112 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



and distinct, and the ridges wide apart. The length of the 

 crown of this specimen is 6^ inches. The other dimensions 

 were not taken. The number of plates in the antepenulti- 

 mate upper molar appears to vary from eight to nine. 



Of the penultimate upper (fifth in the order of succession) 

 molar there are numerous noble specimens in the Florentine 

 Gallery. One of the left side, having the enamel tinged 

 black, and grey cement, shows nine principal ridges and a 

 front and back talon. The first four ridges only are worn ; 

 the digitations are thick, well-separated, and distinct, the 

 ridges wide apart, the crown broad, and the height low. The 

 dimensions of this specimen are : — 



Length of crown, about 9-0 in. Width of ditto at first ridge, 3 - 2 in. Width of 

 ditto at base of fifth, 4-0 in. Extreme height of fifth ridge, 5"4 in. 



In this specimen we have an illustration of the constancy of 

 the distinctive characters — namely, a broad crown and the 

 height of the enamel-ridges, not much exceeding the width, 

 being nearly in the ratio of 11 : 8. 



Another detached penultimate upper molar, having the 

 first five ridges worn, shows ten ridges and a talon. The 

 digitations in this case are so distinct that the discs of each 

 of the first three ridges present three subordinate discs. The 

 dimensions of this specimen are : — 



Length of crown, 8 - 75 in. Width of crown at first ridge, 3 - 5 in. Height of 

 crown at sixth ridge, unworn, 5-2 in. 



This tooth exhibits all the distinctive characters noted of the 

 other teeth. The number of plates in the penultimate upper 

 molar of E. meridionalis appears to range from nine to ten. 



Of the third or last upper true molar (sixth in the order of 

 succession) there are numerous specimens in the Florentine 

 Museum, some of them in situ in entire crania, others de- 

 tached. They are distinctly shown in good preservation in 

 three huge male skulls, with enormous tusks, and in one 

 female (?) head with smaller tusks ; but in each of these 

 cases the most anterior ridges are, from extreme age, worn 

 out ; and I prefer drawing an illustration from a perfect 

 detached specimen for the exact determination of the ridge- 

 formula. Among the most instructive of these are a pair 

 belonging to opposite sides, and so much alike that they 

 were probably of the same individual. The molar of the 

 right side (No. 9,261 of the old Cat. Florent. Mus.) shows 

 thirteen ridges, besides talons. The discs of the first two 

 ridges and talon are nearly confluent into one common wide 

 surface ; but the presence of the large anterior fang proves 

 that no part of the crown is lost in front. The eight 

 succeeding ridges are more or less abraded, the three last 



