164 



BEITISH AND EUROPEAN FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



and squat ; the outline is nearly a parallelogram, of which, 

 the length is less than twice the width ; the discs of wear are 

 closely approximated, forming narrow transverse bands ; the 

 enamel- plates are very thin, with a slight tendency to minute 

 irregular undulation, nowhere amounting to crimping. 

 The dimensions are : — 



Length of crown, 5*1 in. Width of crown in front, 2'4 in. Width of crown 

 behind, 2'4 in. Greatest width of crown, 275 in. 



This specimen is of North American origin. 



1 [I have also examined two specimens of the first trite molar, upper 

 jaw, of Eleplias primigenius, in the collection of the Eev. S. W. King, 

 from the Norfolk Coast section, near Cromer. The specimens were 

 carefully compared with a molar from Ilford, in the valley of the 

 Thames, belonging to Mr. Prestwich (see p. 165). 



The specimen first to be noticed, marked No. 3, is labelled ' Picked 

 out of blue clay and black gravel on beach, solid level, after scouring 

 from shoot of cliff, in March 1860. (Anderson, Cromer.)' 



It is a very perfect example of an antepenultimate true molar, upper 

 jaw, right (t.m. 1), presenting the crown quite perfect. The crown 

 is composed of twelve principal ridges, with front and back talons ; the 

 nine anterior ridges are worn, the rest intact and enveloped in cement. 

 The most anterior ridge is confluent in its disc with the adjoining 

 talon disc. The second disc is confluently transverse, somewhat irre- 

 gularly reniform in its contour, the convexity being directed back- 

 wards. The third is composed of three semi-detached, oblong discs, 

 the worn digitations not having become quite confluent. The four or 

 five posterior ridges are but very slightly affected by wear. The 

 ground surface of the crown is broad relatively to the length of the 

 molar ; the ridges are high, thin, and closely compressed. The plates 

 of enamel are decidedly thin, presenting no appearance of crimping or 

 primary undulation, the only plicature shown being that produced by 

 the confluence of the discs (i.e. secondary undulations). In all these 

 respects this molar bears a very close resemblance to Mr. Prestwich's 

 Ilford specimen. The fangs are all broken off below, where, in the inter- 

 stices, the matrix is distinctly seen, in some places penetrating into the 

 hollow cores of the fangs. This matrix consists of a very ferruginous, 

 fine sand, containing small pebbles, and closely agrees with the matrix 

 of the ' Elephant-bed ' at Mundesley. There are also some patches of 

 blue clay, resembling that of the laminated blue beds. There is no 

 appearance of a disc of pressure behind, but this is intelligible from 

 the semi-worn condition of the tooth. The fresh broken surfaces of 

 the ivory of the fangs presents a dull chocolate or pale sepia colour, 

 like that of the Mammoth molars from the ' Big-bone Lick ' of 

 America : it burns black and yields a strong odour of ammonia, prov- 

 ing abundance of gelatine. All this is against the remote age of the 

 fossil, and would indicate that it was yielded rather by some of the 



1 The paragraphs in small type within 

 brackets have been compiled from en- 

 tries in Dr. Falconer's Note-books, made 



subsequently to the date at which the 

 memoir was written. — [Ed.] 



