ' Osteographie ' 

 of De Blainville, now in course of publication, and the writings 

 of Professor Owen, Bronn, Von Meyer, Kaup, and other 

 palseontological authors. 



Notwithstanding the earlier contributions of Daubenton, 

 Pallas, Merck, and the elder Camper, hardly anything was 

 known regarding the succession of the teeth in the elephant, 

 except that they are repeated oftener than once during life, 

 by protrusion in the jaws from behind forward, till the 

 appearance of the memoir by Corse, ^ in the ' Philosophical 

 Transactions ' of 1799. This excellent and careful observer 

 had resided many years in India, in charge of a Government 

 stud of elephants in Bengal. By captures of herds of the 

 wild animal he had an opportunity of watching the successive 

 fall and renewal of the teeth from the youngest age up to 

 the adult, the periods of which he carefully recorded ; and 

 casualties suj^plied him with a series of upwards of thirty 

 crania of all ages, upon which he studied the form, size, and 

 the number of plates which enter into the composition of the 

 grinders at different stages of the animal's life. The obser- 

 vations embodied in this memoir are the most valuable which 

 have been made on the teeth of either of the living species. 

 Corse first showed that the Indian elephant has ' milk ' tusks 

 (incisors), which cut the gum when the calf is about six 

 months old, but are extremely caducous, as they drop out 

 between the first and second year. He detected the position 

 of the capsule of the permanent tusks, which protrude about 

 two months after the milk incisors are shed, and go on in- 



' Corse, Phil. Trans. 1799, vol. Ixxxix. p. 205. 



