KANGE IN TIME OF THE MAMMOTH. 



239 



under the name of E. Jacksoni (antea, p. 228). l The detached 

 molar, by the figure, agrees with E. primigenius, while the 

 lower jaw, so far as the figure can be trusted, indicates a 

 different species. 



§ 6. Range in Time op the Mammoth. 



The geographical range of the species has been established 

 from Texas across the continent of North America to Esch- 

 scholtz Bay, thence from Arctic Siberia, across the steppes 

 of Russia, through Germany, France, and England, to Cen- 

 tral Italy in the neighbourhood of Rome. I carefully ex- 

 amined the collections at Naples, including that of the Uni- 

 versity, where every facility was afforded to me by Professor 

 Scacchi, and that of Signer Costa, but failed to detect a trace 

 of it there, or in Sicily, in the Museums of Syracuse, Catania, 

 Messina, or Palermo, the last of which contains a very con- 

 siderable number of molars and other remains of fossil Ele- 

 phants. There is clear evidence of the true Mammoth 

 having existed in America long after the period of the 

 Northern Drift, when the surface of the country had settled 

 down into its present form. It becomes a question of the 

 highest interest and importance to ascertain the first appear- 

 ance of the species in time. The data for its solution are 

 still so limited and imperfect, that the most we can do is to 

 indicate where it is earliest met with, as a starting point 



1 Almost the last scientific work in 

 which Dr. Falconer was engaged, before 

 his fatal illness, was the commencement 

 of a paper, entitled ' On the so-called Ele- 

 phas Jacksoni of North America.' Fresh 

 interest, he said, had been infused into the 

 discussion by a paper, ' On the remains of 

 fossil Elephant found in Canada by Mr. E. 

 Billings, F.G-.S., the able palaeontologist 

 of the Canadian Geological Survey. Mr. 

 Billings had figured and described some 

 well preserved remains of the lower jaw, 

 one of them including an entire molar, 

 found at the bottom of a gravel section 

 forty feet deep at Burlington Heights, 

 near the western extremity of Lake 

 Ontario, and at an elevation of about 60 

 feet above the lake. Although the dental 

 characters resembled those of the Mam- 

 moth, Mr. Billings found the form of the 

 symphysis so different, that he was led to 

 regard the Canadian form as a distinct 

 species, and proposed to resuscitate for 

 it ' the obscure and hardly ever recognized 

 name of E. Jacksoni, provisionally and 

 anonymously applied to certain Ohio 

 specimens discovered by Briggs and 

 Foster in 1838.' The evidence adduced 



by Mr. Billingsfailing to convince Dr. 

 Falconer that the Ontario remains dif- 

 fered in any material respect from the 

 Mammoth, he applied to Sir William 

 Logan, and forthwith obtained a cast of 

 the principal specimen, in order that it 

 might be compared with a sufficient 

 number of typical specimens of the 

 European Mammoth. The details of 

 this critical comparison Dr. Falconer 

 unfortunately never lived to tell, but the 

 result was a confirmation of his original 

 opinion, that the so-called E. Jacksoni 

 was not a distinct species. As Dr. F. 

 observed, the question involved interests 

 of much higher importance than the 

 mere settlement of a disputed species, 

 viz. : whether an extinct European Ele- 

 phant of the Quaternary period, whoso 

 remains had been found as far south as 

 central Italy, really ranged from Arctic 

 Siberiaacross Bohring's Strait into Arctic 

 America, and thence across Eupert's Land 

 to the valley of the St. Lawrence and the 

 adjoining lake regions ; and if so, under 

 what physical conditions this migration 

 had taken placo ? This question is con- 

 sidered further on (see p. 245). — [Ed.] 



