DENTITION. 219 



Mexico, a stretch of nearly 20° of longitude. To restrict it 

 to the intermediate region of Texas wo aid be a step of retro- 

 grade error. 



In the proposed specific definition I fail to detect a single 

 term or character which is not either expressed, embodied, or 

 implied, in my Synoptical Table above referred to ; with this 

 difference, however, that the author has mal-adroitly handled 

 terms of which he knew the meaning but imperfectly. The 

 colliculi, or constituent ridges of the unworn teeth, are not 

 undulated ; but the enamel- plates of these ridges are crimped, 

 and their worn edges in the abraded molar display the cha- 

 racter by their ' machcerides undulatce.' 



On these grounds, I cannot acquiesce in the ingenuously 

 avowed aspiration, that the law of priority should in this 

 case give way, in order that E. Texianus of Owen and Blake 

 might supplant the earlier name of E. Golumbi. The reasons 

 assigned for the proposed change are so light and trivial, 

 that I should not have considered it necessary to notice 

 them, but for the fact that the paper is accompanied by an 

 illustration of the Bollaert Molar ; for a figure of a new or 

 imperfectly known form will always carry with it a citation 

 of the name it bears, and of the paper in which it occurs, 

 however slight the latter may be. 



§ 2. Dentition op E. Columbi. 



I shall now examine the principal remains of E. Columbi 

 that have come under my observation. 



Of the milk-dentition, the only specimen which I have 

 seen is a penultimate milk molar (m.m. 3) in situ in a finely 

 preserved left ramus of the lower jaw of a very young Ele- 

 phant, contained in the Palaaontological Gallery of the Jardin 

 des Plantes, and labelled (No. 77), as having been brought 

 by M. Le Clerc from Texas. It attracted the attention of De 

 Blainville (who figured and described it in the dental series 

 of E. primigenius) as presenting unusual characters : — • 



' Le troisieme echantillon est plus interessant, d'abord a 

 cause de son origine puisqu'il vient du Texas d'ou il nous a 

 ete rapporte par M. Le Clerc, et ensuite parce qu'il semble 

 indiquer quelque chose de particulier.' ' In this young molar 

 the anterior ridge, together with the front talon, are broken 

 off, the remaining part of the crown being composed of seven 

 ridges and a slight posterior talon. These ridges are quite 

 intact, and much more apart than in E. primigenius, agreeing 

 in this respect with E. Indicus. The digitations are well 

 marked at the apex, forming distinct points, and in the last 



1 Osteographie: Elephants, p. 190, PI. x. fig. 2 c. 



