200 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



from above Maidenhead to the sea, for a distance of fifty 

 miles, having a width varying from two to nine miles, and 

 a thickness of five to fifteen feet. It is spread ont over the 

 lower levels of the valley, containing in it the remains of 

 Arctic animals. Sir Charles Lyell considers it quite clear 

 that it was deposited after the fluviatile beds were formed. 

 The most instructive of these freshwater deposits, as having 

 yielded the largest number of mammalian remains, is that of 

 ' Grays Thurroek,' described by Mr. Morris in 1836. The 

 section is exposed to a depth of about forty-seven feet, consist- 

 ing of beds of mould, loam, and at the bottom sandy clay 

 abounding in freshwater shells. Numerous Elephant remains, 

 with those of other mammalia, have been discovered in the 

 lowest beds containing the shells ; they are rarely found above 

 it. Among these was a nearly entire skeleton of an Elephant, 

 of which two large grinders were preserved. One of these 

 is now in the British Museum ; the other was in the pos- 

 session of Mr. R. Meeson, the proprietor of the brick-field. The 

 first is represented in the ' Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis,' Plate 

 XIY. fi°\ 7. 1 Unfortunately it is mutilated at the anterior 

 extremity, depriving us of direct evidence as to the complete 

 number of the crown-ridges. The crown was in full wear, 

 showing seven ridges and a talon. One or two ridges in front, 

 supported by the large anterior fang, are wanting. The 

 tooth is inferred to have been the penultimate or second true 

 molar, lower jaw, left side. It measures 7*8 inches, comprising 

 in all eight plates (talon inclusive), being an average of about 

 one plate to an inch. The discs of wear present a rhomb- 

 shaped outline, wide and angular expansion in the middle, 

 and thick enamel, closely resembling the same characters in 

 the African Elephant. The specimen was sawn up to expose 

 the internal structure, and the relative proportions of the 

 different constituent materials exhibit the same general re- 

 semblance to the African Elephant. The mineral condition 

 of the specimen puts it beyond question that it is an un- 

 doubted fossil. I have stated above how closely I found the 

 Monte Serbaro fossil grinder correspond in all its characters 

 with the Grays Thurroek specimen. Another fossil grinder 

 from the same deposit is represented in the ' Pauua Antiqua 

 Sivalensis,' Plate XIY. fig. 6. It is mutilated at both extremi- 

 ties, showing only six discs, less advanced in wear. 2 All these 

 specimens I refer to Loxodon prisms. Remains of Euelephas 

 antiquus also occur in the same bed at Grays Thurroek, dif- 

 fering in no material respect from grinders of the same 

 species, occurring in the Astesan, in the Crag and in the Nor- 



1 See vol. i. p. 441, and vol. ii. PI. vii. figs. 1 and 2. — [Ed.] 



2 See vol. i. p. 441.— [Ed.] 



