FOSSILS FROM PERIM ISLAND 



397 



which, can arise is in regard to the correctness of the locality 

 whence the specimen is said to have come. It was presented 

 to the British Museum by the lady whose name is mentioned 

 above, as a Perim Island fossil, along with teeth specimens of 

 a species of Mastodon known to be found in the Perim de- 

 posit. Mr. Konig, the eminent conservator of the Palseon- 

 tological department, who had early recognized the generic 

 relations of the fossil, is confident about the donor and the 

 mentioned locality. An additional confirmation is met with 

 in the mineral condition of the specimen. It exhibits the 

 silicified appearance, which is so prevalent in the Ava, the 

 Sewalik, and Indian fossils generally. The ivory core is 

 fissured into a vast number of radiating minute segments 

 which have been re-cemented by a siliceous paste (as has 

 happened to certain agates), and the whole of the structure 

 — enamel and ivory — has become so thoroughly penetrated 

 with siliceous infiltration that it resists the knife and takes 

 on the highest degree of vitreous polish in the section, while 

 the external surface of the enamel, from the same cause, 

 presents an opaline appearance. All the Eppelsheim speci- 

 mens of Dinotherium which I have had an opportunity of 

 examining are, on the other hand, unsilicified, softer, and 

 of less specific gravity. In section their ivory cuts under 

 the knife, and yields a dull earthy sm-face ; while the harder 

 enamel takes on but a very imperfect polish. This circum- 

 stance strongly confirms the Indian origin of the fossil. It 

 is very possible that the large animal — ' assimilating to the 

 Rhinoceros {LopModon ?)' — mentioned by Mr. James Prinsep 

 in the quotation above given, may also belong to Dinotherium. 

 This conjecture is throvni out for the guidance of those con- 

 nected with the Museum at Bombay and that at Calcutta, 

 who have access to the original specimens. What we know 

 at present must serve in a great measure as an index merely 

 to further inquiries. I would suggest in the meantime de- 

 signating the Perim fossil provisionally by the specific name 

 of Dinotherium Indicum. 



The following are the dimensions of the fragment compared 

 with those of the same tooth of the Dinotherium giganteum 

 from Eppelsheim. 



