284 LIVING AND EXTINCT ELEPHANTS. 



Elephant, of the sub-genus Loxodon, which I have nanied 

 E. Melitensis. 



Of the more ancient European fossil species, E. antiquus 

 is that which most resembles the African Elephant in the 

 mesial expansion of the discs of its worn molars. But the 

 character is shown in a much less degree, and the great 

 difference in the ridge-formula of the two species places 

 them in two distinct sub-genera. E. antiquus, in the series, 

 is intermediate between E. Indicus and E. Africanus, but 

 more nearly allied to the former. The crowns of its molars 

 indicate alimentary habits intermediate between those of the 

 two living species. 



(c.) Food of the Mammoth. — In order to estimate the force 

 and value of the arguments which have been raised on this 

 head, it is necessary to institute a rigorous comparison 

 between the mechanical conditions of the molar-crowns of 

 the Indian Elephant and of the fossil species. 



The ridge-formula is the same in both, being for the four 

 last teeth of the upper jaw 12 : 12, 16, 24. The number of 

 ridges in the three first of these is very constant ; the last, 

 as already stated, is variable within certain limits, twenty- 

 two being the most common number. Taking the penulti- 

 mate, as in the case of the Indian Elephant, the worn surface 

 of the crown would show sixty-four alternations of unequally 

 hard materials. 



Although agreeing in this essential respect, there are 

 important differences in the mechanical disposition of the 

 plates. In E. primigenius the molars are shorter for the 

 number of their constituent ridges, and their crowns are 

 also, both absolutely and relatively, broader than in the 

 Indian species. The alternate successions of cement, enamel, 

 and ivory, are therefore more attenuated and more condensed, 

 and a larger number of them enter into the surface of that 

 part of the tooth which is in wear. Lartet fixes the number 

 of ridges that may be in active use at from twenty to twenty- 

 three in a length of about 9^ inches (0*24 met.) ; while in 

 the adult Indian Elephant the number of bands in the same 

 length is usually about sixteen. But the great difference 

 lies in the mechanical properties of the enamel-plates. 

 Instead of being thick and robust, with close-set and regular 

 undulations, or zig-zags, as in- the Indian species, they are 

 thin and parallel, the projecting edges running either 

 straight across, or if there is a tendency to undulation, it is 

 but slight, fine, and inconstant ; occasionally, even, there is 

 irregular angular expansion, or flexuosity in the edges of 

 discs that are worn low down ; but, as a general rule, the 

 plates are straight and free from waviness. It is this cha- 



